Oil, propane, and natural gas providers would need to gradually cut their emissions each year under the program and buy credits to offset their pollution, costs which in theory could be passed on to consumers, which would run counter to Gov. Maura Healey’s attempts to lower energy costs.
Maura Healey
Posted inState Government
Massachusetts set out to modernize its unemployment insurance system. Then it hit a new low.
Massachusetts was the slowest state in issuing initial unemployment payments in the country between June and October.
Posted inState Government
What to expect when you’re expecting (legislative action)
Major policy issues like housing affordability, primary care access, and utility bills loom over Beacon Hill in 2026, when voters could also decide a dozen ballot questions and pick statewide elected officials.
Posted inEnergy
Massachusetts pushes offshore wind contract negotiations into 2026
The negotiations had been set to wrap up by the end of the year after a deal wasn’t clinched six months ago but are now extended through June 2026 and appear likely to be frozen for most of if not all of President Trump’s term.
Posted inState Government
Our top five Beacon Hill stories of 2025
The Democrats who control the levers of power in Massachusetts spent most of the year fretting about upheaval from the federal government and preparing for more expansive action down the line.
Posted inEnergy
Our top five climate stories of 2025
Frustrations over high gas and electric costs drove Gov. Maura Healey’s agenda around energy issues.
Posted inTransportation
Phil Eng earns rave reviews for simultaneous MBTA, transportation chief jobs
The Healey administration seems content to have Phil Eng continue to work as both T general manager and interim transportation secretary for the foreseeable future, and Eng himself is warming up to the idea of holding both roles for a longer period of time.
Posted inEnergy
‘Rate shock’: Healey’s affordability push meets a dramatic proposed gas bill hike
Liberty Utilities, which services a small southeastern pocket of Massachusetts, filed its rate hike request in June and is asking the Department of Public Utilities for permission to raise gas rates by about 55 percent on average.
Posted inEnvironment
‘People have a right to know’: Flood disclosures poised to step into legislative limelight next year
As flooding touches more Massachusetts households, Gov. Maura Healey is proposing a new requirement to mandate the flood disclosures as a means of steering people out of harm’s way in the first place.
Posted inHousing
Beacon Hill clears hurdle for Weymouth naval air base redevelopment
After a series of stops and starts stretching back 15-plus years, Beacon Hill is on the verge of removing one of the last remaining obstacles to redevelopment of the former naval air base in Weymouth.
Posted inState Government
Legislature downshifts into holiday mode after short burst of activity
What reached Gov. Maura Healey’s desk, and what’s still on hold until 2026 now that the Legislature is done with major business for the year?
Posted inEnvironment
Massachusetts agencies never followed a 2017 rule to cut emissions from state vehicles, court documents show
The rule was issued under Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and followed a landmark court ruling that found the state needed to issue more specific and stringent regulations in order to meet the 2050 climate commitment.
Posted inOpinion
State leaders must bring pragmatism to climate debate
CLIMATE RESILIENCY IS a challenge, not a crisis. And when we treat it as a crisis—when urgency is used to silence debate or justify extreme measures—the quality of our decisions […]
Posted inEnergy
House punts on sweeping energy bill that would dial back state climate commitments
After intense blowback to a draft House bill to weaken the state’s 2030 clean energy target, the chamber’s budget chief says the topic is on hold until next year.
Posted inEnergy
House moves forward with bill to weaken 2030 climate goals
The plan reverberating around Beacon Hill, as first reported by CommonWealth Beacon last week, is sure to put lawmakers in a politically difficult position and test their willingness to defend the climate commitments enacted just four years ago.
Posted inEnergy
‘We will fill the State House’: Advocates gird for a showdown over House plan to dial back climate commitments
The effort is bound to divide the Democratic supermajority on Beacon Hill and test officials’ willingness to defend the state’s climate policies just as winter hits and Healey mounts a reelection bid.
Posted inState Government
Unions: Buyout talks could affect 2,000+ state workers
Labor leaders say the Healey administration approached them to begin conversations about a buyout program that could reduce the state workforce by roughly 2,000 positions, the latest attempt at belt-tightening amid upheaval from the federal shutdown and funding cuts.
Posted inGovernment
Looming federal food aid cuts put state Democrats in the hot seat
Massachusetts Democrats are unwilling to tap into the state’s significant savings balance to replace food aid, previewing difficult decisions that loom on the horizon.
Posted inEnergy
Boston looks to go on offense on energy affordability
Cuts at the state level mean the city’s initiative will be operating in a more financially constrained environment. The crux of the new effort will rely on the state’s Mass Save program, which funds energy efficiency upgrades around the state through ratepayer charges.
Posted inState Government
State House labor pains: The long fight carries on for unionizing legislative aides
Three and a half years after State House aides went public with their desire to unionize, the effort remains stalled by skepticism from top Democrats who often position themselves as allies of labor.
Posted inOpinion
Gov. Healey’s mixed messages on housing for those most in need
AS A FAMILY medicine physician at Boston Medical Center, I have cared for hundreds of individuals and families experiencing homelessness over the last 20 years. The landscape of housing services […]
Posted inEnvironment
Tepper stands by Mass. climate goals, ramps up outreach on Canadian wind power
Tepper shared in an interview with CommonWealth Beacon that she took a previously-unreported trip up to Nova Scotia last month to meet with officials to discuss how Massachusetts can potentially tap into Canadian offshore wind, much in the way the state will soon have access to 1,200 megawatts of hydropower from Quebec.
