AT A TIME when people across the state seem to agree that our Commonwealth needs additional resources for public investments, asking those with the highest incomes to contribute a similar […]
Taxes and Budget Issues
Posted inUncategorized
Final approval given to two retail pot stores
THE STATE BOARD overseeing the nascent marijuana industry gave final approval to the first licenses for retail stores Thursday with some conditions. But the vote, one of the most momentous […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Slow pot rollout costing state tax revenue
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SAYING MASSACHUSETTS HAS missed out on $16 million in marijuana taxes, officials behind the 2016 legal marijuana ballot question on Monday pointed to staffing levels and […]
Posted inEconomy
A new Quincy
QUINCY MAYOR THOMAS KOCH calls the MBTA’s Red Line the “spine” of his aging city. With four stops in North Quincy, Wollaston, Quincy Center, and Quincy Adams, the T’s Red […]
Posted inPolitics
A look at one of the Legislature’s veto overrides
THE LEGISLATURE SWIFTLY OVERRODE many of the governor’s budget vetoes on Monday, including one whose elimination has become almost an annual rite of passage on Beacon Hill. Baker on Thursday […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Taxes on short-term rentals could hit 17.5%
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SHORT-TERM HOUSING UNITS rented through websites like Airbnb could be taxed at almost 17.5 percent in cities like Boston and Massachusetts would become the first state […]
Posted inPolitics
Sanchez, Spilka drop immigration issue from budget
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE INABILITY OF HOUSE AND SENATE budget negotiators to reach a consensus over immigration law enforcement doomed a budget measure that would have restricted local police […]
Posted inPolitics
Lawmakers going off-the-books for police training
THE LEGISLATURE APPEARS POISED to shift the cost of municipal police training on to people renting cars in Massachusetts, adopting a funding philosophy for law enforcement that was pioneered decades […]
Posted inOpinion
Charter school funding formula is broken
ONE DOESN’T HAVE to choose sides in the long debate over charter schools in order to raise legitimate questions about the approach being taken in Massachusetts. I count myself among […]
Posted inPolitics
Creative accounting on Beacon Hill
BRIAN KEYES, the police chief in Chelsea, sounds like a mountain climber with the summit finally in sight. He and his fellow chiefs have been scaling Beacon Hill for almost […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s time for another McDuffy case
WHEN THE PUBLIC SEEKS to improve the educational outcomes for students, we tend to misdirect our frustration towards teachers unions, low-performing district schools, and/or the existence of charter schools. The […]
Posted inOpinion
Ruling on milllionaire tax right one constitutionally
AS A PLAINTIFF in the lawsuit Anderson v. Attorney General, I applaud the court’s decision, although I don’t consider myself or the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the organization that I represent, […]
Posted inEconomy
State’s first pot store to open in Leicester
THE STATE’S CANNABIS Control Commission on Monday awarded its first license for a retail recreational pot store to a medical marijuana facility in Leicester, where sales will probably start sometime […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker signs ‘grand bargain’ bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER signed a new law Thursday that could affect virtually every resident of Massachusetts, a week after lawmakers settled months of negotiations over proposed […]
Posted inOpinion
Senate gives special treatment to Airbnb
REAL ESTATE INVESTORS are increasingly reshaping local residential neighborhoods by acquiring homes and apartments and converting them into full-time tourist lodging as “short-term rentals.” What began about a decade ago […]
Posted inOpinion
The end of recycling?
CURBSIDE RECYCLING PROGRAMS are disappearing in Massachusetts. Our Commonwealth has made the absurd decision to dump thousands of tons of recyclable materials into landfills. Recycling infrastructure is approaching its breaking […]
Posted inOpinion
How to solve homelessness
TONIGHT, 6,300 MEN and women across the Commonwealth will sleep on the streets or in shelter. Although that statistic may be disheartening, this does not have to be the case. […]
Posted inEconomy
City council puts restraints on Airbnb
THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL overwhelmingly approved tough new restrictions on short-term rentals offered by companies such as Airbnb and HomeAway, eliminating investor-owned units from the marketplace while allowing owner-occupied, two- […]
Posted inEconomy
Our wheezing democracy
WHO ARE YOU going to turn to make important decisions affecting the state? The sluggish Legislature or schizophrenic, knee-jerk electorate? Those seem to be the less-than-compelling options at this point […]
Posted inThe Download
Our wheezing democracy
Who are you going to turn to make important decisions affecting the state? The sluggish Legislature or schizophrenic, knee-jerk electorate? Those seem to be the less-than-compelling options at this point […]
Posted inOpinion
Getting the CA, NJ perspective on millionaire tax
AS MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS weigh a ballot initiative to raise the tax rate on personal income over $1 million, the experience of other states can provide important insights about the likely […]
Posted inPolitics
A point-counterpoint on millionaire migration patterns
A new report from the Pioneer Institute is raising alarms about the proposed millionaire tax by questioning the research of an academic who has claimed that higher taxes on the […]
Posted inOpinion
Eight responses about millionaire migration
A MASSACHUSETTS-BASED FREE MARKET THINK TANK, the Pioneer Institute, produced a paper titled Eight Reasons to Question Professor Cristobal Young’s Conclusions about Millionaire Migration. I welcome the critical reflection on […]
Posted inGambling
Making book on Beacon Hill
MONDAY’S RULING FROM the U.S. Supreme Court that states are free to legalize sports betting opened the door to the possibility of a further expansion of gaming in Massachusetts, a […]