sponsored by The Boston Foundation
CommonWealth Voices aims to be a beacon of robust discourse, offering a platform for analysis and advocacy on the challenges and aspirations of political life in Massachusetts.
The Boston Foundation is deeply committed to civic leadership, and essential to our work is the exchange of informed opinions. We are proud to partner on a platform that engages such a broad range of demographic and ideological viewpoints.
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We welcome informed commentary about local, state and national public policy. Please include the author’s contact information when submitting.
In the face of efforts to erase parts of US history, Massachusetts must take a stand
As the federal government creates gaps in the record, we can support organizations filling the voids with voices from the past and present who speak to the core values of the Declaration of Independence — and its complicated legacy.
Gov. Healey’s budget plan is spending Massachusetts into a corner
Tax revenues are slowing, costs are rising, and the Healey administration continues to grow state government as if the bill will never come due.
As Super Bowl fever — and betting — surge, Kayshon Boutte’s story highlights a growing risk for young people
WITH THE PATRIOTS heading back to the Super Bowl this Sunday after an improbable turnaround following two straight losing seasons, excitement across New England is reaching fever pitch. But the Super Bowl isn’t just the biggest football game of the year; it’s also the biggest single‑day betting event in American sports. That surge in wagering is part of the atmosphere young people now grow up in. Among the highlights of the Patriots’ playoff run was wide receiver Kayshon Boutte’s otherworldly, one‑handed touchdown catch in the divisional round victory over the Texans — a moment that showcased his extraordinary talent on…
Transparency in procurement can help close the racial wealth gap
Procurement transparency may sound technical. In reality, it goes to the heart of how wealth is built—or excluded—in the Commonwealth.Â
Canceling citizenship ceremonies at Faneuil Hall was an affront to its history
This wasn’t just a canceled ceremony; it was the quiet erasure of a tradition that once made American citizenship visible, contested, and public.
The MBTA Communities law was a good start. But it won’t deliver transit-oriented development – or solve our housing shortage.
The MBTA Communities law is better understood as a leveling up exercise, or a fair-share zoning law.
Proposals to remove dams unleash debate over which history to honor
Across Massachusetts, communities are confronting a centuries-old legacy that is now doing more harm than good. The preservation of an obsolete dam implicitly privileges colonial and industrial history over a river’s deeper history as living infrastructure.Â
Here’s how modernizing the licensing of physician assistants will help Mass. compete for federal dollars
MASSACHUSETTS HAS LONG benefited from its reputation as a national leader in health care policy and delivery. That leadership, however, also brings fiscal exposure. Because the Commonwealth expanded Medicaid earlier and more comprehensively than most states, it is particularly vulnerable as federal Medicaid financing erodes and discretionary funding plays a larger role in health care financing. In this environment, the state must do all it can to maximize its ability to secure federal health care funding. One meaningful step — rarely discussed outside workforce policy circles — would be to modernize regulations and licensing requirements for physician assistants. Here’s why…
The Massachusetts data privacy bill is a threat to small business
The legislation’s aims are laudable. But several of its proposed restrictions on data collection and use are likely to hurt small businesses — which employ nearly 45 percent of the state’s workers and are critical to our economy. Â
What we’re doing to treat ADHD isn’t working. Here’s what would.
There needs to be a wholesale rethinking of our approach to ADHD, one that is guided by evidence and a better understanding of the dynamic nature of attention problems.
Can Healey’s health care affordability push actually move the needle?
For now, the announcement of the new working group offers promise, not proof. Whether it delivers real affordability will depend less on process and far more on what happens if meaingful recommendations hit the Legislature.
Why Massachusetts must get serious about state spending
Massachusetts is firmly in a parochial phase, reflected in policy choices over the past decade that have led to job losses, rising living costs, and outmigration of talent and investment.
What ICE is doing is abhorrent. But here’s why canceling the state contract to house its detainees might not be the right thing to do.
As with all policies, it is important not to make decisions from afar. We must listen to people who are actually impacted.
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