STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER plans in the coming months to implement changes at the beleaguered Department of Children and Families, part of an “unprecedented collaboration” between his administration, child protection workers, and union leaders that he hopes will help improve the agency’s performance. The steps to improve procedures for tracking children and […]
Gubernatorial politics
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Poll: Baker is state’s most popular pol
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER SPENDING THE WINTER managing state budget shortfalls and snow emergencies, Gov. Charlie Baker weathered his first 100 days in office remarkably well, according to a new poll that shows the governor riding sky-high approval ratings that make him the most popular politician in the state. Voters also narrowly oppose the […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Earned income tax credit vs. film tax credit
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER made the first move, calling early in March for an expansion of the politically popular earned income tax credit and proposing to pay for it with money saved by eliminating the state’s film tax credit. A top House leader responded on Tuesday, dismissing Department of Revenue studies suggesting the film tax credit […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Charlie Baker’s compassionate conservativism
Somewhere between the classic Republican world view summed up by his new budget chief (in 140 characters or less), who said the state’s problem is that we’re “overregulated and not biz friendly,” and the spoonfuls of sweet potatoes he dropped onto plates yesterday at the Boston Rescue Mission, Charlie Baker will have to fashion actual […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker and the RGA
Gov.-elect Charlie Baker, who ran for office in Massachusetts as a bipartisan policy wonk, is taking a break from his post-election vacation to attend a Republican Governors Association conference in Florida where presidential politics is on the agenda. The Boston Globe suggests Baker wasn’t eager to publicize his attendance at the conference, but Baker spokesman […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Patrick makes nice with journalists from away
Deval Patrick, the nation’s only African American governor, made a predictable trip down legacy lane during the National Association of Black Journalists’ recent convention in Boston. Patrick celebrated how his administration regained jobs lost in the Great Recession; made significant progress in student achievement; helped stimulate the state’s energy sector; and achieved the highest bond […]
Posted inPolitics
Super PAC supporting Grossman is bankrolled by… his mother
Steve Grossman, call your mother. Wait, no, better not. It could be legally risky if the conversation veers toward a certain random topic, like, say, the fact that you are maniacally devoting every waking hour and every shred of your being to your dream of being elected Massachusetts governor. It’s actually just as well […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker and the GOP immigration dilemma
Republicans knew early in 2012 that they were staring at demographic obsolescence, and that the only way to stave off a prolonged trip to the electoral wilderness was to broaden their base, and adopt a more liberal stance on immigration. Instead, the party tacked to the right, and handed President Obama a second term in […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Dark money unlikely to brighten Grossman’s odds
Cue the dark-money attack ad sliming the candidate in the lead. Cue the counter ad from the attack target calling out the candidate the attack ad is fronting for as a slimy slickster looking for others to do his dirty work . And though Labor Day, the unofficial start of the real campaign season, is […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Baker’s McCormick problem
Gov. Deval Patrick’s bid to shelter immigrant children in Massachusetts is creating some interesting plot lines in the race to succeed him. The Democratic candidates for governor — Attorney General Martha Coakley, Treasurer Steve Grossman, and Don Berwick — all support Patrick’s plan. So does Republican Charlie Baker. But independent Jeff McCormick has come out […]