BEFORE HE FLED to Boston from the chaos and violence engulfing Haiti, Johnny L. was a physician. While waiting for his US work permit and learning English at Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) Boston, Johnny’s been eager to get to work, at any job he can find—and fortunately, he recently landed a $26-an-hour full-time housekeeping job […]
Economy
Posted inHealth Care
The costs of drug pricing middlemen
In the fight against ever-rising drug prices, attention is increasingly zeroing in on a little-noticed middleman of the pharmaceutical chain – pharmacy benefit managers. Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, are the intermediaries between pharmaceutical manufacturers and insurance providers. They negotiate drug prices, process claims, create lists of prescription drugs covered by insurance plans, and perform […]
Posted inEconomy
Report says Boston region teetering on ‘the precipice’
THE GOOD NEWS is the Boston area is hardly alone in facing serious headwinds from the pandemic’s upending of work patterns and the uncertainty it’s introduced about our economic future. The bad news: simply having plenty of company in our misery does not mean we can sit back and wait to ride some broad trend […]
Posted inEducation
Campus food pantry a response to grim reality
A SINGLE MOTHER to a six-year old girl with special needs, Kiara Rosario came close to dropping out of Roxbury Community College when she couldn’t feed herself or her little girl. Rosario, who is pursuing a social science degree and wants to work with young people in juvenile detention centers, became food insecure when she […]
Posted inPolitics
Another union push from legislative staffers
A YEAR AFTER being rebuffed in their efforts to form a union, legislative staff members on Beacon Hill are making another run at the goal, this time pursuing legislative change that would open a path for their organizing efforts. Last July, Senate President Karen Spilka refused to recognize a union push by staffers to affiliate […]
Posted inEconomy, Energy, Government
Governors, including Healey, raise concerns about offshore wind pricing
SIX GOVERNORS, including Maura Healey of Massachusetts, are raising concerns about an expected rise in the cost of electricity from offshore wind procurements and asking the federal government to step in and help out. In a letter to President Biden, the governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, and Maryland said offshore […]
Posted inEconomy, Government, Housing
Augustus: No silver bullets in the housing crisis
THE MASSACHUSETTS housing world is under strain from every angle, and every housing gambit is a long game. Healey administration housing officials are facing a bleak to-deal-with list, hampered by the lowest rental vacancy rate in the country – just 2.8 percent – and a 200,000-unit shortage. The emergency shelter system is crushed by waves […]
Posted inEconomy, Energy, Government
Will new offshore wind bids bring competitive pricing?
AT LEAST THREE of the five offshore wind developers with leases off the coast of Massachusetts are likely to submit bids in the state’s next procurement, but it’s unclear whether that level of competition will be enough to act as a brake on price escalation. Two of the developers, SouthCoast Wind and Vineyard Offshore, confirmed […]
Posted inEconomy, Energy, Government, Politics
Healey launches offshore wind procurement at risky time
GOV. MAURA HEALEY launched what she described as the region’s largest offshore wind procurement this week. “With our top academic institutions, robust workforce training programs, innovative companies, and support from every level of government – Massachusetts is all-in on offshore wind,” she said. But what her press release failed to mention was that this procurement […]
Posted inCourts, Economy
SJC sides with Galvin in imposing higher standards on broker-dealers
IN THE WORLD OF FINANCE, only those who offer specific investment advice have been held to the highest standard of care for their clients. When Secretary of State Bill Galvin decided that the fiduciary standard – broadly, acting in the best interest of clients and trying to address conflicts of interest – should apply to […]