News Analysis

Do Healey, Baker have a truce?

Plugging In

Do Healey, Baker have a truce?

Political rivals play nice on electricity sellers

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ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY and the Baker administration engaged in an interesting political dance on Tuesday at a legislative hearing on what to do about companies that sell electricity to residential customers. By her own admission, Healey, the Democrat, has staked out a fairly extreme position. She feels the 50 companies have ripped off consumers(...)

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Voters give green light on “red flag” gun law

Voters give green light on “red flag” gun law

Much of the credit must go to students in the state

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Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo announced this week the House would take up the so-called “red flag” gun safety bill. The move ended months of speculation and growing pressure from outside the building. The proposed legislation would “allow a judge to temporarily seize guns from someone who might pose a danger to themselves and others.” Eight states(...)

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Governor, Senate challengers struggle mightily in quest for attention

Governor, Senate challengers struggle mightily in quest for attention

Is anybody watching?

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A half dozen would-be opponents to Senator Elizabeth Warren and Governor Charlie Baker are building their campaigns, crisscrossing Massachusetts, issuing press releases, hiring staff, making ads, and doing all the other things important statewide campaigns do. Nobody’s watching. So far the two top-of-the-ticket would-be blockbusters have been busts, as voters hit the electoral snooze button(...)

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State follows voters’ lead on criminal justice

State follows voters’ lead on criminal justice

Polling suggests voters largely agree with broader approach

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The Senate and House sent a sweeping criminal justice reform bill to Governor Charlie Baker’s desk this week. The Governor has not said how he will proceed. Details matter, and there are a lot of them to parse, but the overall thrust of the bill is very much in keeping with what voters have said(...)

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Chaos in the Senate?

Chaos in the Senate?

Hard to see

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THE AWKWARD TRANSITION from Senate President Harriette Chandler to Senate president-elect Karen Spilka makes for great copy, but it doesn’t seem to be having a huge impact on the chamber’s legislative output. Senators are still processing legislation. (Criminal justice reform emerged from a conference committee a little over a week ago.) Votes are being taken.(...)

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Mohegan, Wynn casinos rumble in the background

Rolling the Dice

Mohegan, Wynn casinos rumble in the background

As Everett casino struggles with suitability, what’s the end game of CT rival?

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AS THE MASSACHUSETTS GAMING COMMISSION tries to decide whether Wynn Resorts remains suitable to retain its casino license, the two antagonists in the original battle for the license are sparring with each other again. Mohegan Sun, which lost out to Wynn Resorts in 2015, is suing the Gaming Commission in court trying to overturn the(...)

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Gomez leaves GOP, eyes independent bid against Warren 

Gomez leaves GOP, eyes independent bid against Warren 

Move keeps options open; more challengers would likely benefit incumbent 

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GABRIEL GOMEZ, who ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate as a Republican in 2013, has switched his party affiliation to independent and is not ruling out a run against Sen. Elizabeth Warren this year, according to a source familiar with his thinking. Gomez said on WCVB’s On The Record this weekend that he had switched his voter registration(...)

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Lowell’s single-issue election 

Lowell’s single-issue election 

Divided city showed consensus is possible 

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ELECTIONS, as they say, have consequences. This is certainly the case in Lowell, where voters on Tuesday delivered a stunning rebuke to their elected officials and their decision to relocate the city’s sole public high school from downtown to its suburban edge. In the process, voters also showed that consensus can emerge in a city riven by race, class, and(...)

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Democracy isn’t working in Massachusetts

Fall 2017

Democracy isn’t working in Massachusetts

Crowded winner-take-all primaries, incumbency, and special elections subvert will of voters

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ON SEPTEMBER 15, 1998, David Nangle, then a State House aide, was effectively elected to the Massachusetts Legislature even though 76 percent of the voters in the district where he ran chose someone else that day. Nangle won the Democratic primary for an open Lowell-based seat in the House of Representatives by garnering just 24(...)

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Dissecting Baker’s stance on millionaire’s tax

Dissecting Baker’s stance on millionaire’s tax

Call for living within our means masks disparity for high earners

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GOV. CHARLIE BAKER hasn’t formally said he’s against the so-called “Fair Share” ballot question, which would create a surtax on incomes over $1 million and earmark the proceeds for education and transportation. But the totality of his public comments and statements from his office certainly suggest more opposition than support. Neither he nor his office(...)

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