The list of early-adopter Massachusetts communities that have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples’ Day is about what you’d expect: Amherst, Northampton, Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville. School committees in Mashpee and Pittsfield have also jumped on board. But now the school committee in Framingham is considering making the switch, and it will be interesting to […]
Politics
Posted inOpinion
Ex-lobbyist reveals how the House really works
AT THE MASSACHUSETTS State House, I stepped outside of a packed hearing on updating the state’s bottle bill to speak with a young reporter for a western Massachusetts weekly. I had been “holding court” with the press all morning – giving them the Sierra Club’s point of view on the proposed legislation. I enjoyed this […]
Posted inPolitics
Ash aide moves up to take his job
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN THE SECOND SHAKEUP of his Cabinet since Gov. Charlie Baker won reelection in November, the Baker administration announced Tuesday afternoon that Secretary Jay Ash is leaving the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development this week. Mike Kennealy, assistant secretary for business growth, will be sworn in Friday as the […]
Posted inTransportation
Mass. joins regional bid to price transportation carbon
MASSACHUSETTS and eight other states plus the District of Columbia pledged on Tuesday to spend a year developing a regional system that would put a price on the carbon contained in transportation fuels and invest the proceeds in initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The states did not commit to any specific plan or any […]
Posted inPolitics
Oops: DeLeo says Grid bill drafted incorrectly
HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO acknowledged a bill to extend the unemployment benefits of locked-out National Grid workers doesn’t do what he thought it would do. The bill was approved with no debate during an informal session of the House on December 6. DeLeo issued a statement at the time saying the bill would extend the […]
Posted inThe Download
Oops: DeLeo says Grid bill drafted incorrectly
House Speaker Robert DeLeo acknowledged a bill to extend the unemployment benefits of locked-out National Grid workers doesn’t do what he thought it would do. The bill was approved with no debate during an informal session of the House on December 6. DeLeo issued a statement at the time saying the bill would extend the […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo acknowledges drafting error in Grid bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS THE HOUSE on Dec. 6 passed legislation authorizing wage benefits for locked out utility workers, House Speaker Robert DeLeo announced that the utility responsible for locking out its workers would be on the hook for any related costs under the bill. That’s still the intent, but it appears that’s not […]
Posted inOpinion
Track care providers who commit abuse
IN EARLY NOVEMBER, the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Children and Families heard compelling testimony from families, caregivers, and state agencies about the need to pass Senate bill 2606, an act that directs the Disabled Persons Protection Commission to establish and maintain a registry of care providers who commit substantiated findings of abuse. The bill also […]
Posted inPolitics
Moulton caves — and declares victory
IT’S EASY TO poke some fun at Seth Moulton and liken his message to that of George Aiken, the Vermont senator who famously declared in 1966 that the US should simply declare victory in Vietnam and go home. The Salem congressman threw in the towel yesterday, saying it’s time to rally around Nancy Pelosi as […]
Posted inThe Download
Moulton declares victory — and caves
It’s easy to poke some fun at Seth Moulton and liken his message to that of George Aiken, the Vermont senator who famously declared in 1966 that the US should simply declare victory in Vietnam and go home. The Salem congressman threw in the towel yesterday, saying it’s time to rally around Nancy Pelosi as […]