STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SENATE PRESIDENT STANLEY ROSENBERG was trying to make a point Tuesday about the futility of taking legislative action on recreational marijuana when he got hung up on the word joint in joint committees. “There’s no point. No point in taking it up. First of all, it’s in the joint committees,” the […]
Andy Metzger
Andy Metzger is currently studying law at Temple University in Philadelphia. Previously, he joined CommonWealth Magazine as a reporter in January 2019. He has covered news in Massachusetts since 2007. For more than six years starting in May 2012 he wrote about state politics and government for the State House News Service. At the News Service, he followed three criminal trials from opening statements to verdicts, tracked bills through the flumes and eddies of the Legislature, and sounded out the governor’s point of view on a host of issues – from the proposed Olympics bid to federal politics.
Before that, Metzger worked at the Chelmsford Independent, The Arlington Advocate, the Somerville Journal and the Cambridge Chronicle, weekly community newspapers that cover an array of local topics. Metzger graduated from UMass Boston in 2006. In addition to his written journalism, Metzger produced a work of illustrated journalism about Gov. Charlie Baker’s record regarding the MBTA. He lives in Somerville and commutes mainly by bicycle.
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Baker unveils new development approach
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A NEW WORKING GROUP will facilitate the revitalization of the city of Lynn, using expedited permitting and coordinating development of sites with cross-jurisdictional issues, the Baker administration announced Monday. Gov. Charlie Baker traveled to Lynn to announce the Lynn Economic Advancement and Development Team. “If this is a model that could […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
T bans political, e-cigarette ads
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT surfaced Monday as a central theme in two protests: one speaking out against an ad on the MBTA that some say is designed “to demonize Israelis and Jews,” and another urging senators to forgo a planned trip to Israel next month. After opposing viewpoints on one of the […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Pollack: More Green Line funds needed
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IF THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION is to press ahead with the Green Line Extension project, the Legislature will likely have to authorize additional bonding next year to pay for the project, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack told lawmakers Wednesday. “As I’ve said repeatedly, the option of halting the project remains on the […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Senate, House split on T fare hike size
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ACTIVISTS AND KEY SENATORS say a 2013 tax law capped fare hikes at the MBTA at 5 percent every two years, while a key House lawmaker and the Baker administration are pointing to the same law and saying it clearly caps fare hikes at 10 percent every two years. The MBTA […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Deficit-ridden MBTA eyes energy savings
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BESET BY BILLIONS of dollars in unmet capital needs and persistent operating budget deficits, the MBTA is poised to save money in electricity procurement. At an official’s recommendation, MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board on Monday elected to pursue “option one,” the same style of energy contract currently in place, which […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T eyes new revenue-raising efforts
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THE GOAL OF BOOSTING its own-source revenues by about $40 million, the MBTA is looking at hiking parking fees, converting surface lots into developments, and maximizing revenues from telecommunications and utility companies that want to use the system’s rights of way. “We’re trying to put everything on the table and […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, State House News Service
DeLeo prefers omnibus energy bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO said he wants to avoid a piecemeal approach to energy law changes and would prefer to deal with them all in a single bill. The Senate has attached to a climate change adaptation bill (S 1979) a move to lift the cap on the number of solar […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T begins targeting absenteeism rate
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOPING TO REDUCE ABSENTEEISM at the MBTA, transit officials have begun looking at the roots of the problem and making human resources hires. They are also considering bringing in an outside manager. From January through August of this year, the MBTA dropped 34,702 trips, or close to 2 percent of the […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Beaton: Hydropower data not yet available
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ACCUSED BY A NATURAL GAS PIPELINE EXECUTIVE of failing to back up Baker administration policy proposals with numbers or analysis, the state’s energy chief said Monday that detailed analysis is not yet available. Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton said Gov. Charlie Baker’s hydroelectric procurement bill (S 1965) includes a […]