THE NUMBER OF people incarcerated in Massachusetts has dropped significantly over the last five years, from more than 17,000 in 2017 to 11,200 this year. That’s just one a many findings available through a new searchable database released Thursday by the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, which includes an unprecedented amount of easily […]
Shira Schoenberg
Shira Schoenberg is a reporter at CommonWealth magazine. Shira previously worked for more than seven years at the Springfield Republican/MassLive.com where she covered state politics and elections, covering topics as diverse as the launch of the legal marijuana industry, problems with the state's foster care system and the elections of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Gov. Charlie Baker. Shira won the Massachusetts Bar Association's 2018 award for Excellence in Legal Journalism and has had several stories win awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association. Shira covered the 2012 New Hampshire presidential primary for the Boston Globe. Before that, she worked for the Concord (N.H.) Monitor, where she wrote about state government, City Hall and Barack Obama's 2008 New Hampshire primary campaign. Shira holds a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
Posted inEconomy
Is Massachusetts losing its competitive economic edge?
THE MASSACHUSETTS Taxpayers Foundation released a dire warning Friday that the state’s competitive economic edge is being jeopardized by the high cost of living and working in Massachusetts. The core of the argument is not new, but the 44-page report marshals a host of statistics and evidence to argue that pandemic-related factors like the ability […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker signs bill bringing equity to cannabis industry
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday signed a bill aimed at giving minority cannabis entrepreneurs easier access into the industry, and also paving the way for municipalities to allow marijuana cafes. The bill better regulates host community agreements, creates a state-run loan fund for minority entrepreneurs, lowers taxes for marijuana businesses, and makes it easier to […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government
Here’s what Baker signed, amended, and vetoed
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday took a slew of legislative actions, clearing his desk of many of the major bills that were sent to him in the final days of the legislative session. Baker signed an $11.37 billion transportation infrastructure bond bill, with some vetoes, and signed a $164 million bond bill to modernize technology […]
Posted inGambling
Let the betting begin – in a number of months
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday signed a law legalizing sports betting in Massachusetts, joining more than 30 other states that have authorized sports betting since the US Supreme Court overturned a federal ban in 2018. “Our administration first filed legislation to legalize sports wagering in the Commonwealth several years ago, and I am glad to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
AG candidates fight over fundraising, credentials
IN AN HOUR-LONG DEBATE on Wednesday, the three Democrats running for attorney general issued sharp barbs over each other’s credentials and fundraising but largely agreed on many of the substantive issues. All three – Andrea Campbell, Shannon Liss-Riordan and Quentin Palfrey – pledged to continue to the work of current attorney general and Democratic gubernatorial […]
Posted inHealth
Mass. tops child welfare rankings, lags in pediatric mental health
A NEW NATIONAL report ranked Massachusetts best in the country for child welfare, but buried in the report is one significant danger sign: Massachusetts is one of the worst in the country when it comes to rates of depression and anxiety among children and teenagers. According to the Annie E Casey Foundation’s 2022 Kids Count data […]
Posted inPolitics
Lawmakers, advocates hit Baker’s opt-in approach to public health
A BILL OVERHAULING the state’s fractured public health system appears to have become a casualty of the last-minute legislative rush to pass bills in the final days of the legislative session. Gov. Charlie Baker returned the bill to the Legislature with an amendment on Monday night. By Tuesday, public health advocates and lawmakers had come […]
Posted inHealth, State Government
Baker returns public health bill unsigned
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Monday refused to sign a bill overhauling the state’s public health system, instead returning it to the Legislature with an amendment. The intention of the bill had been to introduce state funding and state standards into a system that has until now been controlled entirely by local governments. Baker, worried about […]
Posted inPolitics, Public Records, State Government
Tanisha Sullivan, Bill Galvin go head to head in testy debate
THE TWO DEMOCRATS running for secretary of the Commonwealth met in a testy debate Monday, which highlighted a fundamental disagreement over the nature of the job itself. Tanisha Sullivan, the Boston NAACP head who is challenging Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin in the Democratic primary, is pushing for a far more expansive vision of […]