Two Democrats who have a chance to stamp their mark on Gov. Maura Healey’s plan to reinvigorate the state’s business climate want the benefits to stretch beyond the Boston metropolitan area.
Economy
Posted inEconomy
House approves liquor licenses for under-served Boston neighborhoods
The redrafted bill steers 180 non-transferable licenses over three years to 12 ZIP codes in Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, East Boston, Roslindale, West Roxbury, Hyde Park, Charlestown, and Jamaica Plain.
Posted inHousing
Business leaders say housing shortage is top concern
THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC, labor shortages and supply chain issues bedeviled Massachusetts businesses. But business leaders say the housing crisis in Massachusetts is now the major existential threat to the state’s competitiveness. “Companies have cited the cost of living as the dominant factor in their decisions about expanding and reducing their presence here,” said JD Chesloff, […]
Posted inOpinion
Lowering financial hurdles for Black, Latina women
From gender and racial pay gaps to a lack of assets, Black and Latina women often start at a financial disadvantage, lacking the generational wealth which often provides a safety net for their White counterparts.
Posted inGovernment
Moody’s, with caveat, says Boston in ‘healthy’ fiscal position
The Moody’s analysis affirms the triple-A bond rating for the city, the top credit rating available. But Moody’s also warned the effects of remote work are starting to hit some office property types.
Posted inBallot Questions
SJC appears open to letting tipped-worker question go to ballot
MULLING A CHALLENGE to a tipped-wage initiative proposed for the November ballot, justices of the Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday seemed skeptical of arguments that they should keep the measure away from voters. The potential ballot initiative, which would require businesses to gradually raise the pay of tipped workers until it reaches $15 an hour […]
Posted inBook Review
The promise — and problems — of the US construction industry
More than 80 percent of construction work was union labor after World War II, but that dropped in single generation to 20 percent. Mark Erlich takes stock of what it would take to bring that number back up — and with it make construction work again a solid path to the middle class.
Posted inGovernment
Watchdog says Boston should look to reserve funds, spending cuts before hiking commercial taxes
The Boston Municipal Research Bureau threw cold water on a city plan to hike tax rates on commercial property, urging the city to instead look to reserve funds and spending cuts, among other approaches, to address a budget crunch.
Posted inOpinion
What to do about our worrisome outmigration problem
Based on most current government data, outmigration cost the state $4.3 billion in adjusted gross income (AGI) and $213.7 million in lost tax revenue in 2021. That year alone, Florida, New Hampshire, and Maine captured $1.77 billion, $1.1 billion, and $393 million, respectively, of AGI from those exiting Massachusetts.
Posted inOpinion
Frances Perkins belongs in the State House
FRANCES PERKINS, born in Boston in 1880 was, among other things, an architect of the New Deal, a series of programs, reforms, and laws that directly impact all Americans today. I have been thinking about her a lot lately because Senate President Karen Spilka recently asked us to think about women with ties to Massachusetts […]