RECENT LEGISLATIVE ACTION in Texas and Florida reminds us that LGBTQ+ youth continue to be targeted and criminalized for expressing their gender identity. Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law prohibits instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity for students in kindergarten through 3rd grade, while requiring that such instruction be “age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate” in later […]
State Government
Posted inHealth Care
House plans vote on mental health bill
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE on Thursday plans to vote on a mental health bill that would improve access to mental health care, particularly for children, while ensuring that the health care system treats mental and physical health care equally. The House bill builds on a major bill that the Senate passed in November and includes many […]
Posted inEconomy
It’s time to ensure everyone a seat at the table on public boards
NO DOUBT MANY of us watched with pride and emotion as Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s appointment to the US Supreme Court was recently confirmed by the Senate. At last, the Supreme Court will look more like America with a Black woman justice seated. But closer to home, in leadership positions on prominent Massachusetts public boards […]
Posted inHealth Care
Speaker Mariano says health care regulation needs updates
IT”S BEEN A DECADE since the Legislature revamped the way the state regulates health care, passing legislation establishing the Health Policy Commission and instituting a cost control benchmark. House Speaker Ron Mariano, one of the architects of the 2012 law, said on The Codcast that much has changed over the last 10 years and the […]
Posted inOpinion
Cemeteries exploring climate-friendly burials
IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE Greater Boston without its expansive cemeteries that serve as both resting places and public spaces – Mount Auburn, Forest Hills, Mount Hope. These garden cemeteries replaced the earlier practices where Americans were laid to rest in isolated plots or in crowded town and city graveyards. Rural, landscaped cemeteries were created in […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government
Do marijuana community impact fees really address impacts?
AARON VEGA, director of the Office of Economic Development and Planning for the city of Holyoke, said the money Holyoke collects in community impact fees from cannabis companies will address costs related to the industry. So far, Holyoke spent $45,000 of nearly $2 million collected on staff for Vega’s office to review special permits for […]
Posted inBook Review
Opportunity lost
The second of two takes on the new book by the state’s governor and his former chief of staff. Read the first one here, by Republican activist Ed Lyons. ALMOST 50 YEARS AGO, Harvard Business School professor Abraham Zaleznik published a ground-breaking article whose title posed a question that scholars and practitioners have been debating […]
Posted inPolitics
Legislature moves toward adopting permanent voting by mail
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE is poised to adopt permanent voting by mail, but not same-day voter registration. A committee of House-Senate negotiators on Wednesday released the final version of a voting reform bill, which will be subject to an up or down vote in the House and the Senate. The Senate plans to take up the […]
Posted inPolitics
A balancing act from front-runner Healey
MAURA HEALEY, who launched her campaign for governor in January with a modulated message vowing to continue what’s working and change what isn’t, swept the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s convention endorsement, vowing to be a champion for those left behind or left out. The two-term attorney general won the Democratic Party endorsement by a wide margin […]
Posted inState Government
RMV vendor says 53,000 driver’s licenses, IDs need to be replaced
A VENDOR of the Registry of Motor Vehicles said it printed 53,680 driver’s licenses and identification cards incorrectly over the last couple months and starting Monday will begin mailing replacement cards to the individuals affected. State officials late Friday afternoon released a statement put out by the vendor, a company called IDEMIA, which blamed the […]