STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. MAURA HEALEY is scheduled to address the Irish Senate next week, and her first international gubernatorial travel plans also feature a series of business and commerce events alongside two Cabinet secretaries and other state officials, the governor’s office announced Tuesday afternoon. Healey’s trip to Dublin coincides with Ireland’s 30-year anniversary […]
State House News Service
Posted inThe Download
Commission urges New England states to prioritize prison educationÂ
IF EDUCATION IS key to a better life, that may hold double for those who are incarcerated. People who land in prison tend to have low educational attainment levels, while facing even greater employment challenges when released than those with similar education backgrounds because of the stigma and barriers their conviction carries. A report released […]
Posted inEnergy, State Government, State House News Service
Thong-wearing climate activists turn their cheeks in Senate
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THONG-WEARING climate activists intent on stopping fossil fuel infrastructure mooned senators and disrupted Thursday’s tax relief debate in the Massachusetts Senate. About an hour later, they were arrested and escorted out of the chamber. About eight local members of the international group Extinction Rebellion started shouting from the chamber’s public gallery […]
Posted inCourts, State House News Service
Feds tell automakers not to comply with Mass. law
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION officials dealt a major blow to a voter-approved Massachusetts law boosting access to motor vehicle telematic data, warning that the measure on the state’s books “poses significant safety concerns.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday effectively told major automobile manufacturers not to comply with the state’s “right […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment, State Government, State House News Service
Green bank to target building decarbonization
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH AN EYE on the state’s mid-century greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments, Gov. Maura Healey announced Tuesday the launch of a “green bank” that she hopes will attract private investment and federal money to pay for building retrofits and new construction of decarbonized buildings in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Community Climate Bank […]
Posted inCourts, State House News Service
Cypher stepping down from SJC, giving Healey a pick
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SUPREME JUDICIAL Court Justice Elspeth Cypher plans to step down in January, giving Gov. Maura Healey a chance to appoint someone to the state’s highest court early in her first term. The SJC announced Monday that Cypher, who turned 64 in February, will retire from the court on Jan. 12, 2024 […]
Posted inThe Download
Eversource’s view appears to depend on where it sits
NEW YORK wind farm developers earlier this week said they needed more money from ratepayers to get their projects off the ground, which had to be a tad embarrassing for Eversource and its CEO, Joe Nolan. Eversource is best known in Massachusetts as the state’s largest utility, but it also has tried its hand at […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass. health care spending spiraling upward
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS REGULATORS delivered one of their most forceful warnings yet that health care prices are spiraling out of control, ramping up the pressure on lawmakers who have been unable to develop a consensus vision of cost control. Experts at the Health Policy Commission on Wednesday said the combination of total health […]
Posted inThe Download
Will bold plan for Boston high schools get traction this time?
Year after year, mayor after mayor, plans are hatched to transform Boston high schools – many of which have poor outcomes in subpar facilities – only to see them fade away unrealized as attention turns to other issues. Mayor Michelle Wu vowed that this time would be different, as she announced a set of big […]
Posted inThe Download
The dark underbelly of retail electricity competition
Twenty-five years ago, Beacon Hill lawmakers dramatically changed the way electricity is bought and sold in Massachusetts. The old way was devoid of competition, with utilities producing and distributing electricity under the supervision of state regulators. The new approach opened the production of electricity to competition while leaving distribution under the purview of regulated utilities. […]