JUST A LITTLE over a year ago wholesale crude oil prices went into negative territory, meaning demand was so low and storage space so scarce that for the first time in history sellers were paying buyers to take barrels of oil off their hands. But now, with COVID loosening its grip on the planet, demand […]
Economics
Posted inOpinion
Working women need more supports
MID-MARCH marks the moment many of us were sequestered into our homes as a result of the coronavirus. We all made significant changes in our lives, and the lives of our children, to help stop the significant spread of the virus. As a result of this seismic shift, many individuals began to struggle with a […]
Posted inUncategorized
Details released on $75m emergency sick leave program
THE HOUSE WAYS and Means Committee Tuesday evening released a bill that would create a $75 million program to expand emergency paid sick leave during the pandemic and would reduce businesses’ unemployment insurance costs by temporarily freezing rates in the unemployment system. House Speaker Ron Mariano, Senate President Karen Spilka and the chairs of the […]
Posted inState House News Service
State pension fund gains $10b in 2020
FOLLOWING MARKET volatility and uncertainty at play through much of the first half of 2020, a strong second-half performance for the Massachusetts state pension fund — the largest six-month return in its 37-year history — helped drive the fund up to an all-time high of $86.9 billion by the end of 2020. The Pension Reserves […]
Posted inOpinion
Shecession means the jig is up
WOMEN ENDED 2020 with 5.4 million fewer jobs than they had in February 2020, prior to the start of the pandemic. December unemployment figures showed that employers cut 140,000 jobs in December alone and all of them were held by women. The “shecession” of 2020 has thrown into stark relief the barriers that keep the gender/racial wage […]
Posted inEconomy
Bill would let hotels assess guest fee
FED UP WITH what they see as years of state underfunding of tourism, some local tourism officials and hoteliers want to collect marketing money on their own – by charging a fee to hotel guests. A provision in the economic development bill sitting on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk would allow for the creation of Tourism […]
Posted inEconomy
Future of food delivery fees up to Gov. Baker
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER will be the final arbiter of a dispute between restaurants and food delivery apps over how much the apps can charge for providing delivery services. The economic development bill currently on Baker’s desk would impose a statewide cap on the size of fees that delivery services like GrubHub and Uber Eats can […]
Posted inThe Download
New year will usher in 2018’s ‘grand bargain’
It’s been a tough year for low-wage workers, who were hit hard by the pandemic – losing jobs and income and facing housing and food insecurity. But in Massachusetts, changes in state law that go into effect January 1 could bring at least slight relief. The minimum wage is set to rise next year, and […]
Posted inUncategorized
Let Mass. home bakers do their thing
RETIRED SALON OWNER and daycare provider Marcia Donnelly did not want to fight City Hall. She just wanted to sell home-baked sourdough bread from her kitchen in Southbridge. Homemade food businesses are common and easy to start in 48 states, and have become increasingly popular during COVID-19. Worried about global supply chains and general uncertainty, […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. should follow California’s lead on contractors
WITH THE 2020 Massachusetts election behind us, state lawmakers have returned to Beacon Hill to finish one unprecedented session, while also preparing to begin the next. Health care, policing, and climate change are commanding lawmakers attention for the rest of 2020, but debates around transportation and economic development also remain to be settled, and both […]