Apparently Bay State transportation has already improved so darn much since Gina Fiandaca has been in the Healey cabinet that she decided to take some – out of town. Forgive the newsroom snark there, but it’s a good a theory as any we’ve heard in the 21 hours since Fiandaca dropped some news no one […]

Craig Sandler
Senate set to debate term limit for chamber President Thursday
When former Speaker Bob DeLeo and his deputies moved to eliminate a short-lived reform effort limiting the number of terms House Speakers could serve, the Herald and others were quick to dub him Speaker for Life. Now comes Senate President Karen Spilka’s Ways and Means chair Michael Rodrigues, proposing that the Senate remove the bonds […]
Mind if I take your home’s equity? It’s time to spare victims of the foreclosure process
We aren’t the types to whine about the occasional obtuseness in the Legislature, but we are mystified from time to time. One such head-scratcher: the lack of action on so-called home equity theft. Massachusetts is among several states that allows municipalities and private companies to seize excess equity from homeowners during the foreclosure process. But […]
How much do you make? Greater pay transparency is coming — and take our compensation quiz
The New York Times recently stationed a duo on the streets of the Big Apple to ask people what they do for work and how much they earn. From 400 requests, 27 gave answers, producing a randomly diverse compensation snapshot. New York City implemented a salary transparency law last year, and Massachusetts, along with several […]
Next stop…accountability
The new governor gets props for taking a ride on the T less than a month into office. It took Charlie Baker almost five years in office to descend into the bowels of Park Street station. Gov. Healey and LG Driscoll took a short ride from Park Street to South Station yesterday, an act of symbolism but […]
Bill filing for fun and profit
Bill filing: something of a racket. We’re heavy into the season when consultants and lobbyists are pitching stories to reporters and posting on social about the exciting news that proposal x is in play, having been filed by the consultant’s client or client organization. Part of a bill-info service or a lobbyist’s stock in trade is […]
Gov. Wait and See?
Maura Healey is starting to get a bit of a “Gov. Wait and See” rap in certain quarters of the State House, as she tells reporters (aka “certain quarters”) that issues like the T and tax credits and the housing crisis deserve a strong response, and that response is coming soon. There’s a feeling that with […]
The Obsessive’s Guide to January OCPF Finance Filings
It’s Jan. 31 — year-end finance reports for reps, senators, mayors and city council candidates (in bigger cities) were due Jan. 20, and are mostly in — not as big a deal as it once was at the state level since the advent of monthly auto-reporting, but those auto-reports are arriving too. So where’s the action […]
It’s Top-Story Tuesday – BUT ON A MONDAY!
Here’s one good way to avoid the fact that it’s Mean Old Monday Morning — let’s just leap ahead to Tuesday, which is the cool day this week anyhow. Cause the thing is, at the State House, tomorrow is all anyone’s going to be talking about today. Here’s why: by the end of the day tomorrow: […]
Healey’s Team in Training
Maura Healey’s compete level seems high. It served her well in the campaign — although many onlookers rolled their eyes at the endless basketball allusions. And yet the aura seemed to go over well in front of the hundreds of ever-competitive business leaders who jammed the ballroom at the Newton Marriott to hear the state’s new […]