Ella Adams

If you ask anyone on Beacon Hill about the state of housing in Massachusetts, they’ll say it’s a crisis. But if you ask the Legislature to do something about it, don’t hold your breath waiting for a reply.  Gov. Maura Healey has been sounding the alarm on the state of housing affordability and availability since she got into office, and […]

“Even if you don’t take Uber, Uber is taking you for a ride.” Tuning into CNN and ESPN through May and June, Massachusetts voters will hear that opening phrase and see the first of what could be a number of statewide television advertisements run by United For Justice — the Massachusetts ballot committee pushing for unionization rights for rideshare drivers. In an ad […]

In what Transportation Workers Union Local 2054 President Ed Flaherty recalls as a 10-hour negotiation meeting last week, commuter rail coach cleaners and car inspectors employed by Keolis reached a tentative contract agreement featuring pay increases, rate changes and first-ever paid sick days. “It’s the highest raise that we’ve ever received,” Flaherty told MASSterList, dubbing the agreement a major success, a […]

A lot of towns don’t have any governors to their name, but Arlington now has two: a Republican and a Democrat, more than a century apart, and they’ve got a couple things in common. John Q. A. Brackett and Maura Healey were born 129 years apart and grew up in southern New Hampshire. Brackett’s early years were in Bradford, just over […]

Yesterday, the Supreme Judicial Court held the last of three hearings about legal challenges against potential ballot questions, crossing yet another mile marker in the long, winding road to the election. For the three campaigns not facing eligibility reviews — removing the MCAS as a high school graduation requirement, legalizing some psychedelics, and allowing the auditor to audit the Legislature — […]

We’re looking at a $57.9 billion bottom line for the Senate Ways and Means Committee‘s budget, a figure that hits 3.3 percent above the fiscal year 2024 budget enacted last summer and comes in a skosh below the House‘s finalized $58 billion budget bill.  The budget proposal also comes with fairly different messaging. For all of the warnings about […]

The fiscal year 2025 budget out of Senate Ways and Means is dropping today, providing a first glance at how the chamber’s fiscal plans and appetite for spending compare to the House‘s. According to someone with knowledge of the Senate proposal, the budget — whose bottom line still has not been released — places emphasis on state-local partnerships […]

Steward Health Care filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, jettisoning its financial crisis into a new phase. The for-profit health care system that has become the biggest boogeyman in Massachusetts announced overnight its move to seek bankruptcy proceedings, which it said would help restructure debt. “Steward does not expect any interruptions in its day-to-day operations, which […]

A policy-driven change or a jab at a political nemesis? Depends who you ask. Language included in the wide-reaching health care reform bill released by the Committee on Health Care Financing this week would renovate the Health Policy Commission board, part of an effort that House Speaker Ron Mariano and others back to give the commission greater regulatory might. The language would trim […]

The push for a major state investment in climate tech is on, and big business is on board. Gov. Maura Healey‘s plan to inject $1.3 billion of public dollars and tax incentives into climate tech over 10 years will get its hearing before the Joint Committee on Economic Development next Tuesday as part of the governor’s economic development bill […]