George Donnelly

Are we a commonwealth or a collection of headstrong duchies, each determined to make its own rules? That is one question that arises from Andrew Brinker’s very interesting Boston Globe story about leaders in Middleborough, Mass. thumbing their nose at new zoning requirements designed to generate more housing in communities with MBTA access.  When it […]

Massachusetts is a proverbial fat cow, having fed on the sweet grass of excess tax revenue and federal relief funds. So fat that the domestic beast can barely walk across a field and is dying to be milked. Should lawmakers share the bounty of the cow with their constituents or anticipate that the fields may […]

Happy Monday, and please do stay vigilant for any random UFOs in your area. Meanwhile on firm ground, Massachusetts is adapting to almost total one-party rule. Voters historically have liked a check against Democratic Party dominance, which in part explains the ascent of Bill Weld, Paul Cellucci, Mitt Romney and Charlie Baker despite meager Republican […]

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 […]

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 […]

It’s that time of year when a lot of smart people gather to predict the unpredictable: state tax revenue for the upcoming fiscal year. The consensus revenue hearing is scheduled for tomorrow (11 a.m. Room A-2), bringing together House and Senate budget chiefs Aaron Michlewitz and Michael Rodrigues, newly appointed Administration and Finance Secretary Matt […]

It’s been a busy year for the MASSterList job board, reflecting two phenomena: job growth and a shrinking labor pool. As the year closes, and with Matt off this week and thus no one around to stop me, I’m free to get a little nerdy with job data and gaze into the crystal ball. The question […]

I haven’t gotten very far in my Christmas shopping (hey, it’s not Dec. 23rd yet), but I’m remembering a Yankee swap gift I brought to a gathering that was a surprise hit: a pack of THC gummy edibles. I thought it would be a fun gag, and instead it turned out to be a hotly contested […]

Warnock wins: The state’s all-Democratic delegation was among those cheering from afar Tuesday night as Sen. Raphael Warnock won a narrow victory in the Georgia Senate runoff over Republican Herschel Walker. Boston.com’s Susannah Subdborough has a rundown of how local pols greeted the news, mostly via Twitter.  The money chase is on: We’ve never been here before. Billions in […]