AI eggshells

National Grid brings energy to power possibilities across Massachusetts, supporting homes, businesses, and communities every day. Through continued investment in reliable electric and natural gas systems, the company helps keep energy flowing when it matters most. National Grid is strengthening the energy system to support communities, economic growth, and future development across the region.

In the debate between AI as job killer and AI as helpmate, let us dispense with the happy talk for a moment. It’s been coming like a buzzsaw in some sectors, and in other fields perhaps not as fast and furious as the hype would have us believe. But it gets smarter every day, unlike most of us. Just ask Claude.

The savagery in private industry is just beginning, much of it in tech, where there were 38,000 job cuts in May alone. Layoffs so far this year attributed to AI: 87,700.

And yet the AI axe in the private sector is a butter knife in state government. There's been some interesting innovation with projects, but when it comes to jobs, there’s a lot of walking on eggshells. State worker unions know an enemy when they see one; only witness NAGE’s response to the Healey administration’s ChatGPT assistant rollout to some 40,000 state employees in February. WTF is this? A Trojan horse? No, don’t worry, it’s an efficiency tool, the Healey folks said. We don’t want to displace anyone.

And why not? Moral righteousness or political convenience? One might be tempted to point out that in this age of job insecurity, the Massachusetts state workforce, at 137,000-plus, is at a record level. State government is so multifarious that few pay attention to the collective workforce total. Is it destined to go ever higher or might there be a humane, sensible workforce strategy in an era of severe disruption?

How about attrition, but with a twist? That’s Gary Blank’s idea, which he proposed in a recent report as a Pioneer Institute Fellow. Layoffs could be avoided, as well as buyouts, if the state backfills only three out of every four separations or retirements. Unlike a hiring freeze, which Gov. Healey instituted in the executive branch and its approximately 45,000 employees last year, it provides flexibility to add talent but would reduce the workforce by 5,000 over five years.

I asked Claude about a hybrid attrition strategy. It responded:

It maintains some hiring capacity, which helps retain organizational knowledge and keeps pipelines open for critical roles. It's also administratively simple — easy to communicate, easy to enforce, and politically defensible. The 75% backfill rate signals fiscal discipline without the harshness of a hiring freeze.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. - George Donnelly

Ask your Senator to support S. 1114 and S. 1124 for Clean Slate legislation because an old CORI should not mean a lifetime of blocked opportunities.

10:00 | With MassHealth poised to undergo drastic eligibility changes, a Medicaid Summit is hosted by The Council of State Governments, the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council, and CSG East | Room 428 | Register and Zoom

10:30 | 42nd annual Portuguese Heritage Day is celebrated | House Chamber

11:00 | Gov. Healey and Lt. Gov. Driscoll attend the statue unveiling for the late Jack Connors, Jr., and Mayor Wu delivers remarks | John Hancock Tower, 200 Clarendon Street, Boston

1:00 | Local Government Advisory Commission meets with Lt. Gov. Driscoll and administration officials scheduled to discuss state budget and revenue developments, the governor's economic development proposal, and her recently filed micromobility bill. Local officials are also expected to outline municipal priorities | Room 157

6:00 | Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Shortsleeve and his preferred running mate, lieutenant governor candidate Shawn Oliver, hold a "unity rally” | Traveler's Ale House, 111 Huttleston Ave., Fairhaven

6:30 | Boston Democratic Wards 4 and 5 Committees host a double-header candidate forum to hear from candidates in two Senate districts that will feature Democratic primary contests this September. Sen. Will Brownsberger and challenger Daniel Lander will speak from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. From 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., attendees will hear from Sen. Nick Collins and the other two Democrats vying for that seat, Latoya Gayle and Juwan Skeens | Berklee College of Music, Boston | Register

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LATER LAST CALL IN PLAY: After lawmakers fast-tracked it, Gov. Healey signed a bill Monday night allowing bars to temporarily extend their last call an hour past their license limit up to 3 a.m., and permit people to publicly consume alcohol in designated spaces through July 31. — Boston Globe

SHORTSLEEVE SAYS NO AUDIT? NO FUNDING: GOP gubernatorial candidate Brian Shortsleeve said Monday he’d veto the Legislature’s budget funding until the House and Senate comply with the audit law. — MassLive

CELEBRATING BARNEY: Pols gathered at Faneuil Hall on Monday to celebrate the life of former Congressman Barney Frank, who died in May at the age of 86. The former chair of the House Financial Services Committee in 1987 became the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out as gay. Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Maura Healey, Frank’s campaign manager and friend Jim Segel, and Mayor Michelle Wu were among speakers who, for nearly two hours, remembered Frank and his impact on Massachusetts and the country. Healey called Frank “our champion for civil rights” and “an advocate for LGBT equality from his earliest days,” according to Boston Globe coverage of the event. Wu remarked, per GBH, that “Perhaps the congressman’s greatest legacy was changing how we do politics in Boston.” Denterlein Senior VP Peter Howe observed in a recap of the service “zingers galore” throughout the service, and the memories of Frank shared by Congressman Jim McGovern, former Sen. Chris Dodd, Frank’s brother, and others. And in coverage apart from the service, Mother Jones reporter Dan Friedman reflected on his observations of and experiences with Frank, and the city of Boston’s transition since Frank’s early days, intertwined with anecdotes from Friedman’s father, who wrote “what may have been the first newspaper profile” of Frank in the Globe back in 1968.

A NEW SURVEY: Taxpayers for an Affordable MA — the ballot question committee backing the proposal that would lower the income tax from 5% to 4% over the course of three years — commissioned a survey of people who signed the initiative petition in the fall, asking them whether concerns brought forward by opponents, and the petition’s uncertain fate in the Supreme Judicial Court, would change their initial support for it. More than 76% of those surveyed said they would have still signed the petition even knowing opponents filed a lawsuit about the petition’s summary being “misleading,” according to the survey. Polling firm Cygnal conducted the survey from May 28 through May 29, surveying 897 petition signers via SMS.

As electricity demand rises heading into the summer cooling season, National Grid is already taking steps to reduce risk, improve the customer experience, and support businesses and economic activity across the Commonwealth, helping bring energy to power possibilities for customers and communities. Investments in system reliability, coupled with proactive planning and newer technologies, help minimize disruptions and avoid costs that ultimately impact customers. — LEARN MORE

HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE INTO THE FALL? Despite recently announcing that it would have to stop operating sooner than it had planned, Hampshire College said Monday it obtained enough funding to remain open through the fall semester. — Boston Business Journal

WORLD CUP READY: Gov. Maura Healey declared Massachusetts “match ready” on Monday for the FIFA World Cup, as officials also flagged to residents the traffic, crowding and daily disruption anticipated during June. — State House News Service

NURSES PROTEST: Nurses from Baystate Franklin Medical Center protested outside of Northampton’s Baystate Health and Wellness Center on Monday, continuing their call for higher pay and staffing levels in the midst of a contract negotiation that has been in the works since September 2025. — Greenfield Recorder

CHATTING WITH PALEY: Economic Development Secretary Eric Paley talks challenges, the narrative surrounding innovation and competitiveness, metrics like GDP and job growth in Massachusetts, and his goals. — MassLive

JUDGE STRIKES DOWN H-1B FEE: A federal judge in Boston on Monday struck down the Trump administration’s policy implementing a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas. — AP News

NAUSET CONSOLIDATION? Consolidating Nauset Regional School District elementary students into two regional schools could save more than $9 million yearly by 2035-2036, according to consultants, who said the change would address declining enrollment and aging building issues. — Cape Cod Times

ANNA MARIA CLEANOUT: After the college announced in late April that it would cease academic operations in May and lay off staff in late June, faculty at Anna Maria College in Paxton were told last Wednesday that they had to clean out their offices by the next evening and that they’d lose access to their emails by the end of the week. — Telegram and Gazette

How will Boston navigate federal policy challenges and economic woes in a time of political uncertainty? What are the challenges and opportunities facing Boston in 2026? Kicking off a blockbuster summer featuring the World Cup and America 250, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joins MASSterList columnist Jon Keller for an in-person fireside chat at the MCLE Conference Center in Downtown Crossing. Register here.

Judge denies Proctor bid to delay deposition in O’Keefe wrongful death lawsuit against Karen Read and others

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