How a badge-maker uses Claude to harness 170+ years of experience: VH Blackinton has handcrafted first-responder badges in the U.S. since 1852. When a wave of retirements threatened deep institutional knowledge, the team used Claude to turn it into a living record for the whole factory floor — Learn more.
Congresswoman Lori Trahan has been talking up her bipartisan AI legislation as a commonsense safety measure, the type of step Washington needs to take before the technology evolves past the point of regulation.
The Westford Democrat is also pitching it as the first dose in something of a physical therapy regimen to repair Congress’ getting-things-done muscle.
“I think if we do get something on frontier AI accomplished, it sort of also builds confidence to the American people that we can work on hard things again,” Trahan said during a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce forum Thursday. “Hopefully, that can become contagious across a whole bunch of areas where we need it — healthcare, immigration.”
Trahan has been out front on AI regulation, calling for guardrails from the halls of Beacon Hill, on cable news, and pretty much anywhere else she has a microphone.
The FRONTIER Act, a bill Trahan filed with California Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte, proposes a transparency and risk-reporting framework for the largest AI developers. She followed that up this month with another proposal, the CLAIM Act, that seeks to make it easier for people and businesses to take developers to court if they're harmed by an AI agent that goes rogue.
In her Chamber speech Thursday, Trahan says there will be more to come on AI once the next Congress is seated in January, like responding to its workforce impacts. (And Trahan is talking like someone who expects to be part of that 120th Congress, saying she doesn’t “have a serious election” despite challenges from Acton Republican Gary Grossi and unenrolled candidate Dennis Conlon of Hudson.)
Whether or not Trahan’s AI agenda will be the jumpstart Congress needs, it’s clear that many Americans hope some sort of jolt can push lawmakers to act on big issues.
A national poll released last month by UMass Amherst found 68% of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing, with respondents pointing to the body's failure to provide a check on the president or represent constituents' needs, along with corruption and partisan gridlock.
And the Pew Research Center found this Congress is one of the least productive of any in the past four decades, with 121 laws enacted since January 2025.
But Pew's findings suggest light at the end of the congressional session for anyone who wants to see more lawmaking activity after the midterms — including Trahan, who sees her FRONTIER Act, which was referred in July to a pair of House committees for review, as "ready to go."
The research shows Congress has been leaving increasing amounts of its workload until the post-election lame-duck season. The 118th Congress, from 2023-2025, passed more than 60% of its laws during the lame-duck period, according to Pew.
Which could leave Capitol Hill with plenty of muscles to stretch back out as the end of the year approaches.
What are you still hoping to see Congress get done this year? Let me know what’s on your radar at [email protected].
Massachusetts leaders are working to make electricity more affordable. But proposed fixed charges in S.3166 and H.5175 would undermine reforms designed to lower costs and instead raise bills for households and businesses. Lawmakers and Gov. Healey should say “NO” to fixed charges. Learn more here.
HEARD AROUND TOWN
...In-person early voting kicks off Saturday in Massachusetts, and turnout is already over 3%, with almost 173,000 mail-in ballots returned. The day overlaps with a national series of No Kings protests focused on early voting, which locally will include an "Authoritarian House of Horrors" on Boston Common, organized by Mass 50501…
...Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is in Michigan this weekend to campaign with Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, rallying Friday with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez before a Flint town Hall with El-Sayed Sunday. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who made her own Michigan trip last week, plans to be in Maine Saturday to door-knock and hold a town hall with Senate candidate Troy Jackson…
...The staff at CommonWealth Beacon announced plans for a newsroom union, the CommonWealth Beacon Guild, under the umbrella of the Providence Newspaper Guild, and is seeking voluntary recognition from publisher MassINC. “To get truly impactful reporting that educates the public and holds power to account, you need journalists who can develop expertise, build out sourcing, and refine their craft with a sense of stability,” senior reporter Chris Lisinski said in a statement. The unionizing staff says they're willing to go through a formal National Labor Relations Board election...
HAPPENING TODAY
11:00 | GBH News’ Boston Public Radio hosts a debate about Question 4, the ballot measure that would enable people to register to vote and then cast a ballot on Election Day. The League of Women Voters of Massachusetts' Celia Canavan and GOP candidate for attorney general Michael Walsh debate | GBH Boston Public Library Studio, 700 Boylston St., Boston | GBH 89.7 FM | Livestream
12:00 | Gov. Healey, joined by Congressman Neal, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Interim Transportation Secretary Phil Eng, and Director of Federal Funds and Infrastructure Quentin Palfrey, announces new development in the state’s efforts to build West-East Rail and improve transportation options for western Massachusetts | Springfield Union Station, 55 Frank B. Murray St., Springfield
12:00 | MIT Center for Real Estate and the MIT Center for Real Estate Alumni Association host “20% Affordable, Give or Take: A Spotlight on Inclusionary Zoning,” a symposium where experts plan to discuss the legal, economic, real estate development and urban planning fields “to examine the costs, consequences and constitutional questions surrounding one of Greater Boston’s most widely used affordable housing policies” | MIT Media Lab, 75 Amherst St., Cambridge
12:30 | Republican candidate for governor Mike Minogue holds a community discussion focused on the effects of the closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center, which shuttered in 2024 | 8 Church St., Shirley
2:00 | Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joins MTK Development and community members to celebrate the start of construction on Marzuq Muhammad Plaza II, a new mixed-use development | 376 Blue Hill Ave, Dorchester
3:30 | Sens. Cyr and Fernandes join the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce for a check presentation recognizing state investments to the nonprofits Cape Cod Blue Economy Foundation and CapeTide Economic Development Corp | Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce | 5 Patti Page Way, Centerville, MA 02632 | Sandy Neck Conference Room
5:00 | Gov. Healey joins the Fall River Fire Department for a medal ceremony to honor the firefighters who responded to the July 13, 2025 Gabriel House fire | 52 Globe Mills Ave., Fall River
5:00 | U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton holds a meet and greet | Kelley Square Pub, 84 Bennington St., East Boston
JOB BOARD
Evaluation and Monitoring Associate — NEW, Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation
Administrative and Program Associate — NEW, League of Women Voters of Massachusetts
General Counsel/Chief Legal Officer — NEW, Massachusetts Executive Office of Education
Account Director/Senior Account Director — NEW, Issues Management Group, Inc.
Director of Resource Development, The Neighborhood Developers
Director of Human Resources, SEIU Local 509
Deputy Sewer Director, Town of Nantucket
Communications & Community Engagement Manager, City of Chelsea
Job board continues below the fold — post a job
Institutions don’t change when asked nicely. They change when failing a child costs them something. For decades, child sexual abuse survivors were told to stay silent, then told they were too late. They aren’t asking for sympathy. They’re asking for their day in court. Inaction may or may not be politically safe. Your support will save many children — Learn more.
ON BEACON HILL
ON THE MAINSTAGE: Abortion, the state and federal charges against former Healey aide LaMar Cook, federal immigration enforcement and scandals at the State Police were among the hotspots in the final debate between Gov. Healey and Republican Mike Minogue. | WBUR
OFF STAGE: Independent candidate for governor Andrea James, who was excluded from the gubernatorial debates, says she's running because she sees people's struggles getting worse and is driven by a passion for criminal justice reform. | GBH News
COOK IN COURT: A Hampden Superior Court judge revoked LaMar Cook's bail in his cocaine trafficking case after the governor's former Western Mass. deputy director was charged this week with federal SNAP benefits fraud. | Boston Herald
SMOKE SCREEN: Both branches of the Legislature have now passed bills that would make regular cancer screenings free for firefighters by requiring insurance coverage for them. | State House News Service (gift link)
DELAYS ON TRACK: New Red Line cars will not be in place by the end of 2027 as projected, with the MBTA pointing to customs delays for the railcar shells constructed in China. | WCVB
BETTING AGAINST IT: With the economic development bill still in conference committee, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe rallied outside the State House to push negotiators to drop a House-backed measure that would allow historic horse racing gambling machines at Raynham Park. Tribe leaders say the slot-style machines would compete with their Taunton casino, threatening the community's economic future. | Taunton Daily Gazette
NEWS NEXT DOOR
WAREHOUSE AWARENESS: A proposed $120 million warehouse consolidation project in East Boston and its potential for truck traffic is drawing pushback from the Conservation Law Foundation and former state transportation secretary and longtime airport expansion critic Fred Salvucci, in a reprise of past dustups. | Boston Globe
STAYING AFLOAT: The Steamship Authority is considering across-the-board fare hikes to offset a major increase in fuel prices, and is also discussing regular ferry service to New Bedford. | Vineyard Gazette
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MORE HEADLINES
THE SUNDAY SHOWS
KELLER AT LARGE: 8:30 a.m., WBZ-TV. Political analyst Jon Keller hosts a mini-debate on Question 7, reducing minimum single-family home lot size requirements, with Andrew Mikula, chief housing economist at Pioneer Institute and chair of Legalize Starter Homes, and Adam Chapdelaine, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.
@ ISSUE: 9:30 a.m., NBC 10. Reporter Matt Prichard sits down with Evan Horowitz of the Tufts Center for State Policy Analysis for a detailed look at all nine ballot questions.
ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. NewsCenter 5’s Sharman Sacchetti and Ed Harding interview Sen. Ed Markey. Democratic political analyst Mary Anne Marsh and Republican political analyst Rob Gray join for a roundtable discussion.
JOB BOARD
Chief Financial Officer, Cooperative for Human Services Inc
Justice Geraldine S. Hines Legal Fellowship, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General
Senior Transportation Engineer, City of Newton
Financial Investigator III, Mass Gaming Commission
Vice President of Administration and Finance, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Government Relations Officer, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
1099 Admin Hourly, Shepherd Strategies
Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General
Lead Organizer / Civic Engagement Coordinator, Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants
Deputy General Counsel, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities
Vice President of Membership and Engagement, Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers
