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New from CommonWealth Beacon |
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EVs: Nearly four years after receiving $64 million from the federal government for electric vehicle infrastructure, Massachusetts still has not built a single charger through the program even as risks of funding clawbacks rise under President Trump. Jordan Wolman dives into the inaction that is “mystifying” transit advocates. |
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TEACHERS: The Senate will approve legislation Thursday to give thousands of teachers a second chance to opt in to an enhanced retirement benefit program. Alison Kuznitz and Sam Drysdale explain for State House News Service. |
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OPINION: Northeastern University professor and longtime media commentator Dan Kennedy argues that bills allowing legal ads to be published only on government websites, not with news organizations, threatens both democracy and journalism. |
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Massachusetts House leaders are attempting to chart a path forward on a pair of overlapping transparency fights. In the process, they seem to have set off an even greater conflagration. |
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House Democrats on Thursday pushed through a bill that would permanently constrain the power voters awarded the state auditor, by ballot measure, to probe the Legislature. It would also make some legislative records — but not lawmakers’ correspondence— publicly available. |
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They pitched the measure as a constitutionally sound solution and a way to avert a more politically bruising ballot question fight this fall. In a rare speech from the House floor, Speaker Ron Mariano said the bill would “demonstrate to the public what we already know to be true: this is an institution full of hard-working public servants who go above and beyond to ensure that every taxpayer dollar is spent responsibly.” |
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But the vote drew condemnation from both GOP lawmakers and from legislative skeptics campaigning to wrench open the curtain around Beacon Hill. Rep. Michael Soter, a Bellingham Republican, called the bill “a shield disguised as a window.” |
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“This is, to me, kind of like a shit sandwich with extra pickles,” House Minority Leader Brad Jones told CommonWealth Beacon. |
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DiZoglio was incandescent with her criticism, posting a 10-minute video to social media in which she contended the bill “essentially negates” the 2024 voter-approved law empowering her legislative audit. |
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“With this proposed bill, and under the guise of transparency, your state representatives are not only throwing the 72 percent voter-mandated law in the dumpster,” DiZoglio said, referring to margin of support for the ballot law. “They’re taking a match and lighting that dumpster on fire.” |
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It’s also unclear if the Senate will jump on board with the reforms. Last week, Senate Democrats voted to release some documents to DiZoglio while emphasizing their ongoing right to refuse any future requests she might make — a maneuver that, despite also drawing the auditor’s criticism, is fundamentally different than the House’s push to change the law. |
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More from CommonWealth Beacon |
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RENT CONTROL: Supporters of a ballot measure that would usher in the strictest statewide rent control in the nation are now looking for an off-ramp, floating a compromise proposal that would require legislative approval. The situation remains fluid, though, not least of which because lawmakers haven’t even been looped in yet on the contours of any potential deal, Jennifer Smith and Chris Lisinski report. |
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SHERIFFS: The state’s inspector general likened the budgeting process at Massachusetts sheriffs’ offices to the “wild west,” dinging both the county law enforcement officials and Beacon Hill for muddled transparency and failures in oversight. Chris Lisinski unpacks the takeaways from a 190-page report. |
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LAST CALL: Gov. Maura Healey has thrown her support behind an effort to let Massachusetts bars and restaurants stay open until 3 a.m. through the end of August as the state prepares to play host to summertime festivities including the World Cup and the nation’s 250th birthday. Sam Drysdale at State House News Service has more. |
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OPINION: The lack of contested elections and a record number of ballot measures poised to head before voters this fall is evidence of a democracy in decline in Massachusetts, writes Jay Kaufman, a former Democratic state representative from Lexington. |
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ELECTIONS: Massachusetts Democratic Party leadership filed complaints with the State Ballot Law Commission attempting to get Republican attorney general candidate Michael Walsh and Republican lieutenant governor candidate Anne Manning Martin disqualified for allegedly submitting fraudulent voter signatures. (State House News Service – paywall) |
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IMMIGRATION: Immigration into Massachusetts has fallen considerably during President Donald Trump’s second term, imperiling the state’s labor force, which relies on foreign-born workers especially in settings such as nursing homes. (GBH News) |
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FOXBOROUGH: The Kraft Group, which owns Gillette Stadium, contributed more than $5 million toward the MBTA’s $35 million renovation of the Foxborough commuter rail station outside the stadium ahead of World Cup matches this summer. (WBUR) |
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RENT CONTROL: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu threw her support behind a local-option rent control bill that backers of a statewide ballot question are pitching as a potential compromise. (The Boston Globe – paywall) |
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ABSENTEESM: A new series from The New Bedford Light dives into school absenteeism and the ways it poses different challenges, from immigrant students facing unstable living situations to “the Dunkin’ trend” in which students show up late after buying coffee or a donut. (The New Bedford Light) |
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