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One-party rule on Beacon Hill has led to dysfunction – The Boston Globe

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1 year ago

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One-party rule on Beacon Hill has led to dysfunction – The Boston Globe


The Republican Party in Massachusetts has long held the unenviable position of being a superminority on Beacon Hill. This means Republicans do not hold enough seats to uphold a veto or force much of anything. We get it; we have a lot of work to do after the 2022 election.

What’s different today though is that Democrats not only hold supermajorities in the Legislature, they also hold every other statewide office. On Beacon Hill, this has predictably resulted in the concentration of power in the hands of a few. Increasingly, decisions are being made behind closed doors, not only to the exclusion of Republicans but also leaving out rank-and-file Democrats, the public, and the media who communicate to the public.

The Founding Fathers designed our democratic republic to be based on a system of checks and balances. Our own John Adams, when making the point that democracy should be cherished but yet can still result in abuses of power, wrote, “My opinion is and always has been that absolute Power intoxicates alike Despots, Monarchs, Aristocrats, and Democrats, and Jacobins and Sansculottes.”

The dysfunction on Beacon Hill has reached all-time dismal levels of inaction and discord. The state budget was a month late, joint committees can’t agree on rules for making decisions, and the center left is fighting with the far left. The result is that citizens and communities are being left behind. Likewise, transparency has become an afterthought, with many committee votes not available to the public and conference committee negotiations closed to all but a few power brokers.

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Complacency reigns as the new fiscal year ticks forward. The state’s credit rating is one important factor at risk, but so too are the recipients of taxpayer dollars. The Chapter 90 program provides cities and towns with funding for infrastructure and transportation. The budget impasse prevented municipalities from putting these much-needed funds to use during the beginning of this construction season. Many nonprofits receive state government funds, which are also tied up due to the late negotiations, leading to uncertainty.

The delay in enacting tax relief designed to stem the exodus of residents from Massachusetts is particularly concerning for its long-term stability. The Pioneer Institute recently documented the outmigration of residents from the Bay State. In an examination of Internal Revenue Service data, Pioneer found that in 2021, the state lost $4.3 billion in adjusted gross income to other states.

The number of residents leaving the Commonwealth is widely expected to dramatically accelerate due to the voter-approved surtax last November and the ease of remote work in our post-pandemic economy. Given that the top 1 percent of taxpayers typically account for nearly a quarter of all tax receipts, legislative leaders should be sprinting to enact short-term capital gains tax relief. Such relief was first proposed by then-Governor Charlie Baker and more recently was picked up by Governor Maura Healey. But such relief is not happening quickly under one-party rule.

With Democrats no longer accountable to their own membership, much less the public, it is past time we remember the axiom of John Adams warning about the corrupting influence of absolute power. It is clear that absolute power has once again worked against the interest of a government that is accountable and responsive to its citizens. It is now up to residents to chart a better path forward.

The Republican Party in Massachusetts is working to realign and rebuild to once again be a voice for sound fiscal policy and strong leadership. Come November and into 2024, our party is working to present voters with real alternatives to add to our numbers on Beacon Hill. In the meantime, residents should remember that this is our Commonwealth — if we can hold our leaders accountable.

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Amy Carnevale is chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party.





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Massachusetts

Disciplinary hearing for suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor continued to 2nd day

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5 hours ago

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January 15, 2025

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Disciplinary hearing for suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor continued to 2nd day


Suspended Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor’s Trial Board disciplinary proceedings will go on to a second day.

Proctor’s trouble publicly began when he testified during the murder trial of Karen Read last summer. During a tense examination by the prosecution and even more intense cross examination, Proctor admitted to inappropriate private texts that he made as the case officer investigating Read.

“She’s a whack job (expletive),” Proctor read from compilations of text messages he sent to friends as he looked at Read’s phone. The last word was a derogatory term for women that he at first tried to spell out before Judge Beverly Cannone told him to read it the way he wrote it.

“Yes she’s a babe. Weird Fall River accent, though. No (butt),” he continued under oath on June 10, 2024.

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He also texted them “no nudes so far” as an update on the search through her phone. He also testified that he told his sister that he hoped that Read would kill herself.

On Wednesday, Proctor sat through a full day of trial board proceedings at MSP general headquarters in Framingham. When that concluded in the late afternoon, the board decided to continue for a second day on Feb. 10. Neither Wednesday’s proceeding nor the second day is open to the public.

Proctor was relieved of duty on July 1 of last year, which was the day the Read trial concluded in mistrial. He was suspended without pay a week later. The State Police finished its internal affairs investigation last week and convened the trial board to determine the next step in the disciplinary process.

The trial board makes disciplinary recommendations to the superintendent, who determines the final outcome.

“A State Police Trial Board shall hear cases regarding violations of Rules, Regulations, Policies, Procedures, Orders, or Directives,” states the Department’s Rules and Regulations.

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“In the event that the Trial Board finds guilt by a preponderance of the evidence on one or more of the charges, the Trial Board shall consider the evidence presented by the Department prosecutor pertaining to the accused member’s prior offenses/disciplinary history, and shall make recommendations for administrative action,” the rules and regulations state.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, faces charges of second-degree murder, motor vehicle manslaughter and leaving the scene of a collision causing the death of O’Keefe, a 16-year Boston Police officer when he died at age 46 on Jan. 29, 2022. Read’s second trial is scheduled to begin April 16.

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Massachusetts

Local startups recovering from the burst tech funding bubble – The Boston Globe

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13 hours ago

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January 15, 2025

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Local startups recovering from the burst tech funding bubble – The Boston Globe


Tech startups based in Massachusetts finished 2024 with a buzz of activity in venture capital fundraising.

In the fourth quarter, 191 startups raised a total of $4.1 billion, 20 percent more than startups raised in the same period a year earlier, according to a report from research firm Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association. For the full year, local startups raised $15.7 billion, about the same as in 2023.

The stability ended two years of sharp declines from the peak of startup fundraising in 2021. Slowing e-commerce sales, volatility in tech stock prices, and higher interest rates combined to slam the brakes on startup VC activity over the past three years. The 2024 total is less half the $34.7 billion Massachusetts startups raised in 2021.

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But local startup investors have expressed optimism that VC backing will continue to pick up in 2025.

The fourth quarter’s activity was led by battery maker Form Energy’s $455 million deal and biotech obesity drugmaker Kailera Therapeutics’ $400 million deal, both in October, and MIT spinoff Liquid AI’s $250 million deal last month. Two more biotech VC deals in October rounded out the top five. Seaport Therapeutics, working on new antidepressants, raised $226 million and Alpha-9 Oncology, developing new treatments for cancer patients, raised $175 million.

Massachusetts ranked third in the country in VC activity in the quarter. Startups based in California raised $49.9 billion and New York-based companies raised $5.3 billion.

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Venture capital firms, however, had an even harder time raising money in 2024 compared to earlier years. Massachusetts firms raised $5.9 billion, down 7 percent from 2023 and the lowest total since 2018. That mirrored the national trend, as VC firms across the country raised $76.1 billion, down 22 percent from 2023 and the lowest since 2019.

Only one Massachusetts-based VC firm raised more than $1 billion in 2024, a more common occurrence in prior years, according to the report: Flagship Pioneering in Cambridge raised $2.6 billion in July for its eighth investment fund plus another $1 billion for smaller funds. The firm, founded by biotech entrepreneur Noubar Afeyan, helps develop scientific research for startups in addition to providing funding.

The next largest deals were Cambridge-based Atlas Ventures’ $450 million biotech-focused fund announced last month and Engine Ventures $400 million fund investing in climate tech startups announced in June.

The decline comes as VC firms have had trouble getting a return on their investments, because so few startups have been able to go public. Just six biotech companies based in Massachusetts and no tech companies went public last year.

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Aaron Pressman can be reached at aaron.pressman@globe.com. Follow him @ampressman.





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Mass. gives noncompliant towns more time to meet MBTA zoning regulations

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22 hours ago

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January 15, 2025

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Mass. gives noncompliant towns more time to meet MBTA zoning regulations


The Healey administration filed emergency regulations late Tuesday afternoon to implement the controversial law meant to spur greater housing production, after Massachusetts’ highest court struck down the last pass at drafting those rules.

The Supreme Judicial Court upheld the MBTA Communities Act as a constitutional law last week, but said it was “ineffective” until the governor’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities promulgated new guidelines. The court said EOHLC did not follow state law when creating the regulations the first time around, rendering them “presently unenforceable.”

The emergency regulations filed Tuesday are in effect for 90 days. Over the next three months, EOHLC intends to adopt permanent guidelines following a public comment period, before the expiration of the temporary procedures, a release from the office said.

“The emergency regulations do not substantively change the law’s zoning requirements and do not affect any determinations of compliance that have been already issued by EOHLC. The regulations do provide additional time for MBTA communities that failed to meet prior deadlines to come into compliance with the law,” the press release said.

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Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the state’s attorney general has the power to enforce the MBTA Communities Law, which requires communities near MBTA services to zone for more multifamily housing, but it also ruled that existing guidelines aren’t enforceable.

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The MBTA Communities Act requires 177 municipalities that host or are adjacent to MBTA service to zone for multifamily housing by right in at least one district.

Cities and towns are classified in one of four categories, and there were different compliance deadlines in the original regulations promulgated by EOHLC: host to rapid transit service (deadline of Dec. 31, 2023), host to commuter rail service (deadline of Dec. 31, 2024), adjacent community (deadline of Dec. 31, 2024) and adjacent small town (deadline of Dec. 31, 2025).

Under the emergency regulations, communities that did not meet prior deadlines must submit a new action plan to the state with a plan to comply with the law by 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2025. These communities will then have until July 14, 2025, to submit a district compliance application to the state.

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Communities designated as adjacent small towns still face the Dec. 31, 2025 deadline to adopt compliant zoning.

The town of Needham voted Tuesday on a special referendum over whether to re-zone the town for 3,000 more units of housing under Massachusetts’ MBTA Communities law.

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Like the old version of the guidelines, the new emergency regulations gives EOHLC the right to determine whether a city or town’s zoning provisions to allow for multi-family housing as of right are consistent with certain affordability requirements, and to determine what is a “reasonable size” for the multi-family zoning district.

The filing of emergency regulations comes six days after the SJC decision — though later than the governor’s office originally projected. Healey originally said her team would move to craft new regulations by the end of last week to plug the gap opened up by the ruling.

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“These regulations will allow us to continue moving forward with implementation of the MBTA Communities Law, which will increase housing production and lower costs across the state,” Healey said in a statement Tuesday. “These regulations allow communities more time to come into compliance with the law, and we are committed to working with them to advance zoning plans that fit their unique needs.”

A total of 116 communities out of the 177 subject to the law have already adopted multi-family zoning districts to comply with the MBTA Communities Act, according to EOHLC.





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