State revenues have dropped down to a new, lower trend line. We cannot expect to return to pre-recession spending levels.
Author Archives: Will Brownsberger
Beyond probation
Reformers should be seeking to clean up arrangements that make weak agencies directly beholden to the legislature. The Turnpike Authority was one example. We’ve abolished it, but there are others that come to mind.
Recommending people for jobs
The question we will face over the next few months is: would the public be better served if legislators did not engage in job recommendations at all or did so only subject to limitations?
Why haven’t we achieved energy independence (and controlled climate change)?
Jon Stewart’s framing of this question is as powerful as it is amusing, although his answer is only more humor.
Next Steps in Health Care Reform
It isn’t clear that major state legislation is needed to advance experimentation with new health care cost-control models in Massachusetts. It may be primarily within the proper role of the executive branch to collaborate with federal Medicare and Medicaid administrators and move forward.
Bike Paths in Belmont
The Belmont Citizens Forum, in a recent pamphlet distributed to town residents, makes a case for more paths in general and for a particular path route. I appreciate the advocacy for paths in general, but it is important to recognize that the route is so far unsettled.