Today the financial leadership of the House, the Senate and the Governor’s office held their annual “consensus revenue hearing”. In short, the outlook is fair — a continuing moderate budget squeeze with some warning flags about long-term issues. But those long-term issues — health care, pensions, and financial reserves — mean that the budgetary choices over the next few months won’t be easy.
Author Archives: Will Brownsberger
Leadership — the scarce resource in the transportation system
Leadership is scarce in the transportation system in Massachusetts. By that, I emphatically do not mean that the current leadership is weak. Rather, I mean that every management team has a finite capacity to plan and to solve problems and that the range of challenges facing MassDOT’s management team is very broad.
Stricter Seat Belt Laws — continued
Thanks to all who have commented on my previous piece on seat belts. I have read all of your comments and am duly informed. On balance, the comments make me less likely to support the legislation. Perhaps the best argument against the proposed new law is that there are a lot of more important laws on the books that we are not enforcing today.
Notes on Watertown-Cambridge Greenway Meeting
Roughly 100 people attended the meeting on Monday, November 30. The meeting was positive but a number of concerns were raised. Representative Hecht summarized our shared commitment to getting the details right and getting the project done.
Stricter Seat Belt Laws?
Before Thanksgiving, the Judiciary Committee heard testimony in support of a bill to tighten the state’s seat belt law. I’m considering supporting the change, based on the compelling evidence that it would save lives. As always, I’d appreciate hearing your thoughts.
Continuing the conversation about charter schools
I’ve been getting passionate feedback from both sides, but the tilt among has been against expansion. As this conversation continues, I hope we can keep ourselves focused on our own direct perceptions and Massachusetts-specific facts.