I spoke earlier this week with Sue Clippinger, the traffic planner in Cambridge. She said that she was working on getting the application together for a truck ban on Blanchard Road. She said that she had all the necessary data at this stage. She said that she foresaw little objection in Cambridge since most of …
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Let’s Improve Officer Safety
Hi Will – I read with some interest the article in Globe regarding the deaths of several Police Officers on traffic enforcement duty (http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/07/18/trooper_struck_during_stop). This illustrates the danger of exceptional conditions on the highway. As long as traffic moves smoothly and everyone follows the rules, things generally work out fine, but anyone who’s ever been …
The Minimum Wage, give or take…
A lot goes into choosing an appropriate minimum wage level. Like most questions of government intervention in markets, it comes down to efficiency and equity. But even if everybody agreed on a balance between the two, there is still no guarantee that the intentions behind the law will match reality. In the interest of providing …
Municipal Relief Bill
The conference committee negotiating a municipal relief package reported a bill last night and the House accepted the report on what turned out to be straight party line vote.
Wind Facilities Siting Act
After two days of debate, the house passed a bill facilitating the siting of land based wind facilities. The vote was 101 to 52 and I voted in the majority.
Illegal Immigration and Public Housing
Access to public housing is another matter where there is ambiguity and debate when it comes to illegal immigration. Access to federal housing is restricted based on immigration status, but notably, access to state housing does not depend on immigration status. This has been the case since 1977, when U.S. District Court ruled in Weeks …