Hampshire College, which ran a non-traditional baccalaureate program for undergraduates, is not representative of the 413’s higher education institutions. Yet, the closures of colleges do happen. Hundreds of layoffs will follow Hampshire’s demise. Just as important, the episode underscores the stakes for the wider Western Mass region.
Western Mass appears to have its first open legislative contest of the 2026 cycle. Deerfield Rep Natalie Blais announced last week that she would be resigning on January 19 to take a job with UMass-Amherst. It is unclear whether there will actually be a special election for the seat. Either way, a large field could easily bubble up from the 18 communities the sprawling 1st Franklin District.
BOSTON—On June 18, Massachusetts Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro grabbed headlines with a call to put the Cannabis Control Commission into receivership. The legislature did not advance Shapiro’s proposal, but his office had another significant impact earlier in the year.
BOSTON—Looking past criticisms of Beacon Hill inertia, Governor Maura Healey gave her first state of the commonwealth address feting the efforts of her administration since she took office. The speech looked ahead, including as soon as Thursday when Healey testified on her housing push. Its lookbacks to 2023, however, emphasized efforts Healey had undertaken on her own.
The Massachusetts state budget, which both legislative chambers on Beacon Hill passed Monday, was late. It passed 31 days after the last budget expired on June 30. A 10-day period for Governor Maura Healey has begun when she will review the document and issue any vetoes.
With Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka’s release of committee assignments, the upper house on Beacon Hill can now get down to legislating. Lawmaking will soon begin in earnest with full Democratic control of Beacon Hill for the first time in nearly a decade.
BOSTON—There was no outdoor swearing-in ceremony in the cold. No members received admonitions to stay away. There was a feast in the Great Hall and cake in the Senate reading room at the inaugural festivities of the 193rd General Court that formally installed the House and Senate.
Amid a breakdown in vaccine delivery, Massachusetts legislative leaders set up a joint committee to review the commonwealth’s coronavirus response. Over 18 months, members, led by Northampton Senator Jo Comerford and Milton Rep Bill Driscoll, Jr., mined local and state officials for data, feedback and experiences.
With the much-delayed Census figures in hand, the Massachusetts legislature set to drawing new maps for the state House and Senate. On Tuesday, the Joint Committee on Redistricting released its drafts. The new lines are not wholly without controversy. The Committee will hear from the public Friday even as a constitutional deadline begins to bear down. In the 413, the process may have delivered as well as it could.
In a windowless State House room on March 4th, State Senator Jo Comerford chaired a Joint Committee on Public Health hearing on COVID-19 preparedness. Diligent but never overwrought, she grilled health officials including Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel. Unbeknownst to participants, the prior week’s Biogen