Saturday, April 13, 2013
Massachusetts is one of 11 states where 17-year-olds are tried and sentenced as adults, but two bills on Beacon Hill seek to change that.
At what age should teenagers be tried as adults when charged with a crime? In Massachusetts, it's anyone 17-years-old or older, but two bills currently on Beacon Hill seek to change that. It's a law that journalists at Patch and elsewhere are well aware of, since we've answered emails and questions from people asking why a 17-year-old arrestee's name had been printed in a police log report. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 119, Section 52 defines only those 16 and younger as juveniles in the state's court system. The makes the Bay State only one of 11 states that doesn't classify 17-year-olds as juveniles. Most states—38, to be exact—don't treat alleged offenders as adults until they've reached 18-years-old. New York and North Carolina …
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Should the state forge ahead with Gov. Deval Patrick's bold plan to invest now? Or should it follow the Legislature leadership's proposal to address the bottom line before embarking on bigger initiatives?
Massachusetts legislators this week answered Gov. Deval Patrick's ambitious plan to raise $1.9 billion for transportation and education with a $500 million plan of their own, which says the governor is asking for too much, too soon as the Bay State shakes off the effects of the Great Recession. Who's right? Should the state forge ahead in a bold plan to invest now? Or should it cautiously address the bottom line before embarking on bigger initiatives? While Patrick's plan includes funding for both the state transportation system and increased education funding from preschool through college, House and Senate lawmakers eschew new revenue for education, focusing solely on closing the transportation budget gap over the next five years. The …
Saturday, March 16, 2013
See why the state Legislature's website received an 'F' for transparency and tell us—do you agree? How transparent is your city or town government's website?
This week is Sunshine Week, when journalists and nonprofits cast a spotlight on government transparency, but there are dark clouds over the Massachusetts Legislature's website according to one organization. The nonpartisan, nonprofit Sunshine Foundation gave the state Legislature's website an 'F,' one of five states to receive a failing grade on a report card grading each state legislature website's transparency. Websites were scored in six categories. The categories, along with the score ranges for each, Massachusetts' scores and explanations were: The lead investigator on the Sunshine Foundation's Open State project, James Turk, told WGBH that Massachusetts' results were presented to the state and the Foundation "was told that not much …
Friday, January 11, 2013
Gov. Deval Patrick signed legislation that would require teachers, workers at child care centers and school bus drivers to submit fingerprints for criminal background checks.
UPDATED FRIDAY, JAN. 11 at 11:55 A.M. Should school and child care employees fingerprinted before starting employment in order to check their criminal backgrounds? The Associated Press recently reported Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is considering signing legislation that would require teachers, workers at child care centers and school bus drivers to submit fingerprints for criminal background checks. On Friday, the state education office announced in a press release that Patrick signed the bill on Thursday, authorizing the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) and school districts to conduct fingerprint-supported national criminal history background checks on all teachers, school employees and early education providers in …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Although the state is expected to fall short of projected revenue, the raises are justified since staff hasn't had a raise in four years, some say.
Despite recent news that the state is projected to take in less than expected in tax revenues, State House leaders last week announced 3 percent salary raises for staff of representatives and some senators, the Globe reported. But the increases are justified since the lawmakers' staff haven't had a raise since 2008, says Seth Gitell, a spokesman for House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo. "It’s been more than four years since the last cost-of-living adjustment,” Gitell said Monday, according to the Globe. “Previously, employees received cost-of-living increases every one or, in many cases, every one or two years. There hasn’t been one in a long time.” Last week DeLeo gave raises to all 460 people who work in the House, and Senate President …
Monday, October 8, 2012
The strong majority of Massachusetts' legislators are white and male.
Although Westford is currently represented by a female state senator, women, along with minorities, continue to make up a smaller share of state legislators than their numbers in the population at large suggest they would. A series of maps published by Wicked Local visually display the striking disparity. Blacks or Latinos together comprise 5.6 percent of the House (9 of 160 representative) and 2.5 percent of the Senate (1 of 40 senators) despite being 7.8 percent of the state's population and Latinos being 9.9 percent. Nationally, 8.1 percent of legislators are black and 2.9 percent are Latino, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, but these two groups comprise a higher percentage of the national population than …
Thursday, July 26, 2012
The House is expected to decide today whether to accept the governor's changes to an amendment that restricts how welfare money can be used.
State Representative James Arciero (D-Westford) joined in overturning Governor Deval Patrick's veto on a law that restricts use of electronic-benefit cards, also known as EBT. Arciero was one of 154 House members to vote on passage of the original bill despite the veto, with no one in opposition and only Bryan Rushing (D-South Boston), Russell Holmes (D-Boston), Harriett Stanley (D-West Newbury), and Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica) not voting. As part of the 2013 state budget, the Legislature included language that would have banned EBT card use to buy jewelry, manicures, tattoos, guns, pornography and other items. It is already illegal to use such cards to buy tobacco, alcohol and lottery tickets. But on Sunday Patrick rejected these new …
Monday, July 9, 2012
If signed into law, Massachusetts would be the sixth state to grant access to family members.
Despite the policies of most major email providers ensuring the privacy of emails, a law making its way through the Legislature would give family members access to the email accounts of deceased loved ones. The proposal passed in the Senate late last month and is now in the House Committee on Ways and Means. If passed, Massachusetts would become the sixth state – after Connecticut, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Indiana and Idaho – to enact such a law. Google, Yahoo! and other major providers have policies of not granting access to such accounts, but a state law would override those policies. (AOL, the parent company of Patch, allows next-of-kind to access emails, according to CNET.) However, the law would not override the decedant's will. To …
Colleen
11:13 am on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Excellent points, Tom. more ›