Op-Eds + Articles

By Larry Edelman, Globe Staff, in the Boston Globe The Department of Unemployment Assistance made overpayments on about 719,000 claims in 2020-2021. It’s going after recipients even if they weren’t at fault. In the early months of the pandemic, when nearly 700,000 local jobs disappeared in a flash, the Baker administration was caught in a bind: There was a massive backlog of unemployment claims, but laid-off workers needed money fast or a bad economic crisis would only get worse. The Department of Unemployment Assistance rushed to get benefit checks out the door ASAP, even as vetting applicants was made more complicated by the sheer volume of work and confusing eligibility rules for new federal relief programs. While delays persisted, the DUA says it ultimately delivered $33 billion in state and federal jobless payments in 2020 and 2021 to almost 4 million people. But the state’s efforts have been marred by costly . . . Read More

In Commonwealth Magazine FROM THE GRIDLOCK of the Southeast Expressway to Logan Airport and the Cape Cod bridges, traffic congestion is so commonplace in Massachusetts that it’s easy to forget transportation is also our leading cause of climate pollution. All this movement of people and goods fuels the extreme weather trends that threaten our coastal communities, statewide economic vitality, and the very infrastructure that our cars and trucks depend on. Transportation is also responsible for dangerous pollutants that cause heart and lung disease — especially in neighborhoods that border major highways, roads, and distribution centers. Simply put, Massachusetts cannot fight the climate crisis or achieve environmental justice without a clean transportation system. That’s why lawmakers zeroed in on transportation in the Next Generation Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate Policy. The ambitious law, enacted this year, calls for the Commonwealth to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, while establishing short-term goals . . . Read More