“Commission sharply split on qualified immunity proposals,” CommonWealth

“Commission member Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights, had a harsher response, calling it “deeply frustrating” and “a colossal failure” that the commission failed to recommend immediate reforms to qualified immunity. “The delay tactics that characterized this commission are really dangerous and harmful for people of color who are at risk of police brutality,” Espinoza-Madrigal said. “We need immediate changes to the qualified immunity doctrine, and this cannot be delayed for years to come.”  “

“Losing patience with Governor Baker after waiting hours in line for a COVID test,” Boston Globe

“Unlike them, Baker, a former health care executive, doesn’t seem able to rise to the occasion. People with far less access to resources than Baker have for almost two years cared for each other by masking up, getting vaccinated, and getting tested. We elect our leaders to provide care and respond quickly in moments of crisis, not make excuses or pass the buck. Baker must step up and accept responsibility for this dangerous debacle, and fix it. None of us can afford for him to be a reluctant leader.”

“Commission wrestles with incarceration costs, benefits,” State House News Service

“Between fiscal years 2016 and 2020, the average population of people in Department of Correction custody declined from 9,743 to 7,935, according to data published by the Special Commission on Correctional Funding. Over that same five-year span, the agency’s total spending increased from about $580 million to more than $732 million, driving up the cost per inmate from $59,535 in FY2016 to $92,368 in FY2020.”

“New Year’s to-do list for Governor Baker, Mayor Wu stirs reaction,” Boston Globe (A letter from Margaret Heitz!)

“Re “New Year’s resolutions for the new mayor and the outgoing governor” (Editorial, Jan. 1): To follow up its 2022 resolutions for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Governor Charlie Baker, the Globe needs to create a list for the state Legislature. Leading the list should be legislative process reform; the residents of this state deserve — and don’t have — an open process that fairly weighs the interests of families and of corporate associations. Will the Globe create that list? Will it spotlight the lawmaking system’s perennial autocratic dysfunction? Will it point to needed changes? (See, for example, last January’s report from the Climate Social Science Network at Brown University, “Who’s Delaying Climate Action in Massachusetts? Twelve Findings.”)”

“‘People’s house’ still shuttered, but crucial work lies ahead,” Boston Globe

“At the start of the pandemic and in anticipation of the 2020 presidential election, lawmakers wisely brought the state’s absentee voting laws into the 21st century, allowing no-excuses mail-in voting and, for the first time, early voting in primary elections. The reforms, however, were only temporary — extended once to include last year’s municipal elections. But the law died on Dec. 15, and efforts to extend it permanently have stalled. The Senate, in its bill (passed last October), wants to add same-day voter registration to the package; the House, which voted earlier for most of those reforms, seems not amenable to the voter registration piece. All those Democrats squabbling over the shape of voting reforms is just unseemly.”

“MTA attacks Baker on testing,” CommonWealth

“We are tired of Band-Aid approaches from Baker and [Education Commissioner Jeff] Riley when it comes to facing the biggest public health threat of our time,” said MTA President Merrie Najimy in a statement.

“With supplies running short, school employees will each get only one COVID-19 test,” Boston Globe

“The state will provide only one COVID-19 test per school employee, instead of the two originally planned, as supply shortages continue to challenge efforts for a safe return to school, education officials confirmed Saturday.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education notified school superintendents Friday night that the department had received 227,166 tests from two manufacturers, enough to provide one to each teacher and staff member.”

“Colorado governor pardons 1,351 Coloradans convicted of marijuana possession,” Denver Post

“More than 1,300 people convicted of possession of less than two ounces of marijuana will have their criminal records cleared after Gov. Jared Polis announced Thursday he would issue a mass pardon.” MA, your turn.

“New England is warming faster than the rest of the planet, new study finds,” Boston Globe

“New England is warming significantly faster than global average temperatures, and that rate is expected to accelerate as more greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere and dangerous cycles of warming exacerbate climate change, according to a new study.”

“‘Rubber stamp’ justice? In Mass., prison officials almost always deny prisoners’ claims of abuse behind bars,” Boston Globe

“Every year, Massachusetts prisoners file hundreds of grievances alleging all manner of mistreatment behind bars, from excessive force to racism to harassment — all at the hands of prison employees….And year after year, state records show, prison officials reject almost all of them.”

“Wu is right to stay the course amid anti-vax misinformation,” Boston Globe (A letter from Jonathan Cohn!)

“Wu has shown no sign of backing down, and we are all better for it. But those of us who believe in science, public health, and solidarity as the way forward on the pandemic and other issues need to be more vocal in our support so that we can relegate the misinformation and invective to the mere noise that it is.”

“Mass. to start trimming back housing assistance in Jan.,” CommonWealth

“We think that certainly we want the funds to be available longer, but the commonsense way to do that would be to seek additional funds,” said Kelly Turley, associate director of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. “This is not the time for families, households, elders, to be experiencing additional housing instability in the midst of the ongoing public health crisis.” 

“The Bill for My Homelessness Was $54,000,” New York Times

“Leaving homelessness did not mean immediate freedom. Instead, coming back to the world of the housed meant first having to navigate an obstacle course of fees and fines that I had incurred while homeless. In the process, I learned that the most traumatized and vulnerable members of our society are often burdened with bills that they have no idea how to handle, making finding secure housing that much harder.”

“Massachusetts’ minimum wage is increasing again in the new year. Here’s why,” WBUR

” “Massachusetts’ minimum wage will increase to $14.25 an hour on Jan. 1. It’s the final adjustment to the state’s wage floor before it becomes $15 an hour in Advocates are welcoming the scheduled increase. “It will mean that hundreds of thousands of workers will be seeing a raise — and so it’s cause to celebrate,” said Phineas Baxandall, a senior policy analyst at the left-leaning Mass. Budget and Policy Center. “

“Low-income communities could be saving money on energy while helping the climate, but the DPU is standing in the way,” Boston Globe

“By now we could have had people getting discounts on their bills,” said the Rev. Mariama White-Hammond, the city of Boston’s chief of Environment, Energy and Open Spaces. “I just can’t understand why — when people are suffering and struggling to pay their bills — you would stop us from building them renewable energy, and then giving those credits to support people.”

“Tougher Vaccine Rules Are Welcome (Letters),” Boston Globe

“I have no doubt that the mayor’s decision will be good for the economy and for our community’s health and well-being.”

“All for one, and none for all: Is banning single-family zoning easing the housing crisis?” Boston Globe

“Single-family zoning is just one arrow in the quiver for apartment-averse communities; other exclusionary rules, such as minimum lot sizes, setbacks, and parking requirements, yield similar results by different means. The best indicator that recent single-family zoning reform efforts are working, Ptomey said, is that people have begun discussing changes to those other policies, too.”

“Report finds Hispanic residents have harder time getting health care,” CommonWealth

“The report found that nearly one in three Massachusetts residents had difficulty accessing care at a doctor’s office – whether because a clinic wasn’t accepting new patients, the office did not accept their insurance, or they simply could not get an appointment as soon as they felt they needed one.” Why we need Medicare for All

“The Equity-Enhancing Power of Mandates,” Boston Globe

“Mandates rely on the simple public health principle that universal application of an intervention can be a powerful tool for reducing disparities. For example, fluoridation of drinking water helped close disparities in dental outcomes. Bans on smoking in public places benefit communities equally. Applying taxes to all tobacco products decreases inequity by disproportionately reducing tobacco use in low-income groups.”

“These 24 States Improved Access to Voting This Year,” Democracy Docket

“States across the country saw an unprecedented attack on the right to vote this past year. In the wake of Trump’s unfounded election claims, states like Texas and Georgia passed restricting laws that will make it harder for Americans to vote. But at the same time, many other states — 24 — took steps to make voting easier, enacting reforms like universal mail voting, expanding access for people with disabilities and banning prison gerrymandering. Here’s a roundup of some positive voting reforms this year you may have missed.” If only MA were on the list!

“The most neglected story of 2021? Immigration,” Boston Globe

“Our country’s vast and complex immigration system is incontrovertibly broken: Millions of residents live in the shadows without status and yet keep contributing to our economy — many of them as essential workers. Then there’s the trauma that immigrant parents and their children continue to suffer after being separated at the border. The federal government reportedly stopped negotiating a potential monetary settlement with the families, which would have helped repair the harm it so cruelly inflicted on them.” MA needs to act by passing the Safe Communities Act and the Work & Family Mobility Act.

“The M.I.T. Professor Defining What It Means to Live,” New York Times

“Not paying people enough to live implies indifference to whether they continue to live, undermining basic standards of decency and further eroding the foundations of a functional democracy. With many companies now inching toward more humane compensation, the question of how to define a living wage deserves broader public discussion.”

“It was once called a ‘useless job.’ Now, lieutenant governor may be the hottest race in Massachusetts politics,” Boston Globe

“In the weeks since Governor Charlie Baker and his lieutenant governor, Karyn Polito, said they would not seek reelection, it’s her office — not the top statewide seat — that has stirred a surge of interest among the Democratic Party’s state bench.

At least 10 Democrats are running for or are considering seeking state government’s number two post in 2022, an unusual number for a down-ballot seat that typically draws a smattering of green or lesser-known political candidates.”

“A changing of the guard in Lowell as a diverse leadership takes office,” Boston Globe

“For the first time, Lowell will have three Cambodian-American city councilors, a breakthrough for the country’s second-largest Khmer community.If, as expected, one is chosen by his peers as the next mayor,he would become the first Cambodian-American to lead a US city, observers say. The new City Council will also include its first biracial member in Corey Robinson, and Stacey Thompson will become the first Black woman to take office in Lowell as a member of the School Committee.”

State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, “A Short: Devenscrest Evictions,” YouTube

“Early July, with no warning, over 50 Ayer Tenants living in the Devenscrest neighborhood received eviction notices in their mailboxes alerting them to leave by the end of September. The Devencrest apartments were recently sold to new owners. This is a tragic housing crisis that is not just happening in Ayer but all around the country. A month ago, State Senator Jamie Eldridge visited the neighborhood and listened to these residents talk about their personal stories, struggles and worries as they navigate this plight.”

“In a record-breaking year of weather, signs of a changed world,” Boston Globe

“In a year when Boston set several record high temperatures, not a single low temperature record fell. Instead, the city experienced nine days in which the coldest point of the day was the warmest it has ever been on that day of the year, going back to the start of the historical record in 1872, according to data from the Northeast Regional Climate Center.”