Author: Mike Clifford
-
Bay State Consumers ‘Overcharged’ Billions by Utilities?
Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons A new report says two utility companies have inflated their energy costs for customers in Massachusetts and other New England states. The allegations are being made in a new white paper by the Environmental Defense Fund. Craig Altemose, master of public policy for the group 350 Mass for a Better Future,…
-
Rule Aims to Protect Mass. Residents From Payday Loan Abuses
Consumer advocates are praising a new rule issued on Thursday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that requires payday lenders to start verifying a borrower’s ability to repay the loan before rolling it over into a new loan. The rule aims to stop lenders from taking advantage of desperate people who want to borrow more…
-
Extreme Weather Events: ‘Let’s Talk About Them’
With residents of Texas and Louisiana struggling to recover from what has now been classified as the worst rain event in U.S. history, Bay Staters will soon have a chance to discuss and learn more about extreme weather events. Karen Price is environmental co-chair for the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts. The League is…
-
Minimum-Wage Boost Making Dent in MA Child Poverty
It’s a significant dent. The share of Massachusetts children living in poverty is down, and state job growth along with recent boosts in the minimum wage are cited as big factors pushing the positive trend. The data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey show the child poverty rate for Massachusetts dropped from…
-
Massachusetts Moving Up in Providing Summer Meals to Kids
The number of lower-income children with access to free summer meals is down nationwide, but New England states are doing better than most. Crystal FitzSimons, director of school and out-of-school-time programs at the Food Research and Action Center, which tracks summer meal programs across the country, said one reason more Massachusetts children received summer meals…
-
Cape Downwinders Oppose House Plan to Revive Nuke Dump Plan
A bill reviving plans to ship thousands of tons of highly radioactive waste thousands of miles by road, rail and barge may come up for a vote in the House this month. HR 3053 passed the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee last week, breathing new life into cancelled plans for a controversial nuclear waste repository…
-
Proposed SNAP Cuts Target Mass. Seniors, People with Disabilities
President Donald Trump wants to take a $193 billion slice out of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program over the next 10 years, and local advocates say seniors and Bay Staters with disabilities would be hardest hit by the proposal. Patricia Baker, a policy analyst at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, has crunched the numbers…
-
Lawmakers Face Dueling Versions of Marijuana Legalization
State lawmakers are working against an end-of-month deadline to try to reconcile two competing versions of the marijuana legalization bill. The House was the latest to act on the measure, and Essex Rep. Frank Moran, who chairs the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, said they scored a win by making sure the legislation contains…