Friday, April 12, 2013
State lawmakers have proposed four ways to fund transportation going forward.
Officials, legislators and members of the public have debated four plans unveiled during the course of the past two months all with one goal: Paying for transportation in Massachusetts for the foreseeable future. Writers of these plans are trying to find ways to pump as much money as possible into the system, while trying to avoid dramatic fare increases, tax hikes and fees. These are the plans in chronological order based on the time of their announcements: Writer: Gov. Deval Patrick, Mass. Department of Transportation Money: $1 billion Date of Announcement: Jan. 14, 2013 Gov. Deval Patrick unleashed “The Way Forward: A 21st Century Transportation Plan” in Januray. The plan is an ambitious, multi-billion dollar budgetary proposal for …
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
The grounds were closed after Sept. 11, 2001, but Patrick has said he wants to make the State House's iconic statue of JFK available once more.
More than three years after Gov. Deval Patrick said he'd make the State House grounds open to the public, the gates remain shut. The grounds were closed after Sept. 11, 2001, and Patrick has said he wants to make the State House's iconic statue of JFK, in particular, available once more. However, Boston Herald reporters were recently turned away from the plaza and told that it is open during the summer during official tours of the State House, the Herald reported. The governor seemed unaware that the grounds were never reopened. “Well, the JFK statue is accessible now, which is great,” he told Herald reporters Friday. “The rangers can take you out. You just have to ask them. It doesn’t have to be a tour, and that’s a great thing.” …
Thursday, March 14, 2013
The transportation bond bill would provide funding for modernization and maintenance of the transportation system.
Gov. Deval Patrick filed a transportation bond bill Wednesday that will finance an ambitious 10-year plan to overhaul the state’s ailing transportation system. The bill would invest $13.7 billion over 10 years in The 21st Century Transportation Plan “The Way Forward” if it is accepted by the state’s legislature, according to a press release from the governor’s office. The funding would address a backlog of deferred maintenance and strategically improve the state’s transportation system by reducing congestion on roads, curbing delays and minimizing crowding on trains and buses, according to the press release. “These investments will create the jobs and opportunity today that will build a stronger Commonwealth for tomorrow,” Patrick said in …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Markey is in, Lynch set to make an announcement Thursday and Brown reportedly considering throwing his hat into the race following Tuesday’s nomination of John Kerry as Secretary of State.
With Tuesday's official nomination of U.S. Senator John Kerry to the post of Secretary of State, the field is opening up with folks vying for Kerry's seat in his unexpired term in the U.S. Senate. But before that even happens an interim senator has to be named. On Wednesday, Governor Deval Patrick announced his former chief of staff William “Mo” Cowan will be the interim senator and will serve until a new senator is elected in the June 25 special election. Patch reported in December that Cowan, a Stoughton resident, would be stepping down this month and returning to the private sector. Besides being Patrick’s former chief of staff, Cowan also served as chief legal counsel to Governor Patrick, having served in the Patrick-Murray …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Tell us: do you think we need to increase taxes to strengthen education and transportation?
In his State of the Commonwealth address Wednesday night, Gov. Deval Patrick proposed raising the state's income tax by 1 percentage point and lowering the sales tax to pay for $2 billion in transportation improvements and early childhood education programs. "There is no good time to raise taxes. I know how tough the times have been on the people and families of the Commonwealth. And though the worst of the recession is over, many, many families still face tough decisions and have deep anxiety about the future. I would not ask if I did not believe in my heart that investing meaningfully today in education and transportation will significantly improve our economic tomorrows," Patrick said. Patrick said he wanted a more fair and …
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Brendan Ryan will replace William 'Mo' Cowan of Stoughton.
Gov. Deval Patrick announced Tuesday that he will have a new chief of staff beginning in January. Brendan Ryan, who is now the administration's director of communications, will take over from Stoughton resident William “Mo” Cowan, who has held the job since January 2011. Ryan, 31, is the longest serving member of the governor’s senior staff, according to a press release from Patrick's office. He is a graduate of St. Sebastian's School in Needham and Vanderbilt University and worked as Patrick's deputy chief of staff in 2007 and 2008 before leaving to work as Massachusetts political director for President Barack Obama's first campaign. He returned as a special adviser in 2009, and since has worked with the MBTA and then on Patrick's re-…
Friday, November 16, 2012
Rumor has it that Patrick could be asked to be the next U.S. attorney general.
Gov. Deval Patrick said will not resign from his job even if President Obama asks him to become the next U.S. attorney general. “I like what I do, and I have more that I want to accomplish in the next two years,” Patrick said, according to a Thursday Boston Globe article. “And then I promised [my wife] Diane that I’d go back into the private sector, and I’m going to keep that promise.” This means that Patrick will remain governor until his term expries, in January 2015. Rumors have been swirling about Patrick's possible departure after Obama won re-election and a few nights later Patrick was among the few to attend what was called a "social dinner" at the White House. Patrick said there was no talk at the dinner about him joining the …
Thursday, July 12, 2012
The governor's budget in $32.1 million slimmer that that proposed by the Legislature.
Gov. Deval Patrick largely passed on Sunday the 2013 budget hammered out by the House and Senate, but vetoed 10 line items that totaled about $32.1 million in spending from the $32.5 billion plan. His vetoes included a plan to keep the 169-bed Taunton State Psychiatric Hospital open with 45 beds. Instead, Patrick wants to close the hospital altogether, shaving $5.1 milllion from the budget. But his veto of the scaled-back plan presented by the Legislature stirred controversy in light the dwindling state resources dedicated to those with psychiatric problems. South Shore legislators have already said they will seek to override it, according to the Boston Globe. In another controversial move, Patrick vetoed an amendment that would …
Thursday, January 6, 2011
The pair began their second term today.
This morning, Gov. Deval Patrick and Lt. Gov. Tim Murray officially began their second term. Here are some photos.
42.35769
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24 Beacon St, Boston, MA
State House
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Bob Samson
10:36 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Invest and Tax are a democrat joke. A bad one at that. more ›