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New from CommonWealth Beacon |
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VOC VOTE: After years of debate and discussion, students applying to vocational high schools will be awarded seats via a lottery, following a vote by the state board of education to adopt a new admissions policy. Michael Jonas has more.
OPINION: Housing attorney Mark Martinez argues for the need to rein in what he calls “junk” rental fees, add-on charges that cost renters thousands of dollars and give them nothing in return.
OPINION: Cheryl Cronin, CEO of Boston Public Market, reflects on the founding of the indoor food market as it approaches its ten-year anniversary.
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May 22, 2025 |
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By Gintautas Dumcius |
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After days of horse-trading and a vote almost entirely along party lines, House Republicans in Washington pushed through a piece of legislation early Thursday morning by the narrowest of possible margins – 215 to 214 – that includes major tax cuts and spending on border security.
A key piece of the bill involves cuts to the safety-net program Medicaid, which provides health coverage for low-income people. MassHealth, the Massachusetts Medicaid program that includes federal funding that’s now imperiled by the bill, makes up roughly $20 billion of the $60 billion-plus annual state budget. According to a Congressional Budget Office estimate based on a draft of the bill earlier this week, 7.6 million people could lose Medicaid coverage nationally from the cuts being proposed. |
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We've kicked off our May Member Sprint with a big goal:
50 new members by the end of the month.
If you believe in independent, nonprofit journalism, become a member today to support the reporting Massachusetts relies on. |
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On the morning before the House vote, we caught up with Michael Curry, the head of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, to ask him what’s at stake for residents here who rely on the program. The 52 health centers, and their one million patients, that he represents depend heavily on Medicaid, with 31 percent of their revenue coming from the program.
“I have to remind people I don't care if you're a Republican, Democrat, MAGA, super liberal, whatever the polar opposites of that spectrum would be, the bottom line is, if you don't have health insurance, you don't get care,” Curry said. “Not until it's critical to get care, which means that you have less chance of survival, which means you suffer longer.” |
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More from CommonWealth Beacon |
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OPINION: The ‘eds and meds’ sectors that fuel the state’s economy are facing grave danger from Trump administration policies, writes Mark Williams, a finance professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business.
CODCAST: Gubernatorial hopeful Mike Kennealy talked with Gintautas Dumcius about running for governor and being a Republican in Massachusetts on The Codcast.
FLOOD WATCH: “Extreme precipitation increases” in the Northeast are posing a major threat, with roughly a fifth of all residential land in Massachusetts sitting in a flood plain, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. BU Statehouse Reporting program student Maya Mitchell has the details.
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The Codcast: Mike Kennealy talks running for governor and being a Republican in Mass. |
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This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Gintautas Dumcius talks with gubernatorial hopeful Mike Kennealy about running as Republican against Gov. Maura Healey, his platform, and his history in the Baker administration. |
| LISTEN NOW |
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What We're Reading |
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MUNICIPAL MATTERS: The city of Boston is funding, with help from a Mellon Foundation grant, a new project to highlight the thousands of enslaved Black Boston residents during colonial times. (GBH News)
COURTS: Under Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, a Costa Rican immigrant, the organization known as Lawyers for Civil Rights has grown its headcount and caseload, and plans to launch a small-business incubator later this year. (Boston Business Journal - paywall)
PUBLIC SAFETY: A former Boston police officer charged with possessing explosives at home has been banned from future law enforcement work by a state oversight panel. (MassLive)
EDUCATION: The Trump administration’s freezing of federal funds, revoking of visas for international students and pressure campaigns for schools to drop DEI programs has cast a pall on the graduation season underway. (WBUR)
HOUSING: Boston housing officials are warning that cuts to federal subsidies for low-income residents will create a Section 8 crisis. (Dorchester Reporter)
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