MassInsider - Massachusetts Politics & Policy News

Must-Reads

Massachusetts

What happened to Massachusetts schools in 2025? Look at these seven charts.

Boston Globe

Four more initiative petitions clear signature hurdle for 2026 ballot
State House News Service
Unlearning history: Three decades after Massachusetts ended its disastrous experiment with rent control, voters are considering giving the policy another shot.
Reason
Families and incarcerated individuals in limbo as Mass. parole decisions stall
MassLive
Boston's police watchdog says it's being bogged down by department pushback
Boston Globe
Health research grant reviews restored after settlement with Mass. AG, Trump admin.
MassLive

Boston firefighters to receive 8.5% pay hike after striking 4-year deal with city
Boston Herald
AI Hallucination? Proposed Westfield data center appears abandoned by developers
The Shoestring
How Project 2025 changed higher education in New England
Boston Globe

National

Washington may be over Musk's cuts, but 'DOGE fever' still persists in these states

Boston Globe

Democrat wins Iowa state Senate race, blocking GOP from regaining supermajority
The Hill
Donald Trump's Golden Age of Awful
The New Yorker
Even as Trump Targets Boats in Strikes, Coast Guard Continues Anti-Drug Operations
New York Times
U.S. measles cases reach highest level in over 30 years: CDC
Axios
Mark Cuban Tells Us How He Can Fix America's Shitty Health Care
The Bulwark

How Dems can win the Senate in 2026
Public Notice
SNAP bans on soda, candy, and other foods take effect in five states Jan. 1
The Associated Press (AP)
Texas gets largest share of reconciliation law's rural health fund
Roll Call
IA: Democrat wins Iowa state Senate race, blocking GOP from regaining supermajority
The Hill
US executions surged in 2025 to highest level in 16 years
The Guardian
MN: HHS freezes child care payments to Minnesota, requires photo evidence across country
The Hill

Today on Beacon Hill

11:00am

Senate Informal Session

Senate Chamber

11:00am

House Informal Session

House Chamber

New Media

Podcasts

Is JD Vance the Republican Front-Runner?

Pod Save America

She Fell in Love With ChatGPT: An Update

The Daily, New York Times

Substack

What voters in every state think about Trump and prices

Strength in Numbers

Are Vaccines Harming Our Children?

The MAHA Report

As Millions Lose Health Insurance, the Washington Post Misleads About Medicare for All

Zeteo

Boston Local News in 60 Seconds

Bostopia News

What's in Healey's Energy Bill?

Mass Fiscal Alliance

Canton selects new police chief in wake of Karen Read investigation

CBS Boston

The Future of Transportation in Massachusetts with Congressman Seth Moulton and the MIT Media Lab

Congressman Seth Moulton

CNN interviews Nick Shirley on his childcare fraud claims in Minnesota

CNN

Congressman Seth Moulton goes 'On the Record'

WCVB Channel 5 Boston

Quote of the Day

““This isn’t a story about all white men. It’s a story about white male millennials in professional America...the mandates to diversify didn’t fall on older white men, who in many cases still wield enormous power: They landed on us."”

Jacob Savage, Compact Magazine

In his viral essay, Savage says diversity mandates didn’t unsettle powerful older white men who stayed in power; instead, the burden fell on younger white men competing for fewer roles and promotions.