Sharp partisan divide remains, with Democrats more optimistic than Republicans
It won’t come as a bolt from the blue that freewheeling debate, robust dissent, and meaningful roll call votes have become endangered species on Beacon Hill...
But it is one thing to know in the abstract that the proceedings of the Massachusetts Legislature have little in common with the civics-class version of “How a Bill Becomes a Law.” It is something else to actually measure the disparity. That’s what MassINC, the nonpartisan Boston think tank, did this spring in CommonWealth, its quarterly magazine.
By Bruce Mohl
Howie Carr and Jim Braude are about as far apart on the political spectrum as you can get, but both of them are singing the same song about the state’s probation service.