Rising to the Challenge

Assessing the Massachusetts Response to Climate Change

Ben Forman, Val Stori, soniahamel and warrenleon
MassINC is proud to present Rising to the Challenge, the first independent assessment of state action on climate change since the precedent-setting Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008. Climate change is the challenge of our age. For the obvious reason – failing to respond could alter the environment with profound and dire consequences – but read more
Topic(s): Government Accountability, Environment

MassINC’s Middle Class Index

Ben Forman, Steve Koczela, Caroline Koch and Robert David Sullivan
The first-of-its-kind Middle Class Index is designed to serve as a barometer of the status of middle class residents. Composed of 26 different indicators, the overall score for Massachusetts in 2010 was 97.4, down 2.6 points from the benchmark figure of 100 for the year 2000. Nationally, the index number was 94.2. The index number read more
Topic(s): Education, Jobs and Economic Security, Economic Development, Government Accountability

Capital Gains

Avoiding Harm to the State Budget

E. Cameron (Cam) Huff
Governor Deval Patrick recently took dramatic action to repair a $1.4 billion deficit in the state budget, a hole that is roughly the size of the state’s annual spending on higher education. The plan to fill the gap includes $1 billion in spending cuts and the layoff of 1,000 employees. The need to act has read more
Topic(s): Government Accountability

Point of Reckoning

Two Decades of State Budget Trends

E. Cameron (Cam) Huff
The Massachusetts state budget has reached a point of reckoning. First and foremost, a stubborn structural imbalance threatens the state’s ability to manage or grow current programs and services. Spending increases are outpacing revenue growth, with health care voraciously consuming a more generous slice of the fiscal pie. This imbalance is exacerbated by volatility in read more
Topic(s): Government Accountability

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