Your weekly look at politics, policy and elections in Massachusetts
8/7/19--Gather round, folks, for a very special announcement. As co-host and Empress of Equine Exuberance Jennifer Smith trains her sights on a law degree, she will move from full-time co-host to part-time, meaning we are thrilled to announce a third member of the pod squad. This intrepid reporter is a good friend of the pod and has contributed countless elections updates as the Massachusetts political field moves and shakes. Please join us in welcoming Politico reporter and author of the Politico Massachusetts Playbook Stephanie Murray to The Horse Race!
While Stephanie is currently hard at work in Nashville at the National Conference of State Legislatures, Steve and Jenn have some news to discuss.
First, in the wake of two back-to-back mass shootings, Brookline attorney and U.S. Senate candidate Shannon Liss-Riordan called for the repeal of the 2nd Amendment. Historically, the idea of taking this measure has not received broad support nationally, though less drastic tactics such as background checks and assault weapons bans have been well supported.
Steve and Jenn's first guest is George Cronin of Rasky Partners, joining them to discuss the initiative petitions that have been filed with the Attorney General's office. They chat not only about what's on the table this year, but also whether ballot questions are an efficient strategy to making policy.
Finally, Kasia Hart and Tim Reardon of the Massachusetts Area Planning Council stop by to walk through their recent report on parking in metro Boston. They tackle whether building more parking de-incentivizes using public transit, and if the city actually even needs more of it, given that 30% of the parking they surveyed goes unused.
This week on The Horse Race, a routine audit uncovers an accounting error that could cost the state billions. And we’ll take a closer look at the …
This week on The Horse Race, the push to bring back happy hour gets another shot on Beacon Hill and plans for the machine gun range on Cape Cod draw fire from residents and the …
This week on The Horse Race, we've got two new MPG polls to discuss and two new MPG polling experts to introduce to our listening audience! Research …
This week on The Horse Race, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins calls it quits amid federal investigations into her conduct. We’re …
This week on The Horse Race, we’ve got chaos in the council chambers and a new 56 billion dollar spending plan at the State House. All that, plus …
This week on The Horse Race, we’re looking at elections. They weren’t races so much, but they were elections as strictly defined. We'll also sift through a new survey of Boston Public …
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