THE PIONEER BLOG

Joseph Staruski

Emigration from Massachusetts is at a Decade High, Despite Booming Economy and High Standard of Living

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The economy is doing great, so why are people leaving Massachusetts?

Editorial Staff

AEI’s Robert Pondiscio on E.D. Hirsch, Civic Education, & Charter Public Schools

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This week on “The Learning Curve,” Gerard Robinson and guest co-host Kerry McDonald talk with Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He shares his background working with curriculum expert E.D. Hirsch, Jr., who has emphasized the importance of academic content knowledge in K-12 education as well as civic education to develop active participants in our democracy. Pondiscio explains some of the findings of his book, How the Other Half Learns, on New York’s Success Academy charter schools network.

Apple store in Boston
Mitch Bove

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services on the Rise in Suffolk County, MA

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  Suffolk County, Massachusetts consists of the cities of Boston, Chelsea, Winthrop, and Revere. According to the Pioneer Institute’s MassEconomix website, 644,363 people were employed in Suffolk County in 2020. So which industry is the county’s biggest employer?    Since 2004, the first year in the MassEconomix database, the largest industry sector in Suffolk County has been healthcare and social assistance. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics defines the healthcare and social assistance industry sector as trained professionals who work in “establishments providing medical care exclusively, continuing with those providing health care and social assistance, and finally finishing with those providing only social assistance.” In 2010, 122,343 employees worked in healthcare and social assistance, comprising a total of  21.4 percent […]

Editorial Staff

Hubwonk360 Video: If we tax them, will they leave?

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In this brief, six-minute video, Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios and Director of Government Transparency, Mary Z. Connaughton, walk through an amendment to the Massachusetts constitution that could dramatically increase the income tax on retirees and small businesses.

Etelson Alcius

A Decade of Culture and Recreation Spending on Cape Cod

/0 Comments/in /by Etelson Alcius

Culture and Recreation are among the most important services needed for the wellbeing of a community. Parks are grounds for socializing, playtime and community events and give residents the opportunity to build community spirit. The same goes for Cape Cod; but towns vary in the extent to which they provide these services. How does Barnstable County stack up?   Source: Pioneer Institute’s MassAnalysis website   As shown in the chart above, the towns with the highest per capita Culture and Recreation expenses were Truro, Wellfleet, Orleans, Chatham, and Harwich at $405, $387, $379, $284, and $254, respectively. Barnstable and Falmouth spent the most in the aggregate, despite having some of the lowest expenditures on a per capita basis. Spending on […]

Etelson Alcius

A Decade of Police Spending on Cape Cod

/0 Comments/in , /by Etelson Alcius

Police spending is often the subject of debate in town halls across the country. The implications of the funding or lack thereof can be significant to the safety of the communities impacted. In Barnstable County, police expenses make up a significant component of overall town spending, but what Cape Cod towns invest the most in this vital service? As indicated in the chart below, the towns with the highest per capita police spending were Truro at $852 followed by Provincetown and Wellfleet, at $792 and $556, respectively. The town with the lowest per capita police spending was Falmouth at $203.   Source: Pioneer Institute’s MassAnalysis website   In 2020, police spending in Truro represented 11.3 percent of its total expenditures, […]

Etelson Alcius

Barnstable County: What Towns Tax the Most?

/0 Comments/in , /by Etelson Alcius

The housing market has been the center of American economic growth and decline for decades. Many potential home buyers consider residential property taxation and single-family tax bills in choosing a community. As such, property taxes can impact regional housing markets, as people consider whether those markets are affordable. One super-hot real estate market right now is Barnstable County, Massachusetts, which makes up most of Cape Cod.    So what do tax rates look like on the Cape? per $1,000 in assessed valued.   According to the graph above, the tax rates per $1,000 in assessed value for the majority of municipalities within Barnstable county are far below the statewide average of $14.92, with the town of Sandwich as the only […]

Editorial Staff

As States Compete for Talent and Families, Massachusetts Experienced a Six-Fold Increase in Lost Wealth Compared to a Decade Earlier

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With competition for businesses and talent heating up across the country, in 2020 Massachusetts shed taxpayers and wealth at a clip six times faster than even just a decade ago. Between 2010 to 2020, Massachusetts’ net loss of adjusted gross Income (AGI) to other states due to migration grew from $422 million to $2.6 billion, according to recently released IRS data now available on Pioneer Institute’s Massachusetts IRS Data Discovery website. Over 71 percent of the loss was to Florida and New Hampshire, both no income tax states.

Editorial Staff

David Ferreira & Chris Sinacola on MA’s Nation-Leading Voc-Tech Schools

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This week on “The Learning Curve,” co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Chris Sinacola and David Ferreira, co-editors of Pioneer’s new book, Hands-On Achievement: Massachusetts’s National Model Vocational-Technical Schools. They share information from their new book on the story of the Bay State’s nation-leading voc-tech schools, and how accountability tools from the state’s 1993 education reform law propelled their success.

Mitch Bove

Property Crime Rates and Motor Vehicle Theft in Eastern Massachusetts Cities

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An article published in May by WBUR shined a light on the recent rise in catalytic converter theft (a part of the exhaust system in cars and trucks) across Massachusetts. This raises the question of whether property crime, and more specifically motor vehicle theft, is increasing in Massachusetts especially in Boston, Lowell, and Worcester, the three largest cities in the eastern half of the commonwealth. Contrary to what the catalytic converter thieves may have you believe, overall property crime in these three Massachusetts cities has dropped dramatically since 2010. According to Pioneer Institute’s MassAnalysis website, Boston, the commonwealth’s largest city, had 3,203 property crimes per 100,000 of the population in 2010. In 2020, the most recent year available on the […]

Gauri Binoy

Caution towards CMS Data Sources for Healthcare Legislation

/0 Comments/in /by Gauri Binoy

Policymakers rely on accurate and timely data when implementing legislation or regulation to address biopharmaceutical spending in the U.S. Based on this research, policymakers may want to utilize other sources in addition to NHE data provided by CMS when making policy recommendations. 

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Joseph Staruski

Healthcare Employs More on Cape Cod Than Any Other Sector

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Despite being a major tourist destination, the largest employment sector on Cape Cod is not related to tourism: it is healthcare!

Joseph Staruski

With Declining Enrollment, Public Colleges in Massachusetts Cut Back Adjunct Faculty Positions

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The number of adjunct faculty positions is declining at public colleges and universities in Massachusetts.

Editorial Staff

WV State Sen. Patricia Puertas Rucker on Universal School Choice

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This week on “The Learning Curve,” co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Senator Patricia Puertas Rucker, a West Virginia state Senator and Chair of the Education Committee. Thanks to her leadership, West Virginia now has the widest, most universal education savings account program in America.

Joseph Staruski

Massachusetts Tax Revenues Surpass Pre-Pandemic Levels

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Pandemic recovery and then some! Massachusetts revenues are higher than anyone was expecting, but where is all the money coming from? And what does this mean for the Massachusetts economy?