THE PIONEER BLOG

Editorial Staff

A Time to Give Back

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Coming on the heels of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday is a day to refocus on what’s most important – a day during the holiday season for business leaders, families, students, community organizations and others to celebrate giving back to the causes we value most. At Pioneer, that means improving the quality of life in this City on a Hill we call Massachusetts.  It means solutions that will give all kids access to a good school, sustain innovation in healthcare, promote movement whether through public transit or private mobility, expand job and business opportunities, and ensure that government works. Last year, more than 45,000 organizations in 71 countries came together to celebrate #GivingTuesday.  Since its founding in 2012, #GivingTuesday […]

Editorial Staff

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Pioneer Institute could not continue promoting world-class schools, affordable healthcare, reliable public transit service, government accountability, and economic prosperity for all without the generous support of our donors. In the coming weeks and months, look for an announcement about our 2017 Better Government Competition, and more in-depth research on the MBTA, academic standards, and other topics. From the Pioneer family to yours, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving!

Editorial Staff

Major Gift Announcement: The Peters Legacy Society

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~In Memory of R. Kingman Webster~ We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of R. Kingman “King” Webster, a longtime confidant to Pioneer’s founder, Lovett C. “Pete” Peters, a benefactor for almost two decades, and a key member of the Institute’s early Board of Directors. After retiring from a fourth generation, family-owned business in 1989, Kingman and his wife Dee shifted their focus toward philanthropy – concentrating on common sense education reform and helping underprivileged youth trapped in failing schools. In addition to Pioneer, King promoted numerous initiatives such as the “I Have a Dream” project at Arlington Middle School, and the Community Day and Family Development Charter Schools, both based in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Though we have lost […]

Prasanna Rajasekaran

The Lottery’s Double Standard

/0 Comments/in , /by Prasanna Rajasekaran

Last month, State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg announced a renewed push for online lottery games, hoping to pass a bill in the upcoming legislative session.  The merits of an online lottery are worth considering, but what’s interesting about the Treasurer’s latest statement is how she characterizes the Lottery’s profitability in the context of this push. At first, the Treasurer says the Massachusetts Lottery “is the most successful in the country.” But immediately after, she mentions that 2016 profits were precarious. Without the sales boost from the Powerball jackpot, Treasurer Goldberg claims she “might be reporting a lottery downturn,” especially considering the growth of Massachusetts’ casino industry. These two points – that the Lottery is at once massively profitable and facing a […]

Michael Morisy

A look at Massachusetts updated public records legislation

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 A version of this article appeared on MuckRock. In September, the Massachusetts Supervisor of Public Records released its proposed update to public records regulations that would be used to carry out the long-awaited public records reform that goes into effect January 1, 2017. Here’s what’s worth keeping an eye on. The first thing to note is that these are *draft* regulations. If you see something you don’t like, it’s not etched in stone — yet. If you’d like to compare the proposed regulations with the current ones, the latter are available on the Supervisor of Public Records website, and you can just flip to page 49 (numbered as page 43). It’s also worth reading some of the other commentary on […]

Prasanna Rajasekaran

UMass Survey Suggests over One-third of Annual Mass Lottery Sales Dependent on At-Risk and Problem Gamblers

/0 Comments/in , /by Prasanna Rajasekaran

In May 2015, UMass-Amherst published a survey that suggests 37% of the Massachusetts State Lottery’s revenue comes from at-risk or problem gamblers. The survey estimates that 389,121 Massachusetts residents are at-risk gamblers and 86,356 are problem gamblers. At-risk gamblers spend at least $3,869 yearly on the Lottery; the number increases to $5,148 for problem gamblers. Considering the aforementioned population estimates, $1.8 billion of the Lottery’s annual revenue is attributable to these vulnerable constituencies. The survey was conducted from 2013 to 2014, so that $1.8 billion would have made up around 37% of the FY 2014’s $4.9 billion in sales. Before jumping to conclusions, it’s necessary to acknowledge a few caveats. First, at-risk and problem gambler expenditures are self-reported and may therefore […]

Editorial Staff

More Mass. Charter Public Schools: Daughter of Brown v. Board of Ed Plaintiff Makes the Case

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Last Monday, Pioneer hosted the event “Equal Access to Excellence: Charter and District School Reform,” which was co-sponsored by the Program on Education Policy and Governance at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Center for Education Reform, the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association, SABIS®, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, Families for Excellent Schools and the Black Alliance for Educational Options. The keynote address was delivered by Cheryl Brown Henderson, whose father, the late Rev. Oliver L. Brown, was lead plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that banned segregation in public education. Cheryl is founding president of the Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence, and Research, and the owner of Brown & Associates, an […]

Prasanna Rajasekaran

How much do frequent gamblers contribute to Massachusetts Lottery revenues?

/0 Comments/in , /by Prasanna Rajasekaran

Each year, the Massachusetts State Lottery conducts an annual tracking survey of its players.  The purpose of the survey is to analyze, among other things, spending patterns, advertising awareness, and social media adoption. Pioneer Institute, through a public records request, received access to the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission’s 2016 Annual Tracking Survey PowerPoint presentation – a comprehensive summary of this year’s findings. The survey brings to light a great deal of information, but one section titled “Player Segments” is particularly compelling. Here, the Lottery describes the spending patterns of frequent Lottery players (i.e. people who play the Lottery at least once a month). Consider this: the Lottery made $5.23 billion in sales for FY 2016. According to the survey, $4.6 billion […]

Michael Weiner

Lessons Learned during Summer Travels: BRT in Curitiba, Brazil

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Boston is a city with rich history, vibrant cultural traditions, influential and prestigious academic institutions, and wildly successful sports teams.  It is a city with much to be proud of.  However, it is also a city with much to improve upon, but some models for improvement lie in cities with vastly different attributes. Take, for example, Curitiba, in southern Brazil.  The city of nearly 2 million inhabitants has been internationally recognized as a beacon of sustainability for a host of reasons, including its wealth of green spaces, pedestrian-friendly areas and notably, its groundbreaking mass transit initiatives. Curitiba is lauded as the birthplace of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).  Introduced in the city beginning in 1974 by innovative Mayor Jaime Lerner, who […]

Greg Sullivan

Outsourcing bus services is—by now—conventional wisdom

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Outsourcing bus services is—by now—conventional wisdom As the Finance and Management Control Board (FMCB) considers further action to address its operating deficit, deferred maintenance backlog, and the demands from riders for higher quality performance, once again privatization of services has come center stage.  During the coming weeks, there will be ample debate on the merits of proposals to outsource ancillary services; there has also been greater focus on whether some core services of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) should be competitively bid to ensure higher quality service and lower costs. In situations when there is heated discussion due to the potential impact on the interests of labor, as evidenced by the hundreds of MBTA union members who attended a […]

Prasanna Rajasekaran

Massachusetts Confounding Relationship with Lottery Advertising

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In 2015, Massachusetts State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg called for a $2 million boost in the State Lottery’s advertising budget. According to Treasurer Goldberg, the additional money is needed to counter the competitive threat posed by the state’s growing casino industry. The Lottery’s advertising budget has had a volatile history. In the 90s, it was central to an ideological debate that split Beacon Hill for years before the Senate finally slashed the budget for good. In the early 2000s, the budget was steadily restored – and now, thanks to Treasurer Goldberg’s latest push, it has reached its highest point in the last decade. But two fundamental questions – questions we’ve been asking since the 90s – remain. From the one-dimensional viewpoint […]

Prasanna Rajasekaran

Why Mass Lottery’s performance is not nearly as impressive as it seems

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Over the last 5 years, the Massachusetts State Lottery and the media have made a tradition out of announcing the Lottery’s “record-breaking” sales. Here are articles – from 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, and 2012 – that display this trend. But is this an accurate portrayal of the institution’s success? Is the Lottery actually growing, in the long-run, at such a steady pace? The Lottery’s sales – in nominal terms – have reached a new record each year for the past five years. This matches with its long-term trend of unmitigated growth for the better part of three decades. Pioneer Institute, through a public records request, received the Lottery’s financial reports for 1990 – 2010 (the reports for 2011 – 2016 […]

Scott Haller

A Change in Toll Collection

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For more information on Massachusetts’ new tolling system, read the full report.   Starting this fall, the Massachusetts Turnpike will become an open-toll road, meaning drivers will not have to stop or slow down to pay. Sensor arrays distributed along the length of the Turnpike will either read the driver’s E-ZPass transponder, automatically charging their tolling balance, or a picture of the driver’s license plate will be used to send out monthly bills in the Pay-by-Plate (PBP) system. The state maintains that the primary advantage of an all-electronic tolling system (AETS) is driver safety, emissions and congestion reduction, and general customer convenience. If implemented correctly, switching to an AETS will also save the state millions of dollars. Under the new system, […]

Eric Sporel

UMass Amherst Athletics’ Spending: Costing the Taxpayer Money

/0 Comments/in , /by Eric Sporel

College sports have long been a major and growing attraction at universities across the country. Their rising prominence on campuses nationwide, however, has not come without costs. As their popularity has grown, college sports have taken on a business-like culture. Athletic departments often look and act more like businesses than amateur athletics programs, with television contracts, brand sponsorships, and facilities aimed at attracting better recruits, appealing to alumni donors and exposing the school’s brand to a wider audience. Even at a school like UMass Amherst, which may not be as competitive as top-ranked peers, these costs can add up. From fiscal year 2004 to fiscal 2009, UMass Amherst had 23 varsity teams, but since FY2010 the school has slimmed down […]

Editorial Staff

Mass. Public Officials Must Brush Aside The Know-Nothings’ Legacy Of Bigotry

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Last week, Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios sent a letter to Governor Baker and the leaders of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Senate asking them to support our call to move the portrait of Know-Nothing Governor Henry J. Gardner from its current location at the entrance to the House of Representatives. Gov. Gardner and that 19th century political party he led, the Know-Nothings – the most infamous party in state history – promulgated bigotry against Irish-Catholic immigrants. Their legal agenda left a legacy that persists today – the Know-Nothings’ constitutional amendment prevents tens of thousands of poor and minority kids from attending high-quality private and parochial schools. Below, you can read an excerpt of Jim Stergios’ letter, […]