Happy Thanksgiving from Pioneer Institute!

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As we welcome the holiday season, I would like to thank you for everything you do with and for Pioneer. We are grateful for your support today and everyday. We are grateful for a nation that has shown incredible resilience in recovering from a global pandemic. For innovation in the life sciences to develop and distribute vaccines. For learning pods, homeschooling, and private and parochial models that have kept our kids engaged, whether in-person or remote. For telehealth and regulatory changes to give patients greater access to medical care. For the MBTA’s commitment to infrastructure investments to improve service for the Bay State’s one million commuters. Lastly, for a business community that has overcome the challenge of extended closures, is now contending with unprecedented labor and supply shortages – and will soon face the threat of a ballot measure that could impose a major state tax increase. With your continued support, Pioneer will remain active on these issues and many more.

As we gather with family and friends this Thanksgiving, I want to encourage our community to be part of bringing our country back together, one dinner table at a time. Let’s remember that political conversations are not taboo, only those long on anger and short on policy substance. Let’s be grateful for the opportunity to be with loved ones, for all we have—and, most of all, for our freedoms.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Jim Stergios, Executive Director

PS – Giving Tuesday is around the corner. If you’d like to get a jump on making your end of year donation, you can do so here!

Recent Posts:

Milton Shuts the Door
on Multifamily Housing Plans

The MBTA Communities Act, passed in 2021, provides that the 177 communities serviced by the MBTA must create multifamily zones to spur housing development close to public transportation. But the issue is an emotionally charged one, with passions high on both sides. And Milton residents in February rejected a plan to create such housing ‚ choosing a loss of some state funding over an approximately 25 percent increase in their housing stock, along with the possibility of greater congestion.

DFER-MA’s Mary Tamer on MCAS & Teacher Strikes

Mary Tamer focuses on the historic impact of the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act on the commonwealth’s students’ high achievement on national and international measures. She explores the politics of the Massachusetts Teachers Association advocating against the MCAS test as a graduation requirement. In closing, Ms. Tamer also discusses the rise of teacher strikes and their implications for education reform in the Bay State.

Baystate Budget Blues: Declining Revenue Causes Concern

Joe Selvaggi engages in a conversation with Pioneer Institute’s Eileen McAnneny, Senior Fellow for Economic Opportunity, to analyze the status of the 2024 budget. They compare actual revenue and spending with pre-July 1 estimates, investigating potential reasons for any surpluses or shortfalls. They also dive into policy implications for legislators as they approach fiscal 2025.

U-TN’s Robert Norrell on Booker T. Washington & Voc-Tech

Prof. Robert Norrell explores Booker T. Washington's early life in slavery, his transformative leadership at Tuskegee Institute amidst Jim Crow racism, and his advocacy for vocational education as a means for racial uplift. He also discusses Washington’s 1901 autobiography, Up From Slavery; his controversial White House dinner with President Theodore Roosevelt; and his often overlooked legacy following the activism of the 1960s Civil Rights era.

Smothering Gas Exports: President Sides with Environmentalists Over Environment

Dr. Benjamin Zycher, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, talks on the impact of President Biden's executive order to halt liquefied natural gas export approvals. He explores potential economic impacts, the response from trading partners, and the negligible effect on climate.

Pioneer Statement on Continuing Slide in Massachusetts’ Revenue

The Commonwealth’s tax collections continue to slide, totaling $3.594 billion in January, $268 million below what the state collected in January 2023, and short of the revised benchmark by $263 million. Massachusetts state government must live within its means by reducing FY2025 spending. The days of fiscal surpluses, unprecedented increases in year-over-year spending, and flowing federal aid have come to an end.