Blog

This month’s edition of The House Call discusses results from a state survey of municipalities on accessory dwelling unit permitting activity. It also describes the debate over whether building codes should be reformed to allow some apartment buildings to contain only one staircase.

Elected officials in Massachusetts sure have a lot to say about “democracy” these days.   For those paying attention to goings on around here in recent years, hearing politicians trumpeting their state as a citadel defending democracy and the rule of law, you might be...

BOSTON – State policy is pivotal to the development and availability of online and virtual learning options, and Pioneer Institute’s new Virtual Schools Toolkit provides tactical guidance for developing such policies in the current educational landscape.   “Virtual learning began by serving students...

On Friday, Governor Healey opposed a proposed cut in the personal income tax that would put an average of $1,300 back into people’s pockets. Her claim that it would devastate the budget and gut education is a wild distortion—and it ignores more...

From April 2020 through July 2025, Massachusetts experienced a net loss of approximately 182,000 residents to domestic outmigration — the equivalent of losing one-and-a-half Cambridges. While a recent surge in international immigration temporarily boosted labor force numbers, new research from Pioneer Institute shows that underlying demographic, workforce, and economic challenges continue to threaten the Commonwealth’s long-term competitiveness. 

February's edition of The House Call discusses new legal action over Massachusetts' multifamily zoning mandate for transit-accessible communities. It also highlights a new federal data release that shows where many Massachusetts homeowners tend to overestimate - or underestimate - their property values.

Calls for choices of high school pathways, early and end-of-course exams, and independent district accountability

Governor Maura Healey’s fiscal year 2027 budget totals $62.8 billion, a 3.8 percent year-over-year increase. The budget avoids sweeping new initiatives and largely preserves existing structures. That might be defensible in a period of stability. It is indefensible now. 

A new statewide poll finds overwhelming support among Massachusetts adults for expanding vocational-technical high school capacity, along with broad backing for school choice options, including the new Federal Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

Context Pioneer Institute has previously gone toe-to-toe with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) over flawed and misleading tax analyses—notably ITEP’s advocacy for the 2022 surtax on high earners as good for the Bay State economy. That argument that has proven to hold about...