In the 1840s, nativist movement leaders formed official political parties and local chapters of the national Native American Party (later the American Party), although they continued to be commonly known as the Know-Nothing Party. Politicians sought to insert provisions into state constitutions against Catholics who refused to renounce the pope. The Know-Nothing movement brought bigotry and hatred to a new level of violence and organization.
The party’s legacy endured in the post-Civil War era, with laws and constitutional amendments it supported, still today severely limiting parents’ educational choices. A federal constitutional amendment was proposed by Speaker of the House James Blaine prohibiting money raised by taxation in any State to be under the control of any religious sect; nor shall any money so raised or lands so devoted be divided between religious sects or denominations. These were then named the Blaine Amendments of 1875.
in recent decades, often in response to challenges to school choice programs, the U.S. Supreme Court has demonstrated great interest in examining the issues of educational alternatives and attempts limit parental options. Massachusetts plays a key role in this debate. The Bay State was a key center of the Know-Nothing movement and has the oldest version of Anti-Aid Amendments in the nation, as well as a second such amendment approved in 1917. Two-fifths of Massachusetts residents are Catholic, and its Catholic schools outperform the state’s public schools, which are the best in the nation.
Go slow on expanded gambling in the Commonwealth
/0 Comments/in Public Testimony /by Stephen Adams“Go slow on expanded gambling in the Commonwealth” was provided in March 2003.
Download Report: Go slow on expanded gambling in the Commonwealth
Governor Romney’s FY2003 state budget proposal
/0 Comments/in Public Testimony /by Stephen Adams“Governor Romney’s FY2003 state budget proposal” was provided in February 2003.
Download Report: Governor Romney's FY2003 state budget proposal
Getting Home: Overcoming Barriers to Housing in Greater Boston
/0 Comments/in Housing, Press Releases, Press Releases: Government /by Editorial StaffAuthor: Charles C. Euchner, Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. With Elizabeth G. Frieze, Harvard University
Affordable housing is important to the vitality of Massachusetts communities, but the state needs to encourage the marketplace to create a broader range of housing types. The first step is to identify the factors that raise the cost and reduce the supply of housing in the Commonwealth. Both state and local governments have a legitimate interest in regulating certain aspects of housing development to assure reasonable safety and health standards and allow for the overall well-being of the community and its character. Some regulations are clearly necessary. Government support of affordable housing may also require grants, tax credits, and the like. But the housing crisis cannot be solved with public funding alone. Even extraordinary sums of money can produce only a limited number of units. In the end, the primary role of state and local government should be to lay a basic foundation and then allow developers, community development corporations, and others to build.
Getting Home: Overcoming Barriers to Housing in Greater Boston