The Codcast

This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporters Jennifer Smith and Hallie Claflin discuss Claflin‘s latest piece on how immigration enforcement step ups are impacting school enrollment. They zero in on the state’s Gateway Cities, which are home to a disproportionate share of Massachusetts‘s immigrant population and are sounding the alarm over the psychological and fiscal effects of federal enforcement actions on their school communities.

Host:

Jennifer Smith, senior reporter at CommonWealth Beacon

Guests:

Hallie Claflin, Gateway Cities reporter at CommonWealth Beacon

This week on The Codcast, we unpack how increasingly expensive utility bills are shaping the energy debate in Massachusetts and reaching a fever pitch on Beacon Hill. With energy costs now the top household concern in the Bay State, how should policymakers respond to the affordability crisis as power demand is expected to rise and with the due date on ambitious climate commitments creeping closer? Our guests, Kyle Murray, director of state program implementation in Massachusetts at the environmental nonprofit Acadia Center, and Dan Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Association, hash it all out.

This week on The Codcast, we dive into Gov. Maura Healey's "Gateway to Pre-K" agenda. By the end of 2026, her administration declared that every family of a 4-year-old in the state’s 26 Gateway Cities would have the opportunity – at low or no cost – to enroll their child in a preschool program that prepares them for kindergarten. But local providers say they won’t get there. Our guests, Department of Early Education and Care commissioner Amy Kershaw and Strategies for Children executive director Amy O’Leary, discuss how the state can achieve that lofty goal.

Host:

Hallie Claflin, Gateway Cities reporter at CommonWealth Beacon

Guests:

Amy Kershaw, commissioner of the Department of Early Education and Care.

Amy O’Leary, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy organization Strategies for Children

This week on The Codcast, we dive into what can feel like a perennial story: the MBTA hurtling toward another financial shortfall that Beacon Hill needs to address. But at this point, is the significant growth in state funding for the T an acknowledgment that good public transit requires big public investment, or is it a reflection of out-of-control spending? Our guests, former Transportation Secretary Jim Aloisi and Pioneer Institute senior fellow Charlie Chieppo, debate that central question and more.

Host:

Chris Lisinski, senior reporter at CommonWealth Beacon

Guests:

Jim Aloisi, former transportation secretary

Charlie Chieppo, senior fellow at the Pioneer Institute

This week on the Codcast – what does online surveillance look like in 2026? CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Kade Crockford, director of technology and justice programs at the ACLU of Massachusetts. They discuss the biggest misconceptions about data privacy online, why your information is valuable and vulnerable, and legislation proposed at the state level to limit who can see and sell user data.

On the monthly Health or Consequences episode of The Codcast, John McDonough of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute talk with Michael Caljouw, the state commissioner of insurance. They discuss new regulations for insurers, concerns about the stability and solvency of the Massachusetts health insurance system, and insurer consolidation.

Hosts:

John McDonough of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health

Paul Hattis of the Lown Institute

Guest:

Michael Caljouw, Commissioner of Insurance for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Description: This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon senior reporter Chris Lisinski hosts a roundtable discussion to dive into the details of Gov. Maura Healey’s new $63.4 billion state budget proposal with Viviana Abreu-Hernandez, president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, and Jim Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute. Guests weigh in on the sustainability of proposed spending increases, if revenue from the so-called millionaires tax is being used as voters intended, and how changes in Washington, DC affect budgeting in Massachusetts.

Host:

Chris Lisinski, senior reporter for CommonWealth Beacon

Guests:

Viviana Abreu-Hernandez, president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center

Jim Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute

This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporters Jennifer Smith and Chris Lisinski talk about Gov. Maura Healey's 2026 State of the Commonwealth speech. They compare her tone and policy position to earlier years, review reactions to the speech, and look ahead at what this says about Healey's run for reelection.

This week on the Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon senior reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Audrey Morse Gasteier, executive director of the Massachusetts Health Connector, and Alex Sheff, senior director of policy and government affairs at Health Care For All. Gov. Maura Healey announced last week that the state would use $250 million from the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund to assist some Massachusetts residents who have lost enhanced premium tax credits from the federal government. So how sustainable is that plan, and who gets left out?

This week on the Codcast – our second annual start-of-the year roundtable! CommonWealth Beacon senior reporter Jennifer Smith talks with Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson; Jennie Williamson, the state director for research and advocacy organization The Education Trust in Massachusetts; and Clark Ziegler, the outgoing executive director of the quasi-public Massachusetts Housing Partnership, who is retiring after four decades at the helm. They discuss their legislative wish list for the second half of the two-year cycle, break down what has and hasn’t been a lawmaking priority, and dive into the current relationships between cities, the state, and the federal government.