By Bob Katzen

“We unleashed an industry that now promotes betting on anything and everything imaginable and unimaginable all over the world, 24 hours a day, every single day. I want to publicly apologize to those who’ve lost the opportunity to sit and watch a game just for the enjoyment of the game. I want to apologize to those who find themselves in the dark spaces of betting addiction and to those working through recovery and to their families and friends. I want to apologize to those who have lost loved ones to suicide because of gambling issues.”

—Sen. John Keenan (D-Quincy) apologizing for his 2022 vote to legalize sports betting in the Bay State. Keenan was testifying in favor of his current bill (S 302) that would place guardrails on sports betting to address the harm that can come with wagering.

“If a toy breaks, we know it right away. But if a toy contains toxics such as lead or phthalates, or a chatbot interacts with our child in a way we don’t approve of, we don’t necessarily know. The scariest part is that we can’t actually see all the dangers a toy might pose. That’s deeply troubling.”
—Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog Director for U.S. PIRG Education Fund and co-author of a new report, “Trouble in Toyland,” which charges that toys that are powered by artificial intelligence often say inappropriate things to children, and toys, bought online and shipped from overseas, too often contain toxic substances.

“The federal government’s actions have created a massive thunderstorm of pain and suffering for Massachusetts, and the government shutdown was just the start. This is a time for moral outrage, and a time for action.”
—Cindy Rowe, a member of the Raise Up Massachusetts Steering Committee, urging the Legislature to use $1.3 billion from the state’s $8.6 billion Rainy Day Fund and to raise additional new revenue by combatting the offshore tax dodging of billionaire global corporations, so that Massachusetts can prevent the worst harm from federal cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, education funding and other critical programs.

“For years, we’ve warned that Massachusetts’ rigid and aggressive climate laws were setting the state up for unaffordable energy costs and unreliable power. This proposal shows that even on Beacon Hill, among the very same lawmakers that rammed the net-zero by 2050 roadmap bill through five years ago, there’s growing recognition that the current approach simply isn’t sustainable.”
—Paul Craney, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, advocating for passage of a bill that would begin to scale back some of what he calls the state’s “out of control, binding net zero energy mandates,” including making the state’s 2030 emissions target advisory rather than legally binding.