Findings from the state's unreleased climate study and four more stories

 

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The Saturday Send

Welcome back to the Saturday Send, a weekly digest of stories from CommonWealth Beacon that you may have missed. This week, Massachusetts paid nearly $400,00 to help identify innovative approaches to improving the electric distribution system and meet net-zero climate targets. The report was submitted to the state three years ago, but never made public. Jordan Wolman reports. Amid concerns that AI is developing too fast, Gov. Maura Healey is now saying “we need more guardrails and protections” around the technology even as agencies across the state are using it; Massachusetts is no longer the worst state for electoral competition, according to Ballotpedia; amid a new push for accountability for institutions that enabled sexual abuse of children, the Legislature has given no clear sign it will act swiftly on changing the statute of limitations on such cases; and the Supreme Judicial Court upheld a law prohibiting people under 21 years of age from obtaining a license to carry handguns or large capacity firearms. Check out those stories below, and, as always, thanks for reading. — The CommonWealth Beacon team

(Jennifer Smith/CommonWealth Beacon)

Mass. spent nearly $400K on an energy study. Three years after its completion, the state hasn’t released the results. By Jordan Wolman Even before Gov. Maura Healey entered the heart of campaign season — one that has been defined by skyrocketing energy costs and affordability issues — her administration has seemed sensitive to the price tag attached to the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars likely needed to support a sweeping green transition.

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State says resident data is safe with state AI tool. Advocates have concerns. By Jennifer Smith Given recent AI hacking incidents, CommonWealth Beacon checked back in with state officials to see how they’re protecting resident data flowing through an AI assistant. Here’s what you need to know.

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Mass. upgraded from least competitive elections in the country to second-worst By Chris Lisinski For the first time since Barack Obama was president, Massachusetts did not land in dead last in Ballotpedia’s biennial assessment of state legislative competition across the country.

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No clear signs that Legislature will act swiftly on child sexual abuse amendment By Jennifer Smith Pollsters asked about the proposed law to eliminate the time limit for filing civil lawsuits related to child sexual abuse. Respondents overwhelmingly said they would strongly (60 percent) or somewhat (24 percent) support this change, and 79 percent said they would like their state legislators to vote for it.

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SJC upholds Mass. law restricting firearms for people under 21 By Jennifer Smith “Because restriction of firearm possession by those deemed too young to handle them safely outside of supervised settings is consistent with the nation’s regulatory tradition,” Wolohojian wrote, the majority upheld the lower court’s conviction.

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Live debate: Should Mass. adopt all-party primary elections? A debate between the campaigns supporting and opposing ballot Question 3 and the effort to bring all-party primaries to Massachusetts LISTEN NOW

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