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Four Things to Know
1. An unintended consequence of a proposed ballot question that would lower the state’s tax rate from 5% to 4%: no more deducting charitable donations on state income taxes. The last time voters decided to lower the Massachusetts tax rate, from 5.95% to 5% in 2000, they also approved a law allowing taxpayers to deduct donations to nonprofits. That law specifies that “no [charitable] deduction shall be allowed in any taxable year unless the rate of tax ... in the prior taxable year was equal to 5 percent.”
“This would make it more expensive in Massachusetts to make charitable donations, and 90% of all nonprofits rely on charitable donations,” said Jim Klocke, CEO of the Massachusetts Council of Nonprofits. “We want to encourage donations … we want to make donations easier. And above all, we don’t want to make donations more expensive.”
2. Security staff at Tewksbury State Hospital will once again be allowed to use pepper gel, batons and handcuffs in common areas of the hospital — but not in inpatient wards, treatment rooms or procedure rooms. The guards will have to lock the weapons away while they’re on patrol. Some of the hospital’s patients are there because they were involved in a criminal case — either arrested or given a summons to court — and found to need mental health treatment.
Last month, state officials banned weapons such as pepper gel and batons. The union representing the hospital’s nurses asked them to reconsider after incidents in which one patient broke windows and another was accused of attacking a staff member. “It’s an important development, but we really need to get a handle on how to take care of this very unique and complex forensic population, and to make sure our staff are prepared to respond appropriately,” nurse Ryan Wilkins said.
3. The number of people who came to an event hosted by the city of Boston and the nonprofit Project Citizenship to help immigrants with citizenship applications was down by half compared with last year. There were 158 green card holders in attendance this year, compared with 316 in 2025.
That may be due in part to new requirements the Trump administration has put in place for citizenship applications, said Gail Breslow, executive director of Project Citizenship: a longer civics exam, fewer payment options and a requirement that applicants have “good moral character.” “There’ve been so many things that have been thrown up as barriers and obstacles. And we’ve been seeing that a lot of people have been discouraged,” Breslow said.
4. Even if you’re not attending any World Cup games in Foxborough, it might be a good idea to put the seven matches on your calendar. Most of the games fall on weekday evenings, and officials at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation have been encouraging soccer fans to take the commuter rail.
Round-trip tickets are $80 per match, and State Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver called it “the most frictionless experience you’re going to have getting to a game.” But he also said he expects a fair amount of traffic on the roads leading to Gillette Stadium. You can find a full list of the Boston Stadium games here — from the Haiti vs. Scotland match on June 13 to the quarter finals on July 9. Creative transport solutions are already emerging, including a plan by a group of Scottish fans to rent yellow school buses to get to World Cup matches. And if you are going to the games, consider renting a bus.
‘Let Jason’s story not be in vain’: The growing push to toughen Mass. anti-bullying law
What happens when a student or parent reports bullying at school? Under a Massachusetts law passed in 2010, a school is required to investigate, protect students and notify the parents of both victims and aggressors. But in practice, the law doesn’t always stop bullying and mistreatment.
Take Jason Bernard, a 14-year-old student at J. Henry Higgins Middle School in Peabody. He died by suicide last year after asking teachers and administrators at his middle school for help protecting him from bullying.
“He went to the right people. And they didn’t help,” his sister, Cely Rosario, told GBH reporter Chris Burrell. She said the abuse he experienced was verbal, physical and online. Classmates used anti-gay slurs, threw rocks at him and created fake images of him that they circulated on Snapchat, she said. “It got to the point where he stopped asking for help and said to my mom, ‘I’m done telling you things because it only gets worse for me. They start calling me a crybaby,’” she said. “He would purposely miss the bus.”
Rosario said she wants to know more about how the school handled her brother’s case. “Show me the paperwork. Show me the history of the past two and a half years when my mom has knocked on your door,’’ she said. So far, the district has not provided her with records and declined to comment for Burrell’s story. But GBH News obtained records showing that a year before Jason’s death, state officials cited his school for violating the anti-bullying law.
“We failed this child and what needed to be done, what should have been here to catch him and support him,” said Sara Grinnell, the city’s director of social services. “It’s a tragedy for everybody, and it was felt across the entire city.”
Burrell also spoke with other families whose children tried to report bullying at school. You can read his full story here.
If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting 988.
Dig deeper:
-Dozens of school districts failing to investigate bullying complaints, report finds
-The new Mass. voc-tech lottery was supposed to solve problems. But some families are frustrated.
-How many college grads actually use their degrees? It’s complicated
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