MBR Launches New and Improved Website!
MBR is pleased to announce the launch of its new website. The website provides a user-friendly tool to view MBR’s upcoming events and recent initiatives, as well as an archive of past reports, press, and other activities. It is rich in content, easy to navigate, and provides MBR members, public leaders, and other stakeholders with an eye into the people, issues and ideas that make the Roundtable so unique. Please visit www.maroundtable.com and let us know what you think.

April home price drop biggest in two decades
State House News Service - May 27, 2008
The median price of single-family Massachusetts homes plunged 12 percent in April, the sharpest monthly drop since at least 1987, according to The Warren Group real estate data firm. The median price's close last month, $305,000, is its lowest April level since 2003. Year-to-date prices fell 8.8 percent during the first four months of this year below the same period last year.

May consumer confidence falls to near 16-year low
Associated Press – May 27, 2008
Soaring gas prices and weakening job prospects left shoppers gloomier about the economy in May, sending a key barometer of consumer sentiment to its lowest level in almost 16 years. The New York-based Conference Board said that its Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 57.2, down from a revised 62.8 in April. Economists surveyed by Thomson Financial/IFR had expected a reading of 60. The May reading marks the fifth straight month of decline and is the lowest since the index registered 54.6 in October 1992 when the economy was coming out of a recession. Economists closely watch sentiment readings since consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation's economic activity.

All Guv’s ideas included in Readiness Project, says Reville
State House News Service – May 27, 2008
The ambitious education reform proposals Gov. Deval Patrick floated last year – free community college enrollment, universal pre-kindergarten, longer school days and year, and full-day kindergarten – are all included in the Readiness Project report due out in two weeks, Patrick’s educations secretary-designee said. Paul Reville, in an interview with WBZ Radio, said the money package wouldn’t be available until January, but that Patrick plans to release his own action agenda with the Readiness Project’s long-awaited report. Reville said the Readiness Project had added a few of its own ideas, including increased Health and Human Services support for some children.

On a night of prayer, DiMasi says health care negotiation table to open again
State House News Service – May 28, 2008
Religious leaders from across Greater Boston issued a sharp challenge to state leaders, demanding that they cull more dollars from the business community to finance an increasing costly health care system. Before an audience that included Gov. Deval Patrick, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Greater Boston Interfaith Organization President Rev. Hurmon Hamilton challenged state leaders to increase financial contributions from businesses who he said “freeload off the government.” After the event, DiMasi told the News Service the night represented a “recommitment” to making health care reform sustainable. “I think we’re going to be asking everybody to sit at the table again and talk about the shared responsibility that we talked about in the beginning, and to make sure that everybody’s participating,” he said.

Oceans bill touted as first in nation
State House News Service – May 28, 2008
The so-called Oceans Bill, a long-in-the-works proposal to regulate offshore development, became law. Whether the bill will open up a new era in offshore development, from wind power to liquefied natural gas tankers, desalinization plants and the tapping of massive water movements and tidal power in the three miles between the state coastline and federal waters, is an open question. The law establishes a 17-member ocean advisory commission to give advice to the energy and environmental affairs secretariat.

Mass. foreclosure deeds rose 187.5 percent in April
Boston Globe – May 29, 2008
Massachusetts foreclosure deeds "soared to their highest recorded level in April," the Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman and local real estate data, said. Foreclosure deeds rose 187.5 percent in April, from 464 in April 2007 to 1,334, said the Warren Group, which added that there has not been more than 1,334 deeds recorded in a single month since the firm began tracking deeds in 2005.

Economy grows more than forecast in 1st quarter
Bloomberg News – May 30, 2008
MThe US economy grew more than previously estimated in the first quarter as Americans shunned imports and exports set a record. The 0.9 percent annualized pace of the gross domestic product compares with an advance estimate of 0.6 percent, the Commerce Department said. Fourth-quarter growth was 0.6 percent. Separate figures showed the number of people receiving jobless benefits hit a four-year high this month.