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Boston's Morning Newsletter
The RMV is cracking down on car inspection procrastinators
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Happy Halloween! The trick-or-treating forecast this evening isn’t frightening at all. And with the exception of some showers early tomorrow morning, we should be in store for a pretty dry and sunny week. (Good weather for checking out these three spooky sites in Massachusetts, if you dare.)
Some scary news if you’re a perpetual car inspection procrastinator: the RMV is making a small but sweeping rule change to stop residents from sneaking in a free month (or more) before getting their annual inspection. Beginning tomorrow, car inspection stickers will be based on the month that your last sticker expired, rather than the month you got the actual inspection.
- In other words: If you have a November sticker from last year’s inspection, you’ll again get a November sticker this year — even if the month got away from you and the inspection didn’t happen until December or later. (We’ve all been there, right?)
- State officials say the change is intended to ensure people actually get their cars inspected on time, rather than letting their stickers lapse. Not only is it important for safety, they say it’s also good for the environment, since most vehicles have emission control systems that should be checked annually. Don’t forget: you can also get dinged with fines for driving with an expired sticker.
Heads up: Tomorrow marks the beginning of Gov. Charlie Baker’s distribution of nearly $3 billion in rebates to taxpayers due to the 1986 law capping state revenue. WBUR’s Garo Hagopian reports that state officials now say taxpayers will get back about 14% of what they paid in state income tax by check or direct deposit.
- The payments will be issued on a rolling basis, so it may not arrive immediately. But if you filed a 2021 tax return, you should see it at some point between this week and mid-December.
- How much will you get? Calculate your expected rebate here.
Feel like you’re spending extra time in the waiting room? You’re not alone. The Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association says a statewide hospital staffing shortage of roughly 19,000 jobs is forcing patients to wait longer, and WBUR’s Priyanka Dayal McClusky reports that some leaders warn that hospitals may have to cut services soon.
- The staffing shortage is a vicious cycle: Burned-out health care workers are quitting, and this increases the burden on staff who stay. Hospitals are asking the state for more aid to cover labor costs.
- ICYMI: McClusky reported on how the two major Massachusetts gubernatorial candidates — Maura Healey and Geoff Diehl —would tackle the state’s biggest health care challenges; both pointed to staffing shortages as priority. Read what they also said about affordability, COVID, mental health and more here.
MBTA crews wrapped up the last big Green Line closure of 2022 over the weekend (ahead of schedule, in fact). But expect more full branch closures in 2023 and beyond. Officials hinted there’s still “significant work” to do in the coming years to fully upgrade service.
P.S.— This is the last week of in-person early voting before next Tuesday’s election. We’re also getting to the point where you may want to hand-deliver your mail-in ballot. That said, dropboxes in Boston and some other communities are closed today because of Halloween. (You can still bring your ballot to early voting sites.)
