🔌 A powerful prescription

Also: Mass. taking part in IRS's free tax prep pilot; House voting on gun bill, despite pushback [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  October 18, 2023 🌥️ Partly sunny, with a high near 64 and a slight chance of rain. Good Morning Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu will be live on Radio Boston at 11 a.m. — so [get your questions for her in]( while there's still time. Now, to the news: - A powerful prescription: Boston Medical Center just launched a unique new pilot program that prescribes its most vulnerable patients not a pill or medication — but a discount on their electric bill. WBUR's Amy Sokolow reports BMC is the first hospital in the country to use solar panels on top of one of their buildings to generate energy credits to help pay their patients' utility bills. Confused? Let's explain: - How does it work? BMC recently took advantage of [a federal tax credit]( — created by the Inflation Reduction Act — to install solar panels on the roof of one of its administrative buildings. Those panels are being used to send electricity into the grid, which is in turn metered by Eversource and converted into clean energy credits. BMC is now allocating those credits to help pay for certain patients' monthly utility bills. According to BMC, the monthly credits will average around $50 per household — or a total of $600 a year. (Households also have to be Eversource customers.) - Who's getting help? During the initial phase of the pilot program, BMC says the credits will go to 80 households in their Complex Care Management program, which focuses on patients who need more hospital care and are lower-income. - Why is BMC getting into energy assistance? Dr. Anna Goldman, a BMC primary care doctor and co-founder of the new Clean Power Prescription program, said "utility insecurity" is one of the social determinants of health that the hospital screens for. Whether it's having heat in the winter or air conditioning in the summer, Goldman called reliable electricity "a basic human need." - What's next: BMC has only just begun enrolling the first households, but Goldman said they plan to expand the program. The hospital is hoping to partner with outside organizations that can host their own solar arrays. Goldman says those organizations would also be eligible for big tax incentives if they donate at least half of the energy from their panels toward credits for BMC patients. "It's kind of a win-win," Goldman said. - Heads up: Massachusetts is [one of 13 states]( that will offer the IRS's new free tax filing pilot program next year. The program, Direct File, will let people file their federal tax returns online for free — bypassing the fees that private tax-prep companies often charge. - Not everyone in Massachusetts will be eligible for the initial rollout this coming year. While they're still working to finalize the details, the IRS says the program will be "limited to taxpayers with certain types of income, credits and deductions – taxpayers with relatively simple returns." - Tax prep companies like TurboTax [aren't happy]( about this potential new competitor on the scene. However, Sen. Elizabeth Warren — a [longtime advocate of the idea]( — is [pretty pumped](. - On Beacon Hill: While the U.S. House of Representatives takes [another shot at picking a new speaker today]( the near-future of the gavel in Massachusetts has come under some speculation. House Speaker Ron Mariano [told reporters yesterday]( that he plans to run for reelection next year. But the 76-year-old said it "remains to be seen" if he serves the full 2025-26 term. (That's a fair question, since the last four House speakers here all left office during their terms.) - In related news: The House is planning to vote today on its new gun control bill, amid protests from local police chiefs and gun owners. WBUR's Walter Wuthmann has [more on the debate and the details of the thrice-reworked legislation](. - PSA: A Brookline resident is organizing [an event this afternoon]( to send support to people affected by [the war in Israel and Gaza](. The gathering runs from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Brookline Public Library. - Organizer Jen Wofford says people will be able to donate clothes, medical supplies or money — or even just decorate cards that will be mailed to hospitals and organizations in the region. P.S.— Have you been listening to The Gun Machine? The fourth episode of our new podcast with The Trace [just dropped](. In it, host Alan Stephens goes to the birthplace of the industry — Springfield, Massachusetts — to look at the city's evolving relationship with guns. With the ongoing debate on Beacon Hill, it's as topical a listen as ever. Nik DeCosta-Klipa Editor, Newsletters [Follow](  Support the news  The Rundown [Gov. Healey pitches $4.1 billion plan to deal with affordable housing crisis]( The governor's proposal includes $1.6 billion to renovate the state's aging and dilapidated public housing stock as well as tax breaks and other changes to boost affordable housing. It will need the Legislature's approval. [Read more.]( [Gov. Healey pitches $4.1 billion plan to deal with affordable housing crisis]( The governor's proposal includes $1.6 billion to renovate the state's aging and dilapidated public housing stock as well as tax breaks and other changes to boost affordable housing. It will need the Legislature's approval. [Read more.]( [Biden arrives in Israel as Gaza reels from deadly hospital explosion]( President Joe Biden arrived in Israel Wednesday after a deadly blast at a hospital in the Gaza Strip to reaffirm U.S. support for Israel's security and to press Israel to agree to relief corridors. [Read more.]( [Biden arrives in Israel as Gaza reels from deadly hospital explosion]( President Joe Biden arrived in Israel Wednesday after a deadly blast at a hospital in the Gaza Strip to reaffirm U.S. support for Israel's security and to press Israel to agree to relief corridors. [Read more.]( [Officer justified in killing man who gunned down two in 2021 Winthrop shooting, DA finds]( Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said the police officer who shot and killed a man whogunned down two Black people moments earlier in 2021 "racially-motivated rampage" used reasonable force to defend himself and others and won't face criminal charges. [Read more.]( [Officer justified in killing man who gunned down two in 2021 Winthrop shooting, DA finds]( Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said the police officer who shot and killed a man whogunned down two Black people moments earlier in 2021 "racially-motivated rampage" used reasonable force to defend himself and others and won't face criminal charges. [Read more.]( [21 species have been declared extinct, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says]( The species, including birds, mussels and a bat, have been moved off the threatened and endangered list. They join 650 other species that have gone extinct in the U.S. [Read more.]( [21 species have been declared extinct, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says]( The species, including birds, mussels and a bat, have been moved off the threatened and endangered list. They join 650 other species that have gone extinct in the U.S. [Read more.]( [Participation in Boston summer learning programs reached all-time high this year]( Education leaders see summer learning as a way to make up academic losses due to the pandemic. [Read more.]( [Participation in Boston summer learning programs reached all-time high this year]( Education leaders see summer learning as a way to make up academic losses due to the pandemic. [Read more.]( Anything Else? - Think you like spicy? Wait until you [meet Pepper X]( — now officially the hottest chili pepper in the world. The small, wrinkly yellow-green pepper is three times spicer than the previous record holder and literally a thousand times hotter than a jalapeño. - "The Daily Show" returned this week with [new guest hosts and a new challenge]( Making comedy out of the biggest news of the past week, Hamas' brutal attack in Israel and the war in Gaza. - Local Imam Taymalluh Abdur-Rahman [writes in this commentary]( that people in western democracies must use the blessing of being distant from the bloodshed in Israel and Gaza to bridge gaps and open dialogue: "The war in the Holy Land has been raging before many interfaith relationships began. It didn’t stop us from forming them. We can’t allow the vitriol of this moment to take them away."  What We're Reading 📚 - Longer Commutes, Shorter Lives: The Costs of Not Investing in America ([The New York Times Magazine]( - Can a Gen Z-er function without a smartphone? We made a co-worker find out. ([The Boston Globe]( - Local newspapers are vanishing. How should we remember them? ([ProPublica](  Tell Me Something Good [UMass grads designing system to take humans out of recycling decisions]( Two recent UMass Amherst engineering graduates want to take decisions about what to recycle out of the hands of humans and turn them over to a machine. Designer Ian Goodine said the reality is that humans just aren't that good at deciding what's truly recyclable and what isn't, and a machine can help sort more garbage into the right place. [Read more.]( [UMass grads designing system to take humans out of recycling decisions]( Two recent UMass Amherst engineering graduates want to take decisions about what to recycle out of the hands of humans and turn them over to a machine. Designer Ian Goodine said the reality is that humans just aren't that good at deciding what's truly recyclable and what isn't, and a machine can help sort more garbage into the right place. [Read more.]( Listen: The Common explains [what the end of Massachusetts' right-to-shelter guarantee next month means]( for local families. Play: [WBUR's daily mini crossword.]( Can you keep your streak going? Before you go: [Much better than the 7 bus.]( 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 🔎 Explore [WBUR's Field Guide]( stories, events and more. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news   Want to change how you receive these emails? Stop getting this newsletter by [updating your preferences.](  I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. Unsubscribe from all WBUR editorial newsletters [here](.  Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? [Click here.]( Copyright © 2023 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.