The House Ways and Means Committee slimmed the Senate’s bond authorizations (S 3064) down by more than 20 percent, advancing a new draft Tuesday that would authorize $3.078 billion in borrowing compared to the Senate-supported $3.94 billion.
Colin A. Young I State House News Service
Posted inChild Care
Surtax fueling early ed expansion, but will it last?
The money expanding child care access this year comes from one-time surplus funds. Maintaining long-term funding will mean finding a permanent home for it in next year’s state budget.
Posted inGovernment
Barney Frank, 86, left mark as trailblazer in politics
Barney Frank, the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out publicly as gay and a liberal bulldog who left his fingerprints on the nation’s banking regulations, died May 20, 2026. He was 86.
Posted inState Government
House votes 149-9 to approve annual state budget bill
Fiscal year 2027, which begins July 1, is projected to be “a very, very difficult fiscal year in a truly, truly challenging economic environment,” House Speaker Ron Mariano said this month. Repeatedly throughout the week, Democrats echoed that sentiment as they resisted Republican calls for tax relief or spending cuts.
Posted inCourts
PROTECT Act will disrupt ‘soft diplomacy’ between ICE, state courts
Chief Justice of the Trial Court Heidi Brieger described for lawmakers the more informal relationships that she said she and Court Administrator Thomas Ambrosino have had “at a very deep level” with various leaders of ICE in New England.
Posted inState Government
Mariano weighs in on energy bill savings, audit preferences
“Mariano described the House energy bill as an attempt to strip away some of the public policy charges that have accumulated on electric and gas bills over the last two decades as Massachusetts sought to incentivize a transition away from fossil fuels.”
Posted inHealth Care
Healey signs bill expanding reproductive, transgender care protections
SURROUNDED BY HEALTH CARE advocates and curious tourists peering into Nurses Hall, Gov. Maura Healey signed an expanded shield law giving patients and providers in Massachusetts a new layer of defense against out-of-state intrusion into reproductive and transgender care.
Posted inState Government
Agreement reached on state budget
The Legislature plans to approve a final fiscal year 2026 state budget on Monday, the day before the new spending cycle starts, after House and Senate Democrats announced they reached an accord.
Posted inState Government
Transportation gets upper hand in $1.3 billion spending accord
The chasm in surtax surplus spending was one half of a broader disagreement between the House and Senate on the scope of state aid to the MBTA.
Posted inState House News Service
Feds blame ‘sanctuary policies’ in Milford teenager’s immigration arrest
A Milford High School junior was not the target of a federal immigration enforcement investigation and his arrest was the byproduct of “sanctuary policies,” federal officials said.
Posted inEnvironment
DEP delays electric vehicle sales requirements for two years
The Healey administration announced it will not enforce minimum electric vehicle sales requirements for model years 2026 and 2027.
Posted inHealth Care
Speaker Johnson sends signals on two key Medicaid reforms
Johnson told reporters that the bill will not change the portion of state Medicaid costs paid by the federal government for states that have expanded Medicaid, like Massachusetts.
