STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE With two of its key climate change policies dead or near-dead, the Baker administration approved two initiatives last week to incentivize the development of solar power […]
Colin A. Young I State House News Service
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
988 state employees left jobs due to vaccine mandate
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE JUST FEWER than 1,000 executive branch employees have left their jobs because they did not or would not comply with Gov. Charlie Baker’s vaccine mandate for […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Spilka discloses she suffered ‘mild stroke’
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SENATE PRESIDENT Karen Spilka had what she said was “a mild stroke” in mid-November and was told by her doctors to get some rest, she said […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Utilities defend energy efficiency plan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GETTING MORE people to adopt electric heat sources in place of fossil fuel-powered sources is a crucial part of the effort to meet the state’s new […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
State tax collections keep up surprising growth
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A THIRD OF THE WAY into fiscal 2022, state tax collections are trending about 20 percent ahead of the pace that led to a roughly $5 […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
12 charged in lottery deception scheme
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A DOZEN PEOPLE and three stores were indicted Friday by a statewide grand jury in connection to what Attorney General Maura Healey’s office called “an ongoing […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate approves making voting changes permanent
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE SENATE ON Wednesday went on record supporting the permanent adoption of COVID-era voting allowances like expanded early voting and voting-by-mail, and also adopted policies like […]
Posted inGambling
With thoroughbreds missing, money piling up in race horse fund
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A RECENT AUDIT of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission found no deficiencies, but Auditor Suzanne Bump said the agency could do a better job of collaborating with […]
Posted inGuns
Citing bills, Smith & Wesson moving HQ
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FIREARM MANUFACTURER Smith & Wesson announced Thursday that it will move its headquarters and “significant elements of its operations” from Springfield to Maryville, Tenn., citing a […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Baker investigating vaccine passes
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IT WILL BE IMPORTANTÂ for people to have a simple way to prove that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday as he […]
Posted inGambling
Lawmakers push for expansion of Plainridge
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HAVING ALREADY advanced House and Senate versions of sports betting legislation, the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies dedicated much of its Tuesday hearing […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Marijuana sales averaging nearly $106m per month
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THROUGH EIGHT MONTHS of 2021, recreational marijuana retailers in Massachusetts have sold more than $140 million more in products than they did throughout the entirety of […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
20% increase in breakthrough cases
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN THE WEEK between August 7 and August 14, almost 2,700 fully vaccinated people became infected with COVID-19 in Massachusetts, the Department of Public Health said […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
State pension fund achieves record gain
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FISCAL YEAR 2021 was a record year for the Massachusetts state pension fund, which closed the one-year period ending June 30 with the highest return in […]
Posted inGambling
House approves sports betting, again, with bipartisan vote
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HOUSE OVERWHELMINGLY approved a bill to legalize sports betting in Massachusetts on Thursday evening, but even before the vote, the question of whether to allow […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
New opioid settlement could bring $500 million to Massachusetts
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS STANDS TO receive more than $500 million over the next roughly 18 years as part of a massive settlement announced Wednesday that would end investigations […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Mass. sheriffs cut cost of prison calls
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE EVERY SHERIFF’S department in Massachusetts has agreed to provide people incarcerated at county jails and houses of correction with at least 10 minutes of free phone […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
State tax revenue surges amid tax hike push
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE DEPARTMENT of Revenue collected more than twice as much money from taxpayers last month than it had anticipated and Massachusetts is now on pace to […]
Posted inGambling
Casino revenues continue to make gains
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER POSTING THEIR best month since before the COVID-19 pandemic in March, the casinos and slots parlor in Massachusetts reported similarly positive revenue figures for the […]
Posted inEconomy
Mass. economy roars back in 1st quarter
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MASSACHUSETTS ECONOMY grew at a much faster pace than the national economy in the first quarter and the economic analysts at MassBenchmarks see that trend […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
State revenues keep on surpassing projections
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE collected more than $3 billion from Massachusetts residents, workers, and businesses last month, once again shattering the Baker administration’s expectations and putting […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Biden sets big goal for offshore wind
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE PIPELINE of offshore wind developments that will follow the first-in-the-nation Vineyard Wind I project came into clearer view Monday when the Biden administration announced a […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
State tax collections remain on a roll
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TAX COLLECTIONS exceeded the Baker administration’s expectations by $372 million in February and surpassed the total of collections in February 2020, a development that positions the […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Could in-person sports viewing be coming?
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FANS WILL GET to watch the Boston Bruins play in person for the first time since pre-pandemic days on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, but it’s unlikely […]