STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AUDITOR DIANA DIZOGLIO’S proposed ballot-box appeal to crack open the Legislature’s books for her inspection cleared a key hurdle last Wednesday. And it turns out that Attorney General Andrea Campbell, by certifying that the initiative passed legal muster, overruled a formal objection from the state Senate. DiZoglio served two terms in […]
Sam Doran // State House News Service
Posted inHealth, State Government
State Police union claims victory over ‘tyranny’
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE PRESIDENT of the State Police union took a victory lap on Monday after an arbitrator ruled in favor of seven troopers who had remained on unpaid leave after claiming a religious exemption from mandated COVID-19 vaccination two years ago. Against a backdrop of the State House with the governor’s office […]
Posted inState Government
Still no budget, but it’s coming
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TOP HOUSE AND SENATE Democrats negotiating the fiscal 2024 state budget, which is now four weeks overdue, announced Friday afternoon they had “reached an agreement in principle” paving the way for final votes at the formal sessions already scheduled for Monday. Lead conferees Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and Sen. Michael Rodrigues announced […]
Posted inGuns
Another House-Senate squabble, this time over gun legislation
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THE UNFINISHED fiscal 2024 budget, a road and bridge funding bill, and even their internal rules still tied up in slow-moving backroom negotiations, House and Senate Democrats found another area in which they disagreed Monday. Lawmakers from both branches say firearm law reforms are a priority, but when a newly-filed […]
Posted inState Government
Healey withholds records on abortion pill plan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A FEDERAL JUDGE hadn’t even ruled yet on suspending approval of the abortion pill mifepristone in April when Gov. Maura Healey orchestrated a major reserve shipment of the drug through the state’s flagship university. But despite pledges of public records transparency, any paper trail of how that response came together is […]
Posted inEnergy, State Government
Thong-wearing climate activists turn their cheeks in Senate
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THONG-WEARING climate activists intent on stopping fossil fuel infrastructure mooned senators and disrupted Thursday’s tax relief debate in the Massachusetts Senate. About an hour later, they were arrested and escorted out of the chamber. About eight local members of the international group Extinction Rebellion started shouting from the chamber’s public gallery […]
Posted inHealth, Health Care
Healey gives life science firms $24.4m in tax breaks
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. MAURA HEALEY and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center announced $24.4 million in tax incentive awards Tuesday that they expect will help 43 life sciences companies create nearly 1,600 new jobs, and officials teased more “exciting” life sciences news around the corner as the BIO International Convention lands in Boston next […]
Posted inState Government
Healey taps Rep. Santiago as veterans secretary
STATAE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. MAURA HEALEY will tap Rep. Jon Santiago of Boston, a major in the US Army Reserve, as the state’s next veterans’ services secretary, Healey announced Friday morning. Santiago recently returned from an overseas deployment, and Healey plans to swear in Santiago on March 1, the date that the veterans’ secretariat […]
Posted inPolitics
Moran moves into House’s No. 2 spot
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE REPS. MIKE MORAN of Boston, Alice Peisch of Wellesley, and Frank Moran of Lawrence all got big promotions Thursday as House Democrats rolled out their committee and leadership assignments for the new term. House Speaker Ron Mariano tapped Mike Moran to serve as his majority leader, elevating the 10-term veteran from […]
Posted inPolitics
Some Senate Dems on fence on term limit issue
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS SENATE DEMOCRATS emerged Wednesday from a private caucus in President Karen Spilka’s office, they had mixed reactions to the proposed removal of a decades-old term limit on the presidency that dates back to the tail-end of Sen. William Bulger’s regime. The chamber’s Democrats huddled for around three hours ahead of […]