A THIRD OF ALL UMASS students will qualify for free tuition paid for by the new income surtax on the state’s highest earners, under a plan the Healey administration rolled out Wednesday to spend an expansion of state financial aid.
Sam Drysdale // State House News Service
Posted inHousing
Healey’s shelter cap of 7,500 families is triggered
The number of families housed in the state’s emergency shelter system hit Gov. Maura Healey’s limit on Thursday afternoon, triggering a new regulation that will allow the shelter system to begin to turn people away.
Posted inImmigration
Group seeks to block Healey’s emergency shelter cap
Gov. Maura Healey’s administration is facing a lawsuit after the governor announced last week that the state would no longer guarantee housing for those protected under the state’s right-to-shelter law.
Posted inEnvironment
Climate report calls for decarbonization cost tally
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS NEEDS to shift from an era of statewide planning for climate policy to the key details of implementing it, according to a new report from the state’s top climate official, which includes sweeping recommendations to accelerate the state’s progress toward its emissions reduction goals. Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer recommends some […]
Posted inEnvironment
Advocates press Healey to scrap Hanscom expansion
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN A NEW SURGE of opposition, advocates are calling directly on Gov. Maura Healey to stop the expansion of the publicly owned airfield in Bedford that holds the most private jets in New England. The Massachusetts Port Authority, a quasi-public agency, has proposed adding 27 hangars at Lawrence G. Hanscom Field […]
Posted inMarijuana
O’Brien apologizes for handling of last CCC meeting
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE CHAIRWOMAN of the Cannabis Control Commission apologized to her fellow commissioners Thursday for any “angst” or “confusion” she caused at their last meeting when she unexpectedly announced the agency’s executive director was leaving and that the CCC was in “crisis.” Chairwoman Shannon O’Brien announced at a July 28 meeting that Executive Director […]
Posted inrecycling, Transportation
New MBTA contract perks included to attract, retain workers
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA’S struggles with hiring and retaining workers have grabbed headlines for months, but supporters of a new labor deal featuring pay and benefit upgrades say it represents cause for hope that the T will eventually secure the workforce needed to ensure quality service. The tentative four-year agreement includes a raise […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Healey administration nixes plan for Plymouth nuclear wastewater
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE REGULATORS denied a bid by the company in charge of decommissioning the nuclear power plant in Plymouth to discharge 1.1 million gallons of industrial wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. After years of local opposition to the company’s discharge plan, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued the draft determination Monday, […]
Posted inTransportation
Pedestrian road fatalities hit record high of 101 in 2022
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE NUMBER of pedestrians and bicyclists involved in on-the-road accidents in Massachusetts is on the rise after record-lows in 2020, with the most pedestrian fatalities on record occurring in 2022. A recent Department of Transportation assessment on the safety of so-called vulnerable road users — those who use the roads but […]
Posted inTransportation
Bus stops targeted to improve pedestrian safety
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FOLLOWING A PEDESTRIAN safety assessment that showed almost half of all Massachusetts pedestrian fatalities or serious injuries happened within 300 feet of a bus stop, the Department of Transportation is looking to use federal funds to make safety improvements at bus stops across the state. Pedestrian fatalities, serious injuries and cyclist […]