Since the 2024 gun law’s passage, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said the county has managed to prosecute 17 people who were making and using ghost guns, as well as nine people who fired into homes while residents were inside.
Alison Kuznitz | State House News Service
Posted inHealth Care
Nearly 70,000 residents to get medical debt erased next week
More than $38 million in debt relief will be distributed to 69,527 people in eastern Mass. through a partnership involving the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association.
Posted inEducation
Free community college helping to shore up state university enrollment
Community colleges, with their enrollment buoyed by tuition-free policies in recent years, “remain the largest source of new transfers at the state universities,” said Mario Delci, associate commissioner for research and planning.
Posted inHealth Care
Report: Work requirements could threaten progress against overdose deaths
Roughly 55 percent of Massachusetts adults who have opioid use disorder and are enrolled in MassHealth will need to satisfy new federal work requirements outlined in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Posted inHealth Care
Health Connector expects another ‘unique’ sign-up period amid federal cuts
Nearly 350,000 Bay Staters are currently enrolled in individual Connector coverage. People will need to navigate double-digit premium hikes and some discontinued plans, particularly among Tufts Direct and Fallon Health enrollees.
Posted inHealth Care
Brigham and Women’s nurses set October 14 strike date
The nurses overwhelmingly authorized an indefinite strike last week, after their five-day work stoppage in July failed to break the contract negotiation stalemate.
Posted inState Government
Brownsberger edges Lander by 35 votes after Senate race recount
The results conclude a nail-biting primary race for the Suffolk and Middlesex District, which became a proxy war over voter dissatisfaction with the Beacon Hill status quo and a test of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s political prowess.
Posted inTechnology
Proposed data centers subjected to local approvals under Healey order
The guardrails, which include expectations for securing tax breaks, stipulate that new data centers should directly procure or develop the energy resources to support their operations — without raising energy costs for ratepayers and straining the electric grid.
Posted inHealth Care
Opponents of new abortion law eye 2028 repeal effort
A new coalition filed paperwork seeking to suspend and ultimately repeal the measure in the 2028 election cycle.
Posted inState Government
LG nominee Oliver quick to jump on Minogue’s team
Shortsleeve and Oliver pitched themselves as the “only unified ticket in the Republican gubernatorial primary,” but Oliver on Tuesday night spoke about aligning with Minogue as as part of the GOP’s larger quest in the general election cycle.
Posted inHealth Care
Healey moves to grow behavioral health workforce as access lags
Massachusetts is “facing a behavioral health access crisis,” says a May report from the Health Policy Commission’s Behavioral Health Workforce Center.
Posted inHousing
Tax credits expected to turn old offices into 860 rental units
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll announced the second tranche of commercial conversion credits, established through the 2024 Affordable Homes Act.
Posted inEconomy
Study pegs median net wealth of Massachusetts families at $370,000
A survey sent to 32,817 randomly selected Massachusetts addresses and yielding 5,018 responses highlighted long-standing racial wealth gaps.
Posted inHealth Care
Pricey campaign launched to assist with ‘ridiculous’ federal Medicaid requirements
Starting this week, Healey said, notices are being mailed to MassHealth members about how the federal changes could affect them and what actions they need to take to stay covered.
Posted inHealth Care
Health insurance woes reaching ‘inflection point,’ commissioner says
The escalating use of low-value care — medical services that are unnecessary for patient care — was identified as a contributor to health care spending growth. One in four commercially insured residents received at least one low-value service in 2024.
Posted inHealth Care
House votes 119-33 to pass abortion law changes
The bill scraps the four types of exemptions currently outlined in statute for life-threatening situations for the mother or fetus, instead giving deference to doctors’ professional judgment.
Posted inHealth Care
House eyes passage of bill altering criteria for late-term abortions
The bill would eliminate the existing criteria that allows for abortions to be performed 24 weeks or later into a pregnancy. Instead, leaving it up to the professional judgment of the physician performing the abortion.
Posted inState Government
Healey signs $63.4 billion budget with no vetoes
With election season heating up, the governor did not make any vetoes to the package, according to a Healey spokesperson.
Posted inHealth Care
Healey intervenes as Brigham nurses, home care workers prepare to strike
Healey held a meeting Monday afternoon with leaders from Mass General Brigham and the Massachusetts Nurses Association, though no bargaining committee members attended.
Posted inEducation
State gives clearance for three-year degree programs at two colleges
The Board of Higher Education approved Merrimack’s plan to offer 96-credit bachelor’s degrees in business administration, communications, criminal justice and psychology, the Department of Higher Education announced. Suffolk was approved for a 94-credit bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration and innovation.
Posted inState Government
Healey slams brakes on data center tax incentives
Healey said the hold on applications for the 20-year sales and use tax exemption for qualified data centers will remain in effect “until we have strong protections in place for our residents and communities against higher gas and electric bills.”
Posted inBallot Questions
Pro-cannabis campaign plans to counter ‘stuffy dudes’ with the grassroots
The Stop the Repeal campaign will rely on grassroots efforts to encourage Bay Staters to “vote no” against the ballot measure funded by “out-of-state” interests, said chair Ryan Dominguez, the executive director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Coalition.
Posted inState Government
Healey’s ‘serious’ look at health care also a confidential effort
Bay Staters are increasingly unable to afford care, with many forgoing doctor’s visits and other health care services due to escalating cost concerns that are exacerbated by rising premiums and the prevalence of high deductible plans
Posted inEducation
Pilot opens expansion opportunity for some family child care providers
The pilot will include about 25 to 30 programs, as EEC collects data and feedback from educators and families. EEC will use those findings to help guide future decisions about family child care capacity, staffing ratios and licensing structures.
