STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SAYING MASSACHUSETTS HAS missed out on $16 million in marijuana taxes, officials behind the 2016 legal marijuana ballot question on Monday pointed to staffing levels and […]
Michael P. Norton I State House News Service
Posted inHealth Care
Health commission seeks ‘guardrails’ on merger
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AN APPREHENSIVE HEALTH POLICY COMMISSION voted unanimously Thursday to refer the Beth Israel-Lahey Health mega-merger to Attorney General Maura Healey and Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel […]
Posted inHealth Care
Health Policy Commission to analyze nurse question
UNDER PRESSURE TO EXAMINE a nurse staffing ballot question, the state Health Policy Commission on Monday announced that it plans to present findings on cost impacts of mandated staffing ratios […]
Posted inPolitics
Trahan wins recount by 145 votes
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THIRTEEN DAYS after an election that left her with a small advantage over Dan Koh, Lori Trahan of Westford emerged as the decisive winner Monday in […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Baker declares emergency, enlists Eversource
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Friday afternoon declared a state of emergency in the wake of a series of gas fires and explosions in the Merrimack Valley, […]
Posted inPolitics
Healey: Baker plays it safe
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WHILE MANY DEMOCRATS hoped she would challenge Gov. Charlie Baker, Attorney General Maura Healey is going for four more years in her current job. On Friday […]
Posted inGun ownership
Judge upholds assault weapons ban
STATE HOUSE NEWS A federal judge ruled the state’s 1998 assault weapons ban did not violate the Second Amendment and also upheld Attorney General Maura Healey’s 2016 decision to notify […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
State Police cite overtime discrepancies
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A REVIEW INITIALLY LAUNCHED to look at overtime payments made to a handful of State Police members has uncovered possibly more malfeasance, as audit results have […]
Posted inPolitics
Chandler elected acting Senate president
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE SENATE INITIATED an Ethics Committee investigation on Monday night into its now former president Sen. Stanley Rosenberg in a dramatic day of upheaval that saw […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker in shift on distracted driving bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A RISE IN FATAL ACCIDENTS caused by distracted driving and advances in technology prompted Gov. Charlie Baker to throw his support on Tuesday behind a ban […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Baker refuses to disavow new pipeline capacity
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE DEFENDING HIS ADMINISTRATION’S COMMITMENT to developing clean energy sources, Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday responded to activists who are aggressively pressing him to take steps to […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Warren rips Baker ‘flip-flop’
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S new bill targeting drug dealers make him a flip-flopper, according to gubernatorial candidate Setti Warren, who appears to be taking a stance against […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Sanchez named House Ways & Means chairman
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BOSTON DEMOCRAT REP. JEFFREY SANCHEZ will succeed outgoing Rep. Brian Dempsey as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, a pivotal fiscal affairs and policymaking […]
Posted inEconomy, Health Care, Politics, State House News Service
Lawmakers rush overdue budget to Baker
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE LARGELY DISCARDING SPENDING plans they approved in the spring, the House and Senate on Friday sent Gov. Charlie Baker a $40.2 billion state budget that holds […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service, Transportation
Where the food deserts are
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE CHELSEA, SPRINGFIELD, AND TAUNTON top a new list of cities with the highest percentage of low-income residents lacking access to grocery stores, a problem with nutrition […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
MA emissions continue decline
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS in Massachusetts decreased from 2013 to 2014, continuing a decade-long trend, according to the latest state data. State law requires emissions by 2020 […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Baker pushes 2-track S. Coast rail approach
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE The Baker administration has agreed on a course for the first phase of long-promised commuter rail service to the South Coast, working under an approach that […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Panel badly split on health care pricing
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE DIFFERENCES AMONG MEMBERS of a 23-person commission examining health care pricing variations were on full display Tuesday on the 21st floor of One Ashburton Place. Commission […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
House, Senate OK delay in marijuana law
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HOUSE AND SENATE on Wednesday passed a bill (S 2524) that would delay the licensing of retail marijuana outlets by six months, which could push […]
Posted inEconomy, State House News Service
November tax collections down
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE REVENUE OFFICIALS collected $105 million less in taxes last month than they did in November 2015, contributing to a long-running up-and-down pattern that has flummoxed […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Goldberg cuts ties with Wells Fargo
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS TREASURER DEB GOLDBERG has instructed her debt management deputies to immediately remove Wells Fargo from their approved list of underwriters for one year. Four Massachusetts […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics, State House News Service
MWRA: Old water tunnels in poor condition
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE CAST IRON AND STEEL PIPES and valves integral to the tunnel system that provides 60 percent of the water to eastern Massachusetts communities served by the […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Lawmakers close FY16 budget gap
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE on Thursday fast-tracked a spending bill to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk aimed at closing the books on fiscal 2016, which ended June 30, […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Ash withdraws name from Cambridge post
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE JAY ASH, SECRETARY, for the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and one of three finalists for the open Cambridge city manager’s post, has […]