THE EXPIRATION OF last year’s temporary expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) has caused millions of children to fall into poverty. Congress’s inability to come to any agreement to revive the CTC has created unnecessary hardship for families struggling with record-high inflation levels. Fortunately, recent changes in the Massachusetts tax code have offered […]
Government
Posted inState Government
Senate, Somerville eye protections for abortion, gender-affirming care
THE STATE SENATE on Wednesday adopted an amendment to the state budget protecting anyone who receives or provides gender-affirming care or abortion care against other states’ attempts to prosecute them. “Whether you like the law or not, the notion that somebody from some other state can set their values on our state is very concerning,” […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
House will vote on sexting, revenge porn bill
FIVE YEARS AFTER Gov. Charlie Baker first proposed new laws addressing sexting and revenge porn, the Legislature is prepared to consider the legislation. The House plans to vote Thursday on a bill that would address the unauthorized distribution of sexually explicit material. The bill has two major pieces. One would create a diversionary framework for […]
Posted inEnvironment
Healey sues PFAS manufacturers
ATTORNEY GENERAL Maura Healey has filed a lawsuit against 13 manufacturers of PFAS chemicals, arguing that they deceptively marketed and sold chemicals that were dangerous to the environment and to individuals’ health. She also sued two companies she alleges shielded the manufacturers’ assets through corporate transactions designed to avoid legal liability. “I am suing today […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Momentum building for some form of tax relief
FOR MONTHS NOW, pressure has been building on Beacon Hill lawmakers to provide some form of tax relief to residents. Republicans pushed repeatedly for a gas tax holiday as prices at the pump soared. Gov. Charlie Baker backed a $700 million package that matched tax breaks for seniors, renters, and low-income taxpayers with cuts in […]
Posted inBook Review
The Book of Baker
The first of two takes on the new book by the state’s governor and his former chief of staff. Here is the second, a look at the Baker playbook from Bob Massie, a former Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor and candidate for governor. IT IS QUITE rare for a governor to write a book while […]
Posted inState Government
What derailed unemployment insurance commission?
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS are going to be pumped into the state’s unemployment insurance trust fund, but there is no guarantee the money will solve the fund’s problems. A special legislative commission set up to find solutions to the long-term problems that have plagued the fund was unable to come to any consensus last week, which […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
House plans vote on prison construction moratorium
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE is set to vote on language this Thursday that would impose a five-year moratorium on new prison construction. The language is tucked into a large government bond bill, which would authorize state government to borrow $4.88 billion for a wide range of building projects touching on myriad facets of state government. But, […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service, Transportation
East-West rail authority not in transpo bond bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE $9.75 BILLION infrastructure bond bill that cleared the Transportation Committee does not include any language creating a new rail authority to oversee a passenger train extension to western Massachusetts, bucking a prediction Congressman Richard Neal made last month when he and state officials announced a historic agreement to advance the […]
Posted inState Government
State workforce shrinks to 2012 levels
MASSACHUSETTS STATE GOVERNMENT lost the equivalent of 1,409 full-time employees in one year during the pandemic, the steepest drop in state government employment since the Baker administration intentionally cut the state workforce in 2016. The drop was felt most heavily in higher education but also extended to executive and judicial branch agencies. State officials say […]