GOV. MAURA HEALEY formally asked the Biden administration to take a number of steps to make it easier for migrants and refugees to legally find work, saying the state of […]
State Government
Posted inState Government
State Police escorts sometimes involve political favors
JUST OVER A YEAR AGO, on a busy Monday afternoon around 2 p.m., the State Police shut down the heavily congested southbound lanes of the Southeast Expressway in Boston starting […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government, State House News Service
Cannabis commission director pushes back at ‘crisis’ comment
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the Cannabis Control Commission, Shawn Collins is in the driver’s seat of a newly empowered regulatory agency, one that oversees an industry […]
Posted inPolitics
Ballot question season already at a boil
THE FIRST REALÂ starting shot of the state ballot question cycle has been fired, kicking several high profile campaigns into high gear and already raising the specter of legal challenges. Voters […]
Posted inOpinion, State Government
Expanding tax credit will make Massachusetts a leader in family policy again
MASSACHUSETTS CONSISTENTLY ranks as the top state to raise a family. The reason is simple: our family policies – from paid leave and childcare to education and safety – and […]
Posted inHousing, State Government, State House News Service
Housing activists look to bond bill for funding, possible transfer fee
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IT’S NOW eight months into Gov. Maura Healey’s administration and the wait continues for major proposals from the Corner Office to address perhaps the governor’s signature […]
Posted inOpinion
Charles Eliot’s public, private creations treated very differently
IN 1891, at the urging of famed landscape architect Charles Eliot, the Massachusetts Legislature created the world’s first land trust, The Trustees of Reservations. Eliot was 32 years old. He […]
Posted inOpinion
Latest ranked choice ballot questions unconstitutional
IN 2020, nearly 80 percent of the state’s cities and towns, as well as 55 percent of the state’s voters, rejected a ballot question that would have forever changed our […]
Posted inEducation
Boston Public School parents worry about high school options
JUST OVER HALF of Boston Public School parents are satisfied with their options among the district’s available high schools, a new survey found, with fewer parents than ever before saying […]
Posted inState Government, Transportation
Eng confident Chinese subway car manufacturer will meet its obligations
THE CHINESE COMPANY building Red and Orange line trains for the MBTA faces a bleak future in the US market, but T General Manager Phillip Eng appears fairly confident the […]
Posted inEconomy
Boston, Harvard, BU pledge $300m for I-90 Allston project
THE CITY OF BOSTON, Harvard, and Boston University are pledging $300 million toward the development of the $1.9 billion I-90 Allston multimodal project, which would pave the way for development […]
Posted inCourts, Religion, State Government
Massachusetts cities and towns have spent millions restoring historic religious sites. They don’t know if it was constitutional.
FOR NEARLY two centuries, the Acton Congregational Church has stood serenely in the town’s main square, its pews offering a welcoming haven for spiritual renewal and quiet reflection. Starting in […]
Posted inEducation
Four big mistakes government makes in economic development — and how to avoid themÂ
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT has launched its most ambitious investment in economic development since the Great Depression. With the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the Inflation Reduction […]
Posted inHousing, State Government, State House News Service
State tweaks MBTA Communities housing law
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE ON Thursday gave more flexibility to cities and towns required to have at least one zone in which denser, multi-family housing is permitted, but […]
Posted inState Government
Will the Legislature have an appetite for overrides?
IT’S BEEN A WEEK and change since Gov. Maura Healey signed the $56 billion state budget for fiscal year 2024. The Democratic governor signed her first budget flanked by Democratic […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service, Transportation
In pivot, Healey looks to feds for money to rebuild just one Cape bridge to start
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER PREVIOUS EFFORTS to secure federal funding for replacement of both Cape Cod bridges stumbled, Gov. Maura Healey and her deputies will shift to a phased […]
Posted inCourts, Opinion, State Government
The state’s child welfare system is ‘infected with dysfunction’
IT IS AN unfortunate truth that Massachusetts, with all of its famous hospitals and prestigious universities, has among the most abysmal track records of any state of caring for children […]
Posted inGambling
While online Lottery falters, third-party app provides tickets through workaround
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE LEGISLATURE AGAIN rejected an attempt to allow the Massachusetts Lottery to sell its products online, but that doesn’t mean gamblers can’t order Lottery tickets online […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
We spearheaded state’s 2014 gun law; new legislation can build on it
FOR NEARLY 10 years Massachusetts has been one of the states with the lowest rates of firearm deaths. Firearm deaths include homicides and suicides by firearm and firearm accidents. Most […]
Posted inState Government
Revved-up tax growth comes to an end
AFTER TWO YEARS of revved-up tax revenue growth that helped fund a massive tax cut, a new report indicates the state’s ledger shifted into neutral during the fiscal year that […]
Posted inState Government
With Democrats united, Healey signs $56b budget
GOV. MAURA HEALEY on Wednesday signed into law her first state budget, setting a different tone than the Republican who held the corner office for the previous eight years. She […]
Posted inEnergy, State Government
Sea Installer stops in Salem en route to Vineyard Wind 1
NEW BEDFORD is ground zero for the emerging offshore wind industry in Massachusetts, but Salem got a taste of the action on Tuesday when a giant ship capable of installing […]
Posted inPolitics
Beacon Hill inaction leaves Avangrid in awkward spot
ON JULY 27, the CEO of Avangrid told financial analysts that his company was preparing to resume work on the Massachusetts-financed transmission line carrying hydroelectricity from Quebec into New England. […]
Posted inHealth, State Government, State House News Service
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 […]