THE STATE AUDITOR’S office regularly publishes its audits of state agencies, providing Beacon Hill officials with a review of their performance and giving the general public insight into how Massachusetts […]
State Government
Posted inEducation
State looks to limit cellphones in schools
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE’S K-12 education department is encouraging districts to restrict or ban students’ cellphone use in schools, possibly moving toward a statewide mandate in the future. […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Healey names Gobi director of rural affairs
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SEN. ANNE GOBI will leave the Legislature to fill a newly created post in the Healey administration, triggering a special election in the central Massachusetts district […]
Posted inTransportation
Like Goldilocks, Glynn trying to fashion ‘just right’ T board
WHEN “SNOWMAGEDDON,” an unprecedented succession of blizzards, shut the MBTA down in 2015, Beacon Hill created a five-person Fiscal and Management Control Board to right the organization. Control was the operative […]
Posted inEconomy
State economic development plan must include entrepreneurs of color
STATE LAW REQUIRES the governor to present the Legislature with an economic development strategy every four years. Crafted with input from a council of business and civic leaders, these plans […]
Posted inPolitics
House leaders pushing majority rule in joint committees
HOUSE LEADERS appear to be pushing majority rule in most of the Legislature’s joint committees, but the effort has had little impact so far except in the badly divided Telecommunications, […]
Posted inCourts, Government, State Government
SJC punts on individual contributions to super PACs
THE STATE’S HIGHEST COURT decided on Tuesday not to rule on whether limits can be placed on individual campaign contributions to political action committees, putting those who favor limits in […]
Posted inState Government
Split-in-two committee to hold dueling hearings this week
THOSE INTERESTED in testifying on bills dealing with offshore wind and energy storage may have to do double-duty this week. The feuding House and Senate chairs of the Legislature’s Telecommunications, […]
Posted inHousing, State Government, State House News Service
Healey names former Worcester city manager as housing secretary
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. MAURA HEALEY named Edward Augustus as state housing secretary on Monday, turning to a former state senator and Worcester city manager to serve as point […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government
Fight erupts over committee rules on Beacon Hill
This story has been updated with a comment from Rep. Jeffrey Roy. A FIGHT is brewing on Beacon Hill over the rules governing how joint committees made up of House […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
AG Andrea Campbell picks her targets
ATTORNEY GENERAL Andrea Campbell has waded into some politically thorny topics so far, trying to balance an advocacy lens as “the people’s lawyer” with the practical demands of being “top […]
Posted inTransportation
New T board members set different tone
THE MBTA BOARD under new chair Tom Glynn is going to be different, judging from the way three subcommittees of the board handled themselves on Thursday. Right from the start, […]
Posted inEnergy, State Government
Energy storage facilities hit regulatory black hole
THE STATE’S Energy Facilities Siting Board concluded on Wednesday that it lacks authority to approve large energy storage facilities, which means two projects in Carver and Medway may be in […]
Posted inState Government
Senate budget embraces in-state tuition for undocumented students
SENATE LEADERS unveiled a budget proposal on Tuesday that embraces in-state tuition payments for undocumented Massachusetts students, rejects calls for expanding the state Lottery online, and sets aside enough funding […]
Posted inState Government, Transportation
Senate budget boosts RTA funding, backs fare-free buses
THE STATE’S 15 regional transit authorities, long considered a transportation afterthought on Beacon Hill, are suddenly all the rage. RTAs, which operate local bus networks across the state outside the […]
Posted inOpinion
Arrigo has big challenge ahead at DCR
WHAT’S IT LIKE having the job as commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation? Ask a budget analyst on Beacon Hill and you’ll get an answer like: Manage […]
Posted inState Government
Spilka following different path on tax relief
GOV. MAURA HEALEY and the House rolled out their tax relief plans in tandem with their budget proposals for the coming year, but the Senate is moving in a different […]
Posted inPolitics
Has party imbalance broken democracy in Mass.?
THE STATE OF the two political parties in Massachusetts could not look more different. We are perhaps the bluest of blue states, with Democrats now holding virtually every elected position […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Tax forecast misses mark, but Healey says that was expected
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. MAURA HEALEY doubled down on her tax relief plan on Friday, insisting that a shortfall in state revenue that has plunged this year’s state budget […]
Posted inState Government
Healey brings more women into governor’s office
GOV. MAURA HEALEY, the first woman to be elected governor of Massachusetts, is bringing more women into state government with her. According to the state’s diversity dashboard, Healey has 52 […]
Posted inState Government
April tax revenues plunge 23% below forecasted levels
THE GENERALLY nonstop tax revenue growth the state has experienced for the last several years came to a halt in April, when revenue came in more than $2 billion lower […]
Posted inHousing, State Government
Boston rent control plan on the ropes
WHAT DO YOU call the opposite of a trial balloon? A deep-six signal? Whatever the term for it, it sure looks like legislative leaders are giving it some play when […]
Posted inEnergy, State Government
Healey playing catch-up with latest offshore wind procurement
THE HEALEY ADMINISTRATION made the best of a bad situation on Tuesday, issuing a draft of the state’s fourth request for offshore wind proposals that reworks the failed third procurement, […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
High Tech Council calls House move unconstitutional
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AN INFLUENTIAL BUSINESS group warned Monday that a bill the House approved last month features an “unconstitutional provision” to reshape the rebate program that provided nearly […]