A KEY LIEUTENANT to Senate President Karen Spilka is proposing a rule change — with her apparent blessing — that would scrap term limits on the chamber’s president. The proposal […]
State Government
Posted inState Government, Transportation
Healey not rushing things at the MBTA
GOV. MAURA HEALEY is slowly – some would say too slowly – putting the pieces in place to take control of the MBTA. Back in August, when it was widely […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
State tax revenues miss mark for first time since June 2020
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE REVENUE collections missed the mark by nearly 5 percent in January, with the $3.834 billion that the Department of Revenue reeled in landing $192 million, […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Under new rules, House returns to in-person sessions
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HOUSE on Wednesday unanimously adopted its rules for the two-year term that began four weeks ago, agreeing to eliminate a pandemic-era policy that allowed representatives […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Will Reidy be different as Healey’s public safety chief?
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM advocates may have been looking to the arrival of a new Democratic governor on Beacon Hill to turn the page on differences they had with the Baker […]
Posted inPublic Records, State Government
Healey won’t file legislation subjecting her office to records law
GOV. MAURA HEALEY said on Monday that she will not introduce legislation that would make her office subject to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. ”I don’t think I need to […]
Posted inOpinion
3 steps for Mass. education course correction
GOV. MAURA HEALEY’S appointment of Education Secretary Patrick A. Tutwiler shouldn’t be a dramatic move. Having a veteran educator in this leadership position shouldn’t be unusual. Unfortunately, his experience as […]
Posted inPolitics
House panel votes 2-1 to seat Kassner over Mirra
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES WILL BE ASKED to vote Wednesday on a party-line recommendation to declare Kristin Kassner, a Hamilton Democrat, the official winner in a contested recount she […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Healey seeks funding for shelters, school meals
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE REVIVING DEBATE on an issue that lawmakers left untouched at the end of last session, Gov. Maura Healey on Monday filed a $282 million spending bill […]
Posted inState Government
Millionaire surtax: What’s the split between education, transportation?
THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT approved by voters in November establishes a 4 percent income tax surcharge on income over $1 million, and directs that the money should go to transportation and […]
Posted inEducation
On education reform, Tom Birmingham stuck to his guns
EDUCATION REFORM ISSUES, and where a public official stands on them, have long defied easy categorization using the conventional yardstick of more liberal or more conservative positioning. That was on […]
Posted inHealth, State Government, State House News Service
Source: Healey picks BMC chief to head health and human services
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. MAURA HEALEY has tapped Kate Walsh, president and CEO of Boston Medical Center, to lead the state’s sprawling health and human services secretariat, the largest […]
Posted inState Government
Top budget officials still undecided on tax cuts
STATE REVENUES are expected to rise slightly in the coming fiscal year, but top budget officials from the Legislature and Healey administration say it’s still unclear whether there is enough […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government
Special treatment considered for revenue from millionaire tax
TOP BUDGET OFFICIALS from the Legislature say they intend to abide by the will of the voters and make sure all revenue from the new millionaire tax goes to “new […]
Posted inImmigration, State Government, State House News Service
House leaders wary of Baker prediction on immigrants
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FORMER GOVERNOR Charlie Baker’s warnings that the state’s emergency assistance shelter system is overfilling with migrants and will not be able to guarantee spots for eligible […]
Posted inPolitics
Rules reformers prepare for another fight in Legislature
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AROUND THE COUNTRY, state legislatures use their public websites to publish reams of written testimony submitted in support or opposition to proposals, name special interest groups […]
Posted inPolitics
Healey files bill funding housing, economic development
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SAYING SHE WANTS her administration to be known as one “driving economic development,” growth, and opportunity, Gov. Maura Healey on Thursday announced plans to put before […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Campbell takes office guided by personal experiences
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN A CEREMONY focused on the historic “firsts” of Andrea Campbell’s inauguration as Massachusetts’ first Black woman elected to be attorney general — and the family […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government
House declares Scarsdale winner of disputed race
DEMOCRAT MARGARET SCARSDALE of Pepperell is expected to be sworn in Wednesday as a state representative after a special House committee of two Democrats and one Republican upheld her seven-vote […]
Posted inOpinion
What it takes to streamline state regulations
TO JUDGE the Boston Globe’s op-ed page, public officials, environmental advocates, and business leaders all seek permitting reform, some for protection of a warming planet, and others for provision of […]
Posted inPolitics
2 Republicans blame human error in unusual election challenge
TWO REPUBLICANS who narrowly lost races for the House in November told a three-member legislative committee tasked with declaring a winner that there were irregularities in the counting of votes […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government
Cannabis licensing snafu over O’Brien much ado about nothing
THE CANNABIS Control Commission unanimously approved a final license for Greenfield Greenery on Thursday, resolving a months-long delay resulting from questions about whether Commission Chair Shannon O’Brien properly removed herself […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Mass. Business Roundtable official appointed to Healey cabinet
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE LAUREN JONES, a Massachusetts Business Roundtable official who at one point worked as communications director for the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, was announced […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government
Board named for social equity marijuana loan fund
THE BOARD that will oversee the state’s new fund to help social equity cannabis businesses will be comprised of a diverse group of individuals, who represent various segments of the […]