AFTER THE 9/11 attacks in 2001, thigh-high bollards and giant planters sprouted outside government buildings across the country to deter terrorists and keep car bombers at bay. Now, some 21 […]
State Government
Posted inPolitics
Dems’ aversion to debates becoming campaign issue
THE NOVEMBER ELECTION in Massachusetts is having a meta moment: Emerging as a major issue in the campaign is the reluctance of some candidates to engage with their opponents over […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
House budget chief uncertain about economic development bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HOUSE BUDGET chief wants to “get something done in the shortest period of time possible” to revive an economic development bill, but he will not […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service, The Download
Cambridge progressive seeks to tweak the tax cap
Rep. Mike Connolly is fighting a lonely battle to tweak the state’s tax cap so some of the nearly $3 billion due to go back to Massachusetts taxpayers can be […]
Posted inState Government
Cambridge progressive seeks to tweak the tax cap
REP. MIKE CONNOLLY is fighting a lonely battle to tweak the state’s tax cap so some of the nearly $3 billion due to go back to Massachusetts taxpayers can be […]
Posted inHealth Care
How much is Massachusetts spending on primary, behavioral health care?
ONE OF GOV. Charlie Baker’s biggest initiatives that he attempted, but failed, to pass would have reoriented health care spending so a greater portion of health care spending went toward […]
Posted inState Government
Baker presses forward with hefty tax cap refunds
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Friday that he intends in November to start mailing taxpayers tax cap checks equal to an estimated 13 percent of their 2021 personal income tax […]
Posted inEconomy
Convention business rebounding strongly in 2022
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER TWO YEARS when its gathering halls were nearly empty of traditional big events, save for COVID vaccination clinics, Massachusetts Convention Center Authority officials on Thursday […]
Posted inState Government
Auditor certification paves way for $2.9b in tax cap credits
MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS could soon be receiving tax refunds in the mail after state Auditor Suzanne Bump officially certified that the state’s tax cap law has been triggered and taxpayers are […]
Posted inPolitics
Did Charlie Baker win last week’s state primary?
HE WAS NOT on last week’s primary ballot, but Charlie Baker – or at least his brand of more middle-of-the-road pragmatism – had a good day at the polls, at […]
Posted inState Government
Opposing camps evenly matched on millionaire tax fight
IT’S UNIONS VERSUS businesses in a high-stakes and so far evenly matched battle to raise the tax rate on high-income earners. This November, Massachusetts voters will decide whether to pass […]
Posted inOpinion
End-of-session cram is no way to conduct legislative business
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE passed more substantive legislation in the last 18 days of its two-year session than it had in the previous 550. In those 18 days of July, it […]
Posted inPolitics
SJC hears Sal DiMasi lobbying case
FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER Sal DiMasi is a convicted felon. But can he become a lobbyist? State law prohibits someone convicted of a felony under certain state laws from lobbying for […]
Posted inEconomy, State Government
Big money and unfinished Beacon Hill business
THE LEGISLATURE PASSED a slew of bills at the end of the session, but there was still a lot of unfinished business, according to two Massachusetts policy analysts who compared […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government
New CCC chair consulted for cannabis companies
SHANNON O’BRIEN, the former state treasurer and newly appointed chair of the Cannabis Control Commission, is not a novice to cannabis. O’Brien worked as a consultant for two marijuana companies […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Baker administration puts tax cap excess at $2.9b
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday filed a $1.6 billion supplemental budget to close the books on fiscal year 2022, proposing another $200 million in aid for […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government
Former treasurer Shannon O’Brien picked to lead cannabis board
FORMER STATE TREASURER Shannon O’Brien, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2002, will be the next chair of the Cannabis Control Commission. Treasurer Deborah Goldberg announced the appointment Tuesday. […]
Posted inState Government
SJC says Legislature has broad powers on voting
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT on Tuesday dismissed the major constitutional challenge that has been levied against the new state law allowing voting by mail, formally addressing a legal question that […]
Posted inOpinion, State Government
Ready to sue to protect tax cap giveback
NEARLY 40 YEARS AGO, the esteemed taxpayer watchdog group Citizens for Limited Taxation (CLT) and the Massachusetts High Tech Council (MHTC) had the foresight to fight and win the passage […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government
Edwards cuts an independent path
IN THE WEE HOURS of their final legislative session earlier this month, the state Senate took up a proposal from Gov. Charlie Baker to expand the list of charges under […]
Posted inState Government
Bump dismisses claim of tax cap pressure on her office
STATE AUDITOR Suzanne Bump on Monday strongly denied suggestions that she was under any pressure to delay calculating how much money should be returned to taxpayers under the tax cap […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government
The non-race for Massachusetts governor
MASSACHUSETTS, A PLACE long associated with spirited political contests, is sleepwalking its way through the state’s first open race for governor in eight years. “It’s August and we pretty much […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government
It’s Peake performance vs. reform agenda in Cape Cod race
THE OUTER REACHES of Cape Cod may be best known for the unspoiled beauty of the Cape Cod National Seashore and the freewheeling ways of Provincetown tea dances, but Sarah […]
Posted inGambling
A loud lament over the latest gambling embrace by state leaders
THERE WERE WHOOPS AND HOLLERS from DraftKings, the state’s casinos, and lawmakers as the state legalized sports betting earlier this month. For Les Bernal, it was not a moment to […]