STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE LAWMAKERS unanimously passed a $47.716 billion budget in the early morning hours Thursday after adding tens of millions of dollars in spending over three days, […]
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State revenues keep on surpassing projections
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE collected more than $3 billion from Massachusetts residents, workers, and businesses last month, once again shattering the Baker administration’s expectations and putting […]
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Race-blind decision-making could reduce racial disparities in child welfare system
THOUGH THEY ARE certainly helpful for raising broader awareness of the issue, I don’t need reports or articles like the recent piece in CommonWealth to tell me that black and […]
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Politicians’ campaign finance lawsuit is secret
TWO MASSACHUSETTS POLITICIANS are going to court to challenge an action by the head of the state’s Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Yet despite a case that seems almost […]
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Group prepares to launch New Bedford news site
CONCERNED ABOUT the lack of local news coverage in New Bedford, a group of people in and near the city, some of them with strong newspaper backgrounds, are preparing to […]
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Partisan battle brewing over vote-by-mail
A PARTISAN BATTLE is brewing in the Legislature over vote-by-mail – with the first salvo coming on a seemingly innocuous bill to extend municipal voting by mail for another three […]
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State tax collections remain on a roll
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TAX COLLECTIONS exceeded the Baker administration’s expectations by $372 million in February and surpassed the total of collections in February 2020, a development that positions the […]
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Warren seeks 2% tax on those worth $50m
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ARGUING THAT THE wealth of billionaires has grown over the course of the pandemic, US Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday introduced legislation in Congress to tax […]
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House crushes transparency rules amendment
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE LAWMAKERS spent over an hour locked in a tense debate Wednesday afternoon on an unsuccessful transparency amendment to the Legislature’s 2021-2022 joint rules before ultimately adopting […]
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Could in-person sports viewing be coming?
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FANS WILL GET to watch the Boston Bruins play in person for the first time since pre-pandemic days on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, but it’s unlikely […]
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Newsroom strife at Times poses bigger questions for journalism
THE NEW YORK TIMES is increasingly beholden to the views of its left-leaning subscribers. It sounds like the sort of scorched-earth screed you might hear on Fox News — or […]
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House, Senate announce leadership appointments
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE AND SENATE Democrats ratified their committee assignments for the two-year session Friday, approving the leadership and committee structure that includes new posts meant to boost […]
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Legislature slowly restarts with rules, new committees
THE COVID-19 pandemic may have increased the urgency of business before the state Legislature, but the 2021 legislative session has started at its usual slow pace. Lawmakers quickly passed a […]
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State tax collections continue to surprise
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE JANUARY TAX COLLECTIONS obliterated the Baker administration’s expectations, coming in almost a half-billion dollars above the Department of Revenue’s already-upgraded monthly benchmark and helping to brighten […]
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Tax revenues expected to grow by 3.5 percent next year
TAX REVENUES IN Massachusetts are coming in higher than anticipated this year – and are expected to grow by 3.5 percent next year, the state’s top budget-writers said Friday. Despite […]
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CommonWealth’s most read stories of 2020
PUTTING TOGETHER this list of the most read CommonWealth stories of 2020 was a bit disappointing. Normally, these types of lists tend to highlight the best stories of the year […]
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Lawmakers getting $4,280 hike in base pay
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS LAWMAKERS are in store for another pay raise. Two years after Gov. Charlie Baker certified a raise of 5.93 percent for the 200 members of […]
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Our most popular commentary pieces of 2020
COMMONWEALTH RAN more than 400 commentary pieces in 2020, providing a lively forum for ideas and debate. The pieces came from people on the left, the right, and everywhere in between. […]
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Baker files bill to ease UI costs for businesses
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS BUSINESSES would face smaller increases in taxes they pay to fund the state unemployment system over the next two years, under a new bill Gov. […]
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Number of high-risk communities rises to 81
THE NUMBER of communities considered high-risk for COVID-19 rose from 62 to 81 on Friday, as cases statewide continued to grow rapidly while deaths from the coronavirus grew more slowly. […]
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Healey sues Boston Sports Clubs
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BOSTON SPORTS CLUBS gyms showed “total disregard” for members during the COVID-19 pandemic by continuing to charge fees to customers who tried to cancel, Attorney General […]
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House, Senate budgets contain plenty of policy proposals
SO MUCH for a “narrow” budget. When the House and Senate Ways and Means committees released their fiscal 2021 budget proposals, both were relatively narrow with few policy initiatives. Chairs […]
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Ashkenazy settles up with Boston
The game of chess between the city of Boston and the operator of Faneuil Hall Marketplace took an unusual turn Tuesday, as the Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. paid what it owes […]
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Baker nominating Georges for SJC
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SERGE GEORGES JR.’S nomination to the Supreme Judicial Court is poised to make history in more ways than one. Georges, announced Tuesday as the latest pick […]
