STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THE LEGISLATIVE session expected to end on Sunday night and a large backlog of bills in the pipeline, the House and Senate accomplished relatively little […]
House rejects Baker’s latest ‘dangerousness’ gambit
Posted inOpinion
Bike stats contradict safety claims of Cambridge officials
AMID AN OUTCRY over how the implementation of Quick Build bike lanes will all but eliminate street parking in front of local businesses, the Cambridge City Council has smacked down […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
SJC rules consent required for blood alcohol test
THE POLICE CANNOT test a person’s blood to determine blood alcohol content without that person’s consent, even if the person authorized the blood draw itself, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Baker proposes major changes to climate change bill
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER sent the Legislature’s climate change bill back with amendments that appear to rewrite it significantly, including reinstating the governor’s original call for using $750 million in federal […]
Posted inHealth Care
Budget notes: Disability Law Center questions veto
THE DISABILITY LAW CENTER on Friday released its latest report criticizing the state’s management of Bridgewater State Hospital, a day after Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed money for the center to […]
Posted inOpinion, State Government
On Beacon Hill, it’s last-minute business as usual
AS THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE slogs to the finish line, having once again ceded its super Democratic majority, this time to a lame duck governor, it’s fair to ask how does […]
Posted inTransportation
FTA orders ‘safety standdown’ at T for disabled trains
THE FEDERAL Transit Administration ordered an “immediate safety standdown” at the MBTA, requiring all workers who operate or secure disabled transit vehicles to halt their work until they participate in […]
Posted inState Government
Mariano open to tinkering, scrapping, or postponing tax cap law
HOUSE SPEAKER Ron Mariano, clearly frustrated with Gov. Charlie Baker, suggested on Friday that the Legislature could modify, scrap, or delay the 1986 tax cap law that is expected to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker signs abortion rights bill
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Friday signed into law a sweeping abortion rights bill that protects health care providers from prosecutions by other states, requires insurers to fully cover abortion services, […]
Posted inCourts
Biden nominates reproductive rights lawyer Julie Rikelman as federal appeals court judge
PRESIDENT BIDEN will nominate prominent reproductive rights attorney Julie Rikelman, who argued in favor of abortion rights before the US Supreme Court in the Dobbs case, to be a US […]
Posted inThe Download
Who knew campaign questionnaires were so controversial?
A clarification has been added to this story. What started out as a bid for greater transparency in the race for auditor has suddenly become, strangely enough, a battleground in […]
Posted inPolitics
Who knew campaign questionnaires were so controversial?
A clarification has been added to this story. WHAT STARTED out as a bid for greater transparency in the race for auditor has suddenly become, strangely enough, a battleground in […]
Posted inOpinion
Pass ebike legislation, reward car-lite living
THE STATE Legislature and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation need to keep their eye on the real transportation goal for the state – maintaining and increasing the number of people […]
Posted inOpinion
Legislative staff union raises some important questions
I HAVE BEEN following efforts to organize the legislative staff at the State House and I have some concerns. As a former legislator, Chair of Ways and Means and Senate […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Spilka sees no path forward for staff unionization
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE LEGISLATIVE STAFF have waited around four months to learn whether Senate President Karen Spilka would recognize their unionization effort with IBEW Local 2222, and on Thursday […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Courts
SJC quickly dismisses lawsuit over dental ballot question
THE SUPREME JUDICIAL Court quickly dismissed a lawsuit brought by opponents of a ballot question regulating dental insurance that sought to change the ballot question summary submitted by proponents. With […]
Posted inState Government
Baker says he’s leaving state in good shape financially
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday signed into law a $52.7 billion state budget for fiscal 2023, representing an unusually high 9.3 percent growth in spending over the prior year. The […]
Posted inEducation
Don’t compound the problems of student loan debt
AT THE BEGINNING of 2022, Zero Debt Massachusetts set as legislative priority passage of a bill to block any state agency or board of registration from denying or revoking any […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Cap to give ‘north of $2.5b’ in excess tax revenue back to taxpayers
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Thursday that he expects a law passed by voters in 1986 will require the state to return more than $2.5 billion to taxpayers in the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Baker won’t sign no-cost prison calls without dangerousness bill
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER is making another go at passing elements of his criminal dangerousness bill, this time with a bit of high-stakes legislative horse trading. Baker, in signing the fiscal […]
Posted inThe Download
Is Mass. eyeing out-of-state nuke, wind power for clean energy?
THE CLIMATE AND ENERGY bill sitting on the governor’s desk contains two policy sections that could open the door to clean energy procurements involving onshore wind from Maine and nuclear […]
Posted inEnergy, State Government
Is Mass. eyeing out-of-state nuke, wind power for clean energy?
THE CLIMATE AND ENERGY bill sitting on the governor’s desk contains two policy sections that could open the door to clean energy procurements involving onshore wind from Maine and nuclear […]
Posted inHealth Care
Lawmakers reach agreement on Soldiers’ Home governance
LEGISLATIVE NEGOTIATORS have come to an agreement on how to overhaul the governance of the state’s two Soldiers’ Homes in Holyoke and Chelsea. A bill released Wednesday evening lays out […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Ex-senator Tran sues Healey over criminal charges of stealing a constituent’s gun
FORMER STATE SENATOR Dean Tran, who was indicted earlier this month on charges that he stole a gun from an elderly constituent, filed suit in federal court on Wednesday against […]