The $3.64 billion bond bill, the state’s first for environmental efforts since 2018, is meant by and large to address the state’s adaptation to a changing climate, though Massachusetts projects the need will far outpace the spending authorized by this measure alone.
Karen Spilka
Posted inEnvironment
Ratepayer revolt: Has the affordability debate soured Mass. on climate commitments?
Fighting climate change was once a badge of honor in Massachusetts, embraced by virtually all Democrats and even a lot of Republicans. But as households grapple with soaring energy bills, elected officials have become much more squeamish about the topic.
Posted inState Government
Mariano weighs in on energy bill savings, audit preferences
“Mariano described the House energy bill as an attempt to strip away some of the public policy charges that have accumulated on electric and gas bills over the last two decades as Massachusetts sought to incentivize a transition away from fossil fuels.”
Posted inPolitics
Often at odds, Mariano and Spilka united by ballot question frustration
As the Legislature prepares to review 11 ballot questions with major policymaking implications, the top two Democrats came together to complain that the process is “fraught with peril.”
Posted inGovernment
Boston tax relief response, ballot question reform emerge for Senate action
As political fallout from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s ill-fated property tax plan continues, the Senate prepares to vote on a relief plan of its own, plus a measure to impose new scrutiny on ballot question electioneering.
Posted inState Government
What to expect when you’re expecting (legislative action)
Major policy issues like housing affordability, primary care access, and utility bills loom over Beacon Hill in 2026, when voters could also decide a dozen ballot questions and pick statewide elected officials.
Posted inState Government
Legislature downshifts into holiday mode after short burst of activity
What reached Gov. Maura Healey’s desk, and what’s still on hold until 2026 now that the Legislature is done with major business for the year?
Posted inEnergy
‘We will fill the State House’: Advocates gird for a showdown over House plan to dial back climate commitments
The effort is bound to divide the Democratic supermajority on Beacon Hill and test officials’ willingness to defend the state’s climate policies just as winter hits and Healey mounts a reelection bid.
Posted inGovernment
Looming federal food aid cuts put state Democrats in the hot seat
Massachusetts Democrats are unwilling to tap into the state’s significant savings balance to replace food aid, previewing difficult decisions that loom on the horizon.
Posted inState Government
State House labor pains: The long fight carries on for unionizing legislative aides
Three and a half years after State House aides went public with their desire to unionize, the effort remains stalled by skepticism from top Democrats who often position themselves as allies of labor.
Posted inOpinion
Why the Democratic supermajority on Beacon Hill won’t pass Democratic bills
Sooner or later, enough people will learn how democracy in Massachusetts is a lie. When they do, leadership’s iron grip will crack, not because those in power wanted to change, but because voters finally forced them to.
Posted inState House News Service
Senate president says federal government ‘working against us’
During an interview televised Sunday morning, Spilka echoed comments made earlier in the year by House Speaker Ron Mariano, who said Massachusetts had “lost our federal partner.”
Posted inState Government
Senators get ‘enough yeses’ to add $43.5 million to budget
The Senate Ways and Means Committee proposed an underlying budget that started at $61.32 billion, as Democrats forge ahead with their spending appetite despite modest state tax revenues and federal funding uncertainty.
Posted inState Government
Keenan’s stand for transparency
State Sen. John Keenan is hardly a rabble-rousing bomb thrower, a point that underscores how uncontroversial one might think it is to call for legislators to be given time to read bills before they come to the floor and for their votes on legislation to be recorded for their constituents and others to see.
Posted inEducation
Spilka renews push for free community college
Senate President Karen Spilka renewed her push for free community college in Massachusetts on Wednesday, touting a new report that lays out a plan to cover all costs for residents attending one of the state’s 15 public two-year schools at an annual cost of $170 million.
Posted inEconomy
Spilka outlines a different vision of competitiveness
SENATE PRESIDENT Karen Spilka delivered a speech to a leading business group on Thursday staking out a different stance on competitiveness than Gov. Maura Healey, the House, and the state’s […]
Posted inOpinion
Senate early education bill could transform childcare landscape
IN THE 19TH CENTURY, Massachusetts pioneered the idea that K-12 education should be a public good, available and accessible to all children and families. Today we take this for granted. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Senate budget focuses on early education, mental health, local aid
THE STATE budget proposal released by the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday largely hews to the same ideology as the plan adopted by House budget writers: Avoid tax […]
Posted inEducation, Health Care
Spilka joins calls for school mask mandate
AS BATTLE LINES are drawn among Massachusetts leaders, Senate President Karen Spilka added her voice to those calling for school children to be masked this fall. “No one wants to […]
Posted inPolitics
In-person meetings could reset relations between Baker, lawmakers
COULD THE RETURN of the “stale cookies” improve relations between Gov. Charlie Baker and legislative leaders? For most of his two terms in office, the Republican governor appeared to have […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Police reform: Big momentum, little time
WITH THE END OF the legislative session fast approaching, the House and Senate are trying to hammer out a bill dealing with police reform. In the wake of George Floyd’s […]
Posted inHealth Care
Senate bill extends telehealth, scope of practice
THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE is poised to extend the governor’s emergency order on insurance payments for telehealth, while at the same time reviving controversial proposals related to the types of services […]
Posted inOpinion, Politics
Tales from the legislative trenches
RESPONDING TO THE fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, the Legislature recently passed and the governor signed an eviction and foreclosure moratorium law. It enables people who are unemployed or lost income […]