THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE is starting to prepare for a post-Roe v Wade world, providing state tax dollars to organizations that help women pay for abortions and investing in security and […]
Massachusetts Legislature
Posted inUncategorized
With tax revenues soaring, Spilka calls for relief package
MASSACHUSETTS TAX revenues continued to soar in April, astonishing experts who track the numbers and prompting Senate President Karen Spilka to announce that she intends to push for some sort […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
US Senate committee deadlocks on Robinson
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A US SENATE COMMITTEE split evenly along party lines on whether to advance Massachusetts Rep. Maria Robinson’s nomination for a federal energy job, teeing up another […]
Posted inOpinion
Online notarization makes sense in today’s world
BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, we spent years talking about the future of the internet and what the world would look like when everything we needed was online. Then the pandemic hit, […]
Posted inGambling
Senate passes sports betting on voice vote
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER YEARS OF DISCUSSION and pressure from both inside and outside the State House, the Massachusetts Senate voted Thursday to legalize sports wagering, but lawmakers will […]
Posted inUncategorized
Representative apologizes after drunk driving arrest
THE STATE REPRESENTATIVE arrested Tuesday for drunk driving apologized on Thursday and pledged to seek treatment for his addiction. Rep. David LeBoeuf, a Worcester Democrat, wrote in a public statement on […]
Posted inHealth Care
House floats UMass health sciences school at Mount Ida campus
FACED WITH a staffing crisis throughout the health care industry, the House’s leading policymaker on health care has an idea: build a new public school for health sciences education, located […]
Posted inEnvironment
Senate climate bill goes granular, ups electric vehicle rebates
SENATE LEADERSHIP unveiled a very prescriptive $250 million climate change bill on Thursday that would direct Gov. Charlie Baker and his successor to boost rebates for zero emission vehicles, allow […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Republican accuses Dems of flipflopping on staff unionization
DURING A DEBATE on House rules in January 2019, Rep. Shawn Dooley, a Norfolk Republican, introduced an amendment that would allow House employees to unionize. The amendment was overwhelmingly rejected, […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Mass. Senate staff seek to unionize
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE employees are hoping to become the second unionized state legislative staff in the country, announcing on Monday night their intent to unionize with Quincy-based […]
Posted inTransportation
Our legislation expands transit tax benefits
IN EXPLORING legislation to expand commuter transit benefits, we sought to save Massachusetts residents money and improve our environment. Then a global pandemic changed the entire transportation landscape. Presently, use […]
Posted inOpinion
The T should not be playing fiscal musical chairs
WE ARE HEADING for a massive MBTA operating budget deficit next year, and no one in power on Beacon Hill is doing anything about it. This is not a theory […]
Posted inTransportation
T needs to step up its game on ‘diversions’
TWO WEEKENDS AGO the MBTA did something previously unthinkable. It closed half of a major subway line, through downtown Boston, on a game day, with shuttle buses running from Back […]
Posted inOpinion
Protecting the state’s protected lands
WE OFTEN THINK of floods, hurricanes, snowstorms and the like as threats to our normal way of life, but the Covid pandemic has shown us a unique threat that affects […]
Posted inRace/Racism
House votes to ban hairstyle discrimination
IN 2017, Mya and Deanna Cook, 15-year-old twins, were disciplined because they wore box braids to school at Mystic Valley Regional Charter School in Malden. Box braids and other protective […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
House leader questions implementation of criminal justice law
THE TOP HOUSE lawmaker on criminal justice issues is accusing the Baker administration of “outright resistance” to implementing the state’s criminal justice reform law. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Michael Day, […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
State House dropping mask, vaccine requirements
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THE COVID-19 pandemic’s two-year anniversary approaching, legislative leaders lifted the mask mandate and proof-of-vaccination-or-negative-test requirement for entry into the State House, starting on Monday. House […]
Posted inUncategorized
Senate passes ‘period poverty’ bill
VIRTUALLY EVERY WOMAN of child-bearing age has had that panicked moment: she gets her period unexpectedly in a public bathroom and doesn’t have menstrual products. For low-income women and girls […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Offshore wind bill sails through House
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE LEGISLATION THAT lawmakers hope will turbocharge the growing offshore wind industry in Massachusetts and help the state meet its climate commitments easily sailed through the House […]
Posted inEnvironment
New offshore wind bill drops electric bill charges
HOUSE LEADERS on Tuesday abandoned a proposal to hike electric ratepayer bills as they pulled together the votes needed to pass legislation offering significant financial incentives to the offshore wind […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker: Tax breaks affordable, needed to make state competitive
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER told lawmakers on Tuesday that Massachusetts can easily afford his package of $700 million in tax cuts, and the state needs some of the changes benefitting higher-income […]
Posted inEnvironment
Two soundings from Somerset
IT WAS FITTING that Rep. Patricia Haddad would take a bow at a gathering on Thursday in Somerset celebrating the purchase of 47 acres at Brayton Point by an Italian […]
Posted inUncategorized
State House, closed nearly 2 years, to reopen next week
THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE HOUSE, closed to the public since March 2020, is going to reopen next Tuesday. State House leaders said legislative business will see little change initially. Committee hearings […]
Posted inHealth Care
Friedman, Senate push transparency in pharmaceutical drug costs
MASSACHUSETTS HAS taken lots of steps to rein in runaway spending on healthcare, but one area has largely avoided state regulation: prescription drugs. “If we’re really going to have a […]