Individuals without children do not have the same emergency housing protections as families do under the state’s Right to Shelter Law, said Michael Libby, executive director of the Somerville Housing Coalition. Funding streams are also different for individual homelessness supports and the emergency assistance family shelter system, which previously saw exploding costs amid a surge of migrant arrivals.
Massachusetts Legislature
Posted inThe Codcast
Unpacking the governor’s state budget proposal
This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon senior reporter Chris Lisinski hosts Viviana Abreu-Hernandez of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and Jim Stergios of the Pioneer Institute for a discussion about Gov. Maura Healey’s fiscal year 2027 state budget proposal.
Posted inState Government
Growing health care pressure drives up spending in Healey’s annual budget
MassHealth spending would increase more than 7 percent under Gov. Maura Healey’s new state budget proposal, roughly twice as much as all other state spending in a reflection of the challenge Beacon Hill faces to control health care costs.
Posted inTransportation
Another MBTA deficit is on the horizon. Did the state miss its chance for a more permanent fix?
The T is once again warning of a financial shortfall on the horizon, but this time around, its push for more state funding will bump up against a tighter economic environment and a series of federal cuts affecting every corner.
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
Boston rep sanctioned for spending campaign dollars on personal uses
Campaign finance regulators say Rep. Chynah Tyler of Boston misspent campaign funds on personal uses such as Uber Eats orders, and failed to document details behind about $4,500 in other spending.
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
Our top five Beacon Hill stories of 2025
The Democrats who control the levers of power in Massachusetts spent most of the year fretting about upheaval from the federal government and preparing for more expansive action down the line.
Posted inTransportation
Talk of new transportation dollars? Bring it on, says Senate chair
Brendan Crighton, the Senate’s point person on transportation issues, wants his colleagues to have hard conversations about new transportation-related levies even if the topic might be politically fraught.
Posted inState Government
Amid shaky economy, tax cut proposal draws heightened scrutiny
Already buffeted by economic pressures and federal funding cuts, top Democrats are beginning to warn that major financial upheaval would follow if voters approve a pair of tax-reform measures en route to the 2026 ballot.
Posted inTransportation
Phil Eng earns rave reviews for simultaneous MBTA, transportation chief jobs
The Healey administration seems content to have Phil Eng continue to work as both T general manager and interim transportation secretary for the foreseeable future, and Eng himself is warming up to the idea of holding both roles for a longer period of time.
Posted inEnergy
‘Rate shock’: Healey’s affordability push meets a dramatic proposed gas bill hike
Liberty Utilities, which services a small southeastern pocket of Massachusetts, filed its rate hike request in June and is asking the Department of Public Utilities for permission to raise gas rates by about 55 percent on average.
Posted inHousing
Beacon Hill clears hurdle for Weymouth naval air base redevelopment
After a series of stops and starts stretching back 15-plus years, Beacon Hill is on the verge of removing one of the last remaining obstacles to redevelopment of the former naval air base in Weymouth.
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 inBallot Questions
Cutting taxes, recriminalizing recreational pot, scrutinizing Beacon Hill: record number of ballot questions in the mix for 2026
Voters could have up to a dozen statewide ballot questions to decide in 2026, ranging from legislative transparency to marijuana policy to gun safety, following the latest big hurdle in the biennial process.
Posted inEnergy
House punts on sweeping energy bill that would dial back state climate commitments
After intense blowback to a draft House bill to weaken the state’s 2030 clean energy target, the chamber’s budget chief says the topic is on hold until next year.
Posted inEnergy
Sweeping energy bill to weaken 2030 climate goals clears key House committee
The measure is ushering in an unexpected — and messy — debate over the state’s overall policy push to meet its 2030 climate commitments as Gov. Maura Healey’s energy affordability package filed earlier this year is thrown into disarray.
Posted inEnergy
House moves forward with bill to weaken 2030 climate goals
The plan reverberating around Beacon Hill, as first reported by CommonWealth Beacon last week, is sure to put lawmakers in a politically difficult position and test their willingness to defend the climate commitments enacted just four years ago.
Posted inEnergy
House energy chair signals effort to dial back 2030 climate commitments
Rep. Mark Cusack, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy, said he is pushing for his redraft of Gov. Maura Healey’s energy affordability bill to receive a floor vote before lawmakers break for the year on November 19.
Posted inEnergy
Municipalities warn Beacon Hill they’ll need to slow down solar projects due to state limit
The issue threatens to undermine Gov. Maura Healey’s “all-of-the-above” energy strategy as she seeks to thread an increasingly tighter needle to drive down costs, grow power supply, and meet climate commitments as offshore wind stalls.
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 inState Government
Senate Dems propose oversight council to counter ‘unsustainable’ spending growth by sheriffs
Reaching beyond the probe backed by the House, the Senate will vote Thursday on a bill that would create a “fiscal oversight council” that could force sheriffs to rein in their spending with muscular authority.
Posted inState Government
‘Serious questions’ prompt lawmakers to hit the brakes on funding for sheriffs
At a time of intense scrutiny on sheriffs’ offices, the Legislature moved to withhold more than $130 million Gov. Maura Healey proposed for the county law enforcement offices, in the process handing a new talking point to her GOP challengers for the corner office.