STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HOUSE BUDGET chief wants to “get something done in the shortest period of time possible” to revive an economic development bill, but he will not […]
Massachusetts Legislature
Posted inState Government
Auditor certification paves way for $2.9b in tax cap credits
MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS could soon be receiving tax refunds in the mail after state Auditor Suzanne Bump officially certified that the state’s tax cap law has been triggered and taxpayers are […]
Posted inOpinion
End-of-session cram is no way to conduct legislative business
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE passed more substantive legislation in the last 18 days of its two-year session than it had in the previous 550. In those 18 days of July, it […]
Posted inState Government
Mariano tapping brakes on economic development bill
HOUSE SPEAKER Ron Mariano raised concerns on Tuesday about whether the state can afford a $3 billion tax cap giveback and the $3.5 billion in spending contained in the economic […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Baker signs climate bill, despite ‘deep misgivings’
DESPITE “DEEP MISGIVINGS’ about some of its elements, Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law on Thursday a climate change/energy bill that he said would help Massachusetts retain its standing as a […]
Posted inGambling
Let the betting begin – in a number of months
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday signed a law legalizing sports betting in Massachusetts, joining more than 30 other states that have authorized sports betting since the US Supreme Court overturned […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment, State Government
Baker says climate change bill is giving him agita
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER indicated on Tuesday he is having difficulty reaching a decision on whether to sign the climate change/energy bill the Legislature sent him. At a press availability, Baker […]
Posted inHealth, State Government
Baker returns public health bill unsigned
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Monday refused to sign a bill overhauling the state’s public health system, instead returning it to the Legislature with an amendment. The intention of the bill […]
Posted inOpinion
Senate president is our employer, she should talk to us
IN MARCH of this year, a majority of Senate staff came forward to announce our decision to form a union. Our unionization drive is a historic effort, and we’re proud […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Groggy lawmakers pull the plug on $1b tax package
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HOUSE and Senate pulled an all-nighter to push through approval of a wide assortment of bills before the legislative session ended but ultimately decided Monday […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Senate resurrects dangerousness bill in after-midnight vote
BANISHED TO the Legislature’s study scrap heap and crushed by a vote in the House on Saturday, a proposal to expand the offenses for which a defendant can be declared […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Baker in take-it-or-leave-it position on climate bill
THE LEGISLATURE returned compromise climate legislation to Gov. Charlie Baker on Sunday and urged him to sign it into law even though he didn’t get all the changes he wanted. […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government, State House News Service
House rejects Baker’s latest ‘dangerousness’ gambit
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 […]
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 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 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 inRace/Racism
Baker signs law banning hairstyle discrimination
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Tuesday signed the CROWN Act into law, making Massachusetts the 18th state to ban discrimination based on “natural hairstyles.” The governor held a joyous bill signing […]
Posted inPolitics
Handful of Democrats called out for voting to suspend rules
A CONSERVATIVE advocacy group on Monday called out a handful of Democratic lawmakers who in early 2021 voted for more time to study bills coming out of conference committees but […]
Posted inOpinion
Merging MBTA with DOT is a bad idea
THE JOINT COMMITTEE on Transportation seems to want to have its proverbial cake and eat it too. At its recent oversight hearing, House Committee Co-Chairman William Strauss suggested that the […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Lawmakers pass moratorium on prison expansion
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IT’S ALMOST TIME for Gov. Charlie Baker to decide exactly what he thinks about a legislative mandate preventing his administration from studying or constructing new correctional […]
Posted inGuns
House passes gun bill as amendment to bond legislation
THE MASSACHUSETTS House on Thursday quickly introduced and passed provisions tightening gun licensing standards in response to a recent US Supreme Court decision. With just 10 days to go before […]
Posted inEnergy, State Government
Here’s what’s in the Legislature’s energy/climate change legislation
THE LEGISLATURE suspended its rules and whisked through a climate change bill on Thursday that seeks to make Massachusetts the “Saudi Arabia of wind,” promotes the adoption of zero emission […]
Posted inEnergy, Environment
Compromise climate bill coming down to the wire
HOUSE SPEAKER Ron Mariano tweeted that the Legislature will vote on a compromise bill to combat climate change on Thursday, presumably by suspending rules designed to give lawmakers proper notice […]