STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A YEAR AND A DAY after the case was rendered moot by the calendar, the Supreme Judicial Court last week decided that it will nonetheless rule […]
Massachusetts Legislature
Posted inTransportation
Lawmakers eye $250m for East-West rail
A TRANSPORTATION BOND BILL headed for a vote this week in the House includes language authorizing $250 million in spending on East-West rail, but nothing about the creation of a […]
Posted inTransportation
Lawmakers plan T safety hearings, call for $400m in extra aid
LEGISLATIVE LEADERS jumped into the fray over MBTA safety on Tuesday, announcing plans to hold oversight hearings on the transit authority in the coming weeks and to pass legislation appropriating […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Lawmakers in agreement on prison construction moratorium
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE LEGISLATURE and Gov. Charlie Baker appear headed for another showdown, this time over the next half-decade of facilities management decisions for the state’s prisons and […]
Posted inHealth Care
House plans vote on mental health bill
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE on Thursday plans to vote on a mental health bill that would improve access to mental health care, particularly for children, while ensuring that the health care […]
Posted inHealth Care
Speaker Mariano says health care regulation needs updates
IT”S BEEN A DECADE since the Legislature revamped the way the state regulates health care, passing legislation establishing the Health Policy Commission and instituting a cost control benchmark. House Speaker […]
Posted inThe Download
Speaker Mariano says health care regulation needs updates
It’s been a decade since the Legislature revamped the way the state regulates health care, passing legislation establishing the Health Policy Commission and instituting a cost control benchmark. House Speaker […]
Posted inOpinion
Roadmap to go on sports betting
MAY 14 MARKED the four-year anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision that struck down the federal ban on state-authorized sports betting. For four years, Massachusetts – home to one […]
Posted inUncategorized
Omnibus DCF bill still in the works
WITH LESS THAN two months left to the legislative session, the House’s lead lawmaker on child welfare policy is continuing work on an omnibus bill that he says would make […]
Posted inPolitics
More than half of lawmakers face no challenger this year
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MOST MASSACHUSETTS state lawmakers will stroll into another term in office unopposed, poised to face no declared opponents in both the September 6 primary and November […]
Posted inTransportation
East-West rail ‘elephant in the room’
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A PASSENGER RAIL extension into western Massachusetts looms as one of the most impactful projects on the table now that Gov. Charlie Baker and federal officials […]
Posted inPolitics
Mariano outlines legislative priorities, mentions tax relief
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH THE END of the legislative session within sight, House Speaker Ronald Mariano pitched business leaders Thursday on the central pieces of the agenda he hopes […]
Posted inThe Download
Senate, Somerville eye protections for abortion, gender-affirming care
The state Senate on Wednesday adopted an amendment to the state budget protecting anyone who receives or provides gender-affirming care or abortion care against other states’ attempts to prosecute them. […]
Posted inState Government
Senate, Somerville eye protections for abortion, gender-affirming care
THE STATE SENATE on Wednesday adopted an amendment to the state budget protecting anyone who receives or provides gender-affirming care or abortion care against other states’ attempts to prosecute them. […]
Posted inThe Download
Momentum building for some form of tax relief
For months now, pressure has been building on Beacon Hill lawmakers to provide some form of tax relief to residents. Republicans pushed repeatedly for a gas tax holiday as prices […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Momentum building for some form of tax relief
FOR MONTHS NOW, pressure has been building on Beacon Hill lawmakers to provide some form of tax relief to residents. Republicans pushed repeatedly for a gas tax holiday as prices […]
Posted inMarijuana
Lawmakers move closer to addressing nagging cannabis questions
THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE took a major step Wednesday toward improving equity in the cannabis industry, passing a bill similar to one previously passed by the Senate that would create a […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service, Transportation
East-West rail authority not in transpo bond bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE $9.75 BILLION infrastructure bond bill that cleared the Transportation Committee does not include any language creating a new rail authority to oversee a passenger train […]
Posted inThe Download
Some tidbits on Senate’s sports betting non-vote
In what may be the ultimate inside story on Beacon Hill, new details are starting to emerge on why the Senate dispensed with a final roll call vote on sports […]
Posted inUncategorized
Some tidbits on Senate’s sports betting non-vote
IN WHAT MAY BE the ultimate inside story on Beacon Hill, new details are starting to emerge on why the Senate dispensed with a final roll call vote on sports […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. should retain free meals for all at schools
PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC, more than 120,000 children in Massachusetts didn’t know where their next meal was coming from. Since COVID-19 arrived in the US, food insecurity rates in our […]
Posted inUncategorized
Legislature preparing for post-Roe v Wade world
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 […]
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 […]