Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday paused executive branch hiring due to what her office described as “widespread economic uncertainty at the national level and a tightening budget outlook.”
state house news service
Posted inHealth Care
Speaker Johnson sends signals on two key Medicaid reforms
Johnson told reporters that the bill will not change the portion of state Medicaid costs paid by the federal government for states that have expanded Medicaid, like Massachusetts.
Posted inState Government
Senate budget panel recommends 6.3% annual spending increase
The draft budget bill, which will be up for debate in the Senate starting May 20, does not feature any tax increases.
Posted inState Government
Weekly roundup – budget bonanza
The House-approved annual budget bill reveals policy and political fault lines
Posted inEducation
Tutwiler: Immigration chill leading to “extended absences”
According to the state’s top education official, some Mass. schools have reported “extended absences” for students as a result of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement.
Posted inState Government
MBTA zoning law targeted by GOP budget amendments
Even following a Supreme Judicial Court ruling in January against Milton that deemed the law constitutional and gave the attorney general’s office the ability to enforce it with legal action, unrest remains in other communities — many of which are using Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s contention that the law is an “unfunded mandate” to pursue further legal action.
Posted inState Government
Health care cash rained on Mass. lobbying world in 2024
At a time when lawmakers are wrestling with cost, access and regulatory questions, health care industry power players continued to dominate the Beacon Hill lobbying world last year, spending the most on employing influential insiders who sway development of public policy.
Posted inState Government
DiZoglio not satisfied with Senate Democrats’ audit response
The Senate Subcommittee tasked with handling Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s quest to probe the Legislature agreed Monday to meet with her office but outlined a string of issues.
Posted inState Government
With new term dawning, Spilka eyes K-12 funding reform, primary care overhaul
A newly reelected Senate President Karen Spilka previewed some of her legislative priorities for the 2025-2026 session: reexamining the state’s education funding formula, pressing for primary health care delivery reform, and pushing again to expand juvenile court jurisdiction to include young adults aged 18.
Posted inHealth Care
3 long-term care facilities placed in receivership
Facilities owned by Blupoint Healthcare in South Hadley, Whitinsville, and Amesbury were experiencing financial difficulties, with workers complaining they weren’t being paid and even when they were paid the checks bounced.
Posted inHousing
New guidance offers key details of family shelter limits
A new law agreed to this year by the Legislature and Gov. Maura Healey put a limit on how long families can stay in shelter, and it also said no more than 150 families should be removed by the state every week, not counting families who leave on their own.
Posted inHealth Care
Warren bill takes aim at ‘corporate greed’ in health care
“Corporate Crimes Against Health Care” bill that would establish new penalties and guardrails for business leaders who endanger patient safety.