It may be an unusual year, but one annual Beacon Hill tradition is continuing: getting the state budget done late. July 1 marks the start of the 2022 fiscal year, […]
state house news
Posted inUncategorized
Continuing an annual tradition: The late state budget
IT MAY BE an unusual year, but one annual Beacon Hill tradition is continuing: getting the state budget done late. July 1 marks the start of the 2022 fiscal year, […]
Posted inThe Download
Two-month sales tax holiday may not make economic sense
THE DEBATE OVER Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposed two-month sales tax holiday has turned into a partisan, interest-driven dispute. Baker, a Republican who has not yet announced whether he will run […]
Posted inEconomy
Two-month sales tax holiday may not make economic sense
THE DEBATE OVER Gov. Charlie Baker’s proposed two-month sales tax holiday has turned into a partisan, interest-driven dispute. Baker, a Republican who has not yet announced whether he will run […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Lawmakers cool to Baker spending plans
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A PLAN TO SWEEP about $5 billion in federal relief money into a fund controlled by the Legislature is back on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk Thursday, […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Baker proposes 2-month, not 2-day, sales tax holiday
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH MASSACHUSETTS on track to end the year with a multi-billion dollar surplus, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday proposed a two-month sales tax holiday that would […]
Posted inThe Download
Baker, Healey watch as field for governor forms
Another day, another candidate in the race for Massachusetts governor not named Baker. Or Healey, for that matter. With today’s campaign launch by Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, three Democrats have now […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Mass. sheriffs cut cost of prison calls
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE EVERY SHERIFF’S department in Massachusetts has agreed to provide people incarcerated at county jails and houses of correction with at least 10 minutes of free phone […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Environmental League targets muni light plants
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WHEN MARBLEHEAD voters get to the polls June 22, they’ll have their pick of candidates: 14 options for the Select Board, two choices for the School […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Baker pitches fed aid spending deal to lawmakers
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN AN ATTEMPT to end the battle over who gets to spend nearly $5.2 billion in federal relief money, Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday pitched a […]
Posted inThe Download
Will Mass. follow Connecticut in ending charges for prisoner phone calls?Â
IF PEER PRESSURE is a thing among state legislatures, Massachusetts may soon be feeling some heat from its next-door neighbor. Yesterday, Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation making Connecticut the first […]
Posted inHealth Care
Point32Health is launched
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE COMBINED organization of Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care will officially be known as Point32Health, the insurers announced Wednesday. The Canton-based company said […]
Posted inThe Download
Is state primed for sports betting?Â
WHEN THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE held a two-day hearing on sports betting legislation in 2019, the games had only been legal nationwide for about a year, and fewer than a dozen […]
Posted inThe Download
Gulliver’s challenges, rising traffic and I-90 Allston
State Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver is facing two major challenges: traffic levels that are rising rapidly and an Allston I-90 project that is currently 4 feet too wide to fit […]
Posted inThe Download
Mass. GOP shootout in a lifeboat continues
LOU MURRAY, the chairman of the Ward 20 Republican Committee in Boston’s West Roxbury neighborhood, gets it at least partially right in an op-ed in today’s Boston Herald when he […]
Posted inThe Download
Municipal officials oppose legislative redistricting proposal
As the House prepares to move forward with a major change to how redistricting is done, city and town officials are sounding the alarm that the change could have confusing […]
Posted inPolitics
Municipal officials oppose legislative redistricting proposal
AS THE HOUSE prepares to move forward with a major change to how redistricting is done, city and town officials are sounding the alarm that the change could have confusing […]
Posted inThe Download
T derailment blamed on ‘series of contributing factors’
It’s beginning to look like the MBTA may never pinpoint the cause of a March 16 derailment of one of its new Orange Line trains. At a meeting of the […]
Posted inPolitics
MassGOP drops plan targeting elected Republicans
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH MASSGOP Chairman Jim Lyons under fire from elected officials in his own party, the State Committee on Wednesday will no longer consider a proposal that […]
Posted inThe Download
Pooled COVID testing finally coming to childcare centers
For six months, Massachusetts’ K-12 schools have been able to opt into the state’s free pooled testing program, which lets them test for COVID-19 weekly among large populations of asymptomatic […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
State tax revenue surges amid tax hike push
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE DEPARTMENT of Revenue collected more than twice as much money from taxpayers last month than it had anticipated and Massachusetts is now on pace to […]
Posted inThe Download
Pandemic ravages community hospital finances
Twenty people lost their jobs this week at Lawrence General Hospital, as the hospital slashed its staffing budget by $6 million and eliminated 56 positions, though many were vacant. Hospital […]
Posted inHealth Care
Pandemic ravages community hospital finances
TWENTY PEOPLE lost their jobs this week at Lawrence General Hospital, as the hospital slashed its staffing budget by $6 million and eliminated 56 positions, though many were vacant. Hospital […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Senate passes spending plan unanimously
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE SENATE UNANIMOUSLY passed a $47.7 billion budget for next year after three days of debate over how best to invest state resources as Massachusetts looks […]