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.
Taxes and Budget Issues
Posted inGovernment
DTA: Some food aid recipients will see benefits drop to ‘zero’
“I’m trying to do the best I can to manage the situation,” Healey said. She added, “No state can come forward and replace what the federal government has taken away.”
Posted inGovernment
Municipalities crank up the heat with report warning of financial ‘perfect storm’
A new report from the Massachusetts Municipal Association could put more pressure on Beacon Hill to reconsider stalled reforms amid bigger-picture economic uncertainty and a persistent “affordability” debate.
Posted inHealth Care
HHS chief Walsh stepping down, Mahaniah named successor
After a more than two-year tenure in which she charted the state’s path through the tumultuous Steward Health Care collapse, Health and Human Services Secretary Kate Walsh will step down.
Posted inTransportation
Federal funding for I-90 Allston project in jeopardy
The massive package of tax and spending cuts President Trump signed into law on July 4 contains a provision that eliminates a federal transportation grant program that set aside $335 million last year for the nearly $2 billion I-90 Allston highway project in Boston.
Posted inThe Codcast
Why a quasi-independent state agency needed a quick $240 million
John McDonough, Paul Hattis, and Matt Veno of the Group Insurance Commission discuss the GIC’s last-minute $240 million infusion from state coffers to cover claims for the rest of the 2025 fiscal year.
Posted inGovernment
Falling office building values still a concern for Boston’s budget, think tank says
The revenue picture now “looks worse than we expected,” according to the report’s author.
Posted inState Government
Senators get ‘enough yeses’ to add $43.5 million to budget
The Senate Ways and Means Committee proposed an underlying budget that started at $61.32 billion, as Democrats forge ahead with their spending appetite despite modest state tax revenues and federal funding uncertainty.
Posted inState Government
Spending push interrupted by executive branch hiring freeze
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.”
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 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 inOpinion
Transportation insecurity is holding Massachusetts residents back
When people can’t get where they need to go, barriers to basic needs like education, employment, and health care persist.
Posted inState Government
Opponents knock Healey’s youth mental health plan
With three state-funded youth mental health programs at risk of closing, lawmakers and providers ramped up their opposition this week to Gov. Healey’s proposed budget cuts.
Posted inState Government
Mass. scrambles to understand, react to fed funding freeze
The Trump administration’s move to pause trillions of dollars in federal spending triggered an avalanche of uncertainty, panic and outrage, including a lawsuit from Attorney General Andrea Campbell and several of her counterparts.
Posted inTransportation
Healey task force turns to existing tax to boost MBTA, transportation infrastructure
Healey administration officials are attempting to deploy millionaires tax revenue in a way that was first tested on a smaller scale last year.
Posted inEducation
The dividing line on millionaires tax money
One of the main backers of the 2022 ballot question says a split between education and transportation shouldn’t be locked in.
