STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH AN EYE on the state’s mid-century greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments, Gov. Maura Healey announced Tuesday the launch of a “green bank” that she hopes will attract private investment and federal money to pay for building retrofits and new construction of decarbonized buildings in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Community Climate Bank […]
Colin A. Young // State House News Service
Posted inGambling
Gaming Commission rejects bid to bet on Boston Marathon
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE LEGAL BETTING will not be allowed in Massachusetts on this year’s Boston Marathon after a request from DraftKings to take wagers was met with opposition from race organizers and gambling regulators. DraftKings had asked the Gaming Commission to add the Boston Marathon to the catalog of events approved for wagering in […]
Posted inGambling
Sports betting opens with big bang
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MORE THAN 400,000 mobile sports betting accounts were active during the first three days online was available in Massachusetts and more than 8 million transactions took place, making Massachusetts the fifth busiest mobile betting state in the country last weekend. GeoComply, a vendor that provides the Gaming Commission with geolocation and fraud […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass. health care expenditures rise sharply
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A NEW REPORT estimates that per capita health care expenditures in Massachusetts shot up 9 percent in 2021 after having dropped 2.3 percent in 2020, giving elected officials and policymakers fresh data two days ahead of hearing that could consider how the health costs oversight system put in place by a […]
Posted inEnergy, State Government, State House News Service
Tepper names former colleague to head DOER
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE DEPARTMENT of Energy Resources will be under new management as the Healey administration looks to implement its own vision and strategy to advance the state’s clean energy shift. Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper announced Tuesday that she appointed Elizabeth Mahony, a veteran of the attorney general’s office, as […]
Posted inGambling
Regulators contend with illegal sports betting
WITH ALL THREE of the state’s legal sportsbooks now having already owned up to accepting bets on games that were not legally permitted, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Tuesday began to “set the goalposts” as to how it will handle this type of matter with the industry it newly oversees. Legal sports betting has only […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker, Polito wade back into local politics
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A MONTH AFTER they left office, former Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito are wading back into the political fray with endorsements of the Republican candidate running for mayor of Attleboro. Jay DiLisio has been serving as acting mayor of the Bristol County city since former mayor Paul Heroux, […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
State tax revenues miss mark for first time since June 2020
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE REVENUE collections missed the mark by nearly 5 percent in January, with the $3.834 billion that the Department of Revenue reeled in landing $192 million, or 4.8 percent, shy of the previous January’s collections and $185 million or 4.6 percent below the monthly benchmark. It is the first time since […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Under new rules, House returns to in-person sessions
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HOUSE on Wednesday unanimously adopted its rules for the two-year term that began four weeks ago, agreeing to eliminate a pandemic-era policy that allowed representatives to participate in sessions and vote remotely. The rules package also outlines a new hybrid committee hearing structure that will allow for both in-person and […]
Posted inTransportation
Doubts raised about the T’s bus redesign plan
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR of the MBTA Advisory Board on Thursday gave T overseers an earful, telling the T board that MBTA host communities are concerned that the agency won’t be able to pay for, hire enough new workers for,T and actually follow through on its plan to redraw the system’s bus […]