STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE SENATORS Â and Senate employees will need to show proof they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by October 15, a new requirement Senate President Karen Spilka laid out Tuesday. Spilka told senators and staff in a late afternoon email that the mandate is based on a recommendation of the Senate’s Reopening […]
Katie Lannan
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
In another shift, Baker favors mask mandate in schools
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE’S education commissioner is seeking authority to mandate that students ages 5 and up and staff and educators in public K-12 schools wear masks indoors through October 1, a measure that will come before the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for a vote Tuesday. After that, the policy Commissioner […]
Posted inDrug Addiction
The ‘other crisis’ keeps on chugging along
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE PRELIMINARY DEPARTMENT of Public Health data show 1,038 people died of opioid overdoses in the first six months of this year, an estimated 5 percent decrease from the same time period in 2020. The preliminary data, presented by Acting DPH Commissioner Margret Cooke at a Public Health Council meeting Wednesday, includes […]
Posted inHealth Care
Health care costs keep rising
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE AVERAGE TOTALÂ costs for Massachusetts family health insurance premiums roughly tripled from 2000 to 2019, hitting $21,424 and surpassing the national cost for a new compact car. That statistic was among several pieces of data illustrating the rise in health care costs and burdens on consumers presented Wednesday at a Health […]
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, returned to him by lawmakers who rebuffed his suggestion to spend more than half of the money now and let them determine how to use […]
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 its name is inspired “by the 32 points on a compass” and “represents the role the organization plays in guiding and empowering its members and […]
Posted inUncategorized
Lawmakers agree on emergency order compromise
STATE LAWMAKERS on Tuesday night struck a deal and shipped Gov. Charlie Baker legislation to restore the lapsed authorization for remote public meetings, to-go cocktail sales, and town meeting flexibilities, while leaving the future of other pandemic-era policy adaptations as a subject for future negotiations. Baker’s COVID-19 state of emergency ended at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker: I forgot about Walsh interview
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said Friday he “forgot” he had spoken with former Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Superintendent Bennett Walsh before naming him to the post, and expressed interest in taking action to implement reforms at the home after last year’s deadly COVID-19 outbreak. Though Baker had previously said he first met Walsh, who was hired despite […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
State begins 3d procurement for offshore wind
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE’S ELECTRIC utilities and the Baker administration are back in the market for another offshore wind contract, this time seeking up to twice as much power as in previous rounds. Under a request for proposals released Friday, bids are due by September 16, with plans to select the winning bid […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
House OKs budget with 7 mega-amendments
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE LAWMAKERS unanimously passed a $47.716 billion budget in the early morning hours Thursday after adding tens of millions of dollars in spending over three days, largely to support investments that representatives said would guide the state in forging a pathway out of the COVID-19 crisis. “As we cautiously recover from […]