The referendum is one part of an effort to challenge the new law alongside at least two — and possibly more to come — lawsuits.
Chris Lisinski I State House News Service
Posted inState Government
Budget deal includes free community college and bus rides plus online lottery
Many of the biggest eye-catchers in the deal would commit significant funds toward reducing or eliminating costs Massachusetts residents face, including another year of free school meals, tuition-free community college, no-charge rides on the state’s 15 regional transit authorities, and making permanent a pandemic-era Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grant program that launched with federal dollars.
Posted inState Government
Budget, gun control bills near finish line
Lawmakers would need to ship the final budget to Healey by Sunday to guarantee their ability to push through any spending or policy ideas over the governor’s objection.
Posted inTransportation
MBTA contactless payment coming to subways, buses Aug. 1
Starting August 1, MBTA riders will be able to tap a credit card or mobile wallet to pass through subway gates or board above-ground trolleys and buses, officials announced Tuesday.
Posted inPolitics
Uber, Lyft drivers praise settlement, push for union
Days after Uber and Lyft agreed to boost driver pay and offer new benefits to resolve a years-old lawsuit, campaigners moved Tuesday to place on the ballot a measure that would allow those same drivers to unionize.
Posted inEconomy
Lawmakers from Lowell, Springfield say cities would welcome economic jolt
Two Democrats who have a chance to stamp their mark on Gov. Maura Healey’s plan to reinvigorate the state’s business climate want the benefits to stretch beyond the Boston metropolitan area.
Posted inTransportation
‘Terrible options’ if T budget isn’t straightened out, watchdog says
Public transportation is on the verge of an “existential crisis,” cities and towns that help fund the system warned, as the MBTA moves ahead with a budget plan that drains its reserves in the face of a looming deficit.
Posted inHousing
House Democrats outline $6.2 billion housing plan
With sky-high sale prices and rents suffocating residents, the House will try to shift the tide by pumping more money into existing housing programs and rolling out a few new strategies.
Posted inTransportation
Coming this summer, T riders can use credit cards, phones to pay their fares
The start of contactless payment — a feature in place in other major transit systems, including New York City’s subway — will mark a milestone in a delayed, over-budget project to modernize fare collection at the T.
Posted inState Government
Millionaire surtax revenues far exceed expectations
Massachusetts has collected about $1.8 billion from a voter-approved surtax on the state’s highest earners through the first nine months of the fiscal year, the Department of Revenue said Monday in a quarterly report.