STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BAY STATE MILLIONAIRES could pay as much as $2.2 billion in additional state income taxes under a proposal to tax some of the state’s wealthiest individuals and families at a higher rate, a figure considerably higher than what proponents initially projected. The tax on incomes above $1 million, which would require […]
Matt Murphy
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
Solar power rhetoric, lobbying heats up
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE House leaders are taking their effort to pass a solar energy bill before the winter recess down to the wire, fomenting an increasingly bitter and public back-and-forth between the solar industry and business groups searching for an alternative way to incentivize the clean energy technology. House Speaker Robert DeLeo has listed […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, State House News Service
District attorneys back Baker on opioid bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ELEVEN COUNTY PROSECUTORS who deal with the fallout of the opioid addiction epidemic on a daily basis threw their support behind Gov. Charlie Baker’s substance abuse prevention legislation this week, calling the bill “a significant step forward” in a letter to lawmakers. Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley, the president of […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
House floats bill lifting solar net metering cap
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE LEADERS ARE FLOATING a strategy to expand the solar industry in Massachusetts that would more than double the amount of installed solar capacity and eventually allow utilities to charge solar-producing customers a minimum service charge to cover the cost of maintaining transmission lines, poles, and wires. House Speaker Robert DeLeo […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
House to address solar cap before break
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO indicated Friday that the House would address the issue of the solar net metering cap separately from more comprehensive energy legislation that is likely to also speak to wind, hydro and other sources of renewable power. DeLeo, speaking to the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce on Friday […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
DeLeo, Rosenberg raise opioid bill concerns
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE LEGISLATURE’S TOP TWO DEMOCRATS expressed reservations on Monday about one of the main provisions of Gov. Charlie Baker’s opioid abuse prevention plan that would allow doctors to commit patients with substance abuse issues for up to 72 hours without a court order. Baker met with House Speaker Robert DeLeo and […]
Posted inEducation, State House News Service
Baker pushes for more charter schools
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER REIGNITED a debate on Thursday that has vexed and divided Democrat and Republican lawmakers in recent years, proposing an expansion of charter schools that would be targeted toward the lowest performing districts statewide. Baker chose the Brooke Charter School in Mattapan, in the district of Education Committee Co-Chair […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, State House News Service
Baker administration, union target DCF together
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER plans in the coming months to implement changes at the beleaguered Department of Children and Families, part of an “unprecedented collaboration” between his administration, child protection workers, and union leaders that he hopes will help improve the agency’s performance. The steps to improve procedures for tracking children and […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
DeLeo backs north-south rail link
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SAYING IT WOULD BE A “TERRIBLE MISTAKE” for the state to embark upon an expansion of South Station at the expense of a rail tunnel linking that hub with North Station, a coalition led by former governor Michael Dukakis is working to ramp up advocacy for the rail link in an […]
Posted inGambling, State House News Service
Feds OK tribal land for Mashpee casino
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MASHPEE WAMPANOAG TRIBE won a major victory in its quest to build a resort casino in Taunton on Friday, receiving approval for 321 acres of land to be taken into trust by the federal government in a decision that will shake up the southeastern Massachusetts casino market. The US Department […]