STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE University of Massachusetts students working this summer to pay for college could face a higher financial mountain to climb in the fall. After freezing tuition for two straight years and then increasing it 5 percent last year, UMass appears poised to raise tuition and fees by rates that far exceed growth […]
Michael P. Norton I State House News Service
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Senate sends budget to Baker
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH JUST HOURS REMAINING in the current fiscal year, the state Senate on Thursday evening voted 38-1 to send a fiscal 2017 budget to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk. The $39.15 billion budget passed the House earlier in the day on a 150-3 vote. Sen. John Keenan, a Quincy Democrat, was the […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
DeLeo seeks task force on integrity
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO is mounting a push to create a Task Force on Integrity in State and Local Government, which would look at the laws governing the conduct of public officials and lobbyists as well as financial disclosure and campaign finance statutes. According to a copy of a resolve DeLeo […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Uncategorized
DeLeo: Policy differences could hinder budget deal
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE House Speaker Robert DeLeo on Wednesday said policy differences between the House and Senate loom as an even larger obstacle than a revenue shortfall to a budget accord that’s due in two weeks. Talking to reporters after a closed Democratic caucus, DeLeo said the House budget (H 4201) included close to […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Baker: I’d sign House transgender bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ON THE EVE of House debate on the issue, Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday he would sign transgender anti-discrimination legislation crafted by House leaders. “No one should be discriminated against in Massachusetts because of their gender identity,” the governor said in a statement. “After hearing from all sides and carefully reviewing […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Public records bill sent to Baker
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE AND SENATE each voted unanimously Wednesday to advance to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk a compromise bill that represents the first major overhaul of public records access laws in 43 years. In addition to requiring state agencies and cities and towns to designate records officers to field requests, the […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Walsh tourism chief indicted on extortion charge
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH HIS TOURISM chief due in federal court Thursday afternoon to face extortion charges, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh described 52-year-old Ken Brissette as a “good and hardworking person” and pledged continued cooperation with federal prosecutors who arrested Brissette on Thursday morning. “I am deeply concerned about today’s news. Everyone who knows […]
Posted inEnvironment, State House News Service
SJC to state: Broaden emission mandates
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A UNANIMOUS SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT RULING handed down on Tuesday affirms the state’s obligations under a 2008 global warming law and orders state government to create and implement regulations that apply to multiple carbon sources to meet its emission reduction mandates. Vacating a Superior Court judge’s ruling, the SJC ruled that […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Baker freezes non-essential spending
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Friday ordered the immediate suspension of all state spending on “non-essential” goods and services in an array of categories, including outside consultants, leases and office equipment and computers. The directive is part of an effort to balance this year’s $38.4 billion state budget in the face of […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Senate passes transgender bill 33-4
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE BY A 33-4 VOTE, the Massachusetts Senate on Thursday afternoon passed legislation establishing protections for transgender people using public accommodations. The bill (S 735) bans discrimination based on gender identity in public accommodations and would allow people to use bathrooms, locker rooms, and other sex-segregated facilities that correspond with their gender […]