STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH JUST 24 days left to pass significant legislation until the House and Senate hibernate until early 2023, more is being added to the Legislature’s joint to-do list than is being crossed off of it. The House on Thursday added two issues to the pile of matters that lawmakers will try […]
Government
Posted inEconomy
Legislature may send residents $250 checks
THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE intends to take up a bill that would send $250 checks to more than 2 million low and middle-income Massachusetts residents. As many residents struggle with inflation and the high price of gas and other products, the Democratic-led Legislature still has not proposed any form of tax relief, despite the urging of […]
Posted inEconomy
Budget surplus could reach $3.6 billion
MASSACHUSETTS CONTINUES TO be swimming in cash. After dire warnings early in the pandemic, COVID-19 has proven to be an economic boon to Massachusetts, primarily because of federal largesse. Congress’ COVID recovery packages have funneled billions of dollars into the state, through government aid and aid to individuals and businesses, which translates into higher tax […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
House bids for slots in veterans halls
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES WILL vote Thursday on a wide-reaching veterans bill that also features a gambling expansion proposal that is unpopular in the Senate and could create “complexity” for regulators. After a slow start to the holiday-shortened week, the House on Wednesday rolled out omnibus veterans legislation (H 4978) that significantly expands the […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Senate approves pandemic policy extensions bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE DURING ITS FIRST session of the final month of serious legislating, the Massachusetts Senate on Tuesday released and passed a bill further extending some pandemic-era policies. Several policies dealing with remote or virtual participation would be kept alive until Dec. 15, 2023 under the bill, including the ability for towns to […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Baker tax relief bill clears committee mostly intact
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE LEGISLATURE’S Revenue Committee advanced a $600 million tax relief package on Friday, but the panel’s House chairman said the measure remains a work in progress. The committee voted 17-0, according to House chairman Rep. Mark Cusack, to advance a redraft of Gov. Charlie Baker’s tax relief plan that does not […]
Posted inState Government
Long to-do list for end of legislative session
IT’S JULY 1, and this month is shaping up to be an enormously busy one on Beacon Hill. There’s one month until the Legislature wraps up its business for the 2021-2022 legislative session and, as is typical, lawmakers have a lot left on their plates. They have billions of dollars in budget and bond bills […]
Posted inHealth Care
House passes abortion provider protections as advocates clamor for more
THE MASSACHUSETTS House on Wednesday passed a bill protecting Massachusetts abortion providers from adverse consequences by other states and requiring insurers to cover abortion care. Yet even with the Legislature’s swift action, health care advocates and Massachusetts’ US senators continued to push for additional steps to respond to the US Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe […]
Posted inCourts, State Government
MassGOP challenges vote-by-mail law
PERMANENT MAIL-IN voting is now the law in Massachusetts – unless Republican Party chair Jim Lyons has his way. The conservative GOP chair filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday challenging voting by mail as unconstitutional, a day after Gov. Charlie Baker bucked many in his party by signing voting-by-mail into law. […]
Posted inState Government
Senate staff get raises and pay scale changes – but no union
MASSACHUSETTS SENATE staff seeking to unionize have gotten a big portion of what they want – minus the union. Senate President Karen Spilka on Wednesday announced a new compensation system for Senate staff, which standardizes job classifications and aligns them with pay grades and salary ranges that are based on work experience, training, and education. […]