AS GOV. MAURA HEALEY and lawmakers celebrated what they called “historic” housing legislation getting signed into law Tuesday, some of the advocates credited with influencing the bill say it is “underwhelming” and watered down, with a number of policies targeted at helping the state’s poorest residents left on the cutting room floor. “Even though there’s […]
State House News Service
Posted inState Government
State starts fiscal 2025 with drop in revenue
State tax revenue in July was down $18 million, or 0.7 percent, over the same month last year, a gap state officials say would have been even greater but for a quirk of timing.
Posted inState Government
Healey signs state budget, goes light on vetoes
The governor signed nearly all of the budget the Legislature sent her 10 days ago, approving all but three of the 261 policy proposals lawmakers padded it with.
Posted inHealth Care
Steward to close hospitals in Dorchester, Ayer
Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center will be closing on or around August 31, 2024, Steward said.
Posted inGuns
Healey signs overhaul of state firearms law
The law sets new strategies for combating so-called ghost guns, expanding the law that allows a court to take guns away from someone considered a threat to themselves or others, and adding schools, polling places, and government buildings to the list of areas where state law forbids people from carrying firearms.
Posted inHealth Care
Each Steward hospital in Mass. has a bidder, Healey says
“We’ve received qualified bids. We are evaluating those now, and it’s currently with the parties right now in New York,” Gov. Maura Healey said.
Posted inHealth Care
3 long-term care facilities placed in receivership
Facilities owned by Blupoint Healthcare in South Hadley, Whitinsville, and Amesbury were experiencing financial difficulties, with workers complaining they weren’t being paid and even when they were paid the checks bounced.
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
Feds give $1b more for Cape bridge replacement work
The replacement of the Sagamore Bridge, which carries Route 6 over the canal close to its eastern end, is the first step in the state’s broader plan to replace both Cape Cod bridges.