The Senate Ways and Means Committee proposed an underlying budget that started at $61.32 billion, as Democrats forge ahead with their spending appetite despite modest state tax revenues and federal funding uncertainty.
Karen Spilka
Posted inState Government
Keenan’s stand for transparency
State Sen. John Keenan is hardly a rabble-rousing bomb thrower, a point that underscores how uncontroversial one might think it is to call for legislators to be given time to read bills before they come to the floor and for their votes on legislation to be recorded for their constituents and others to see.
Posted inEducation
Spilka renews push for free community college
Senate President Karen Spilka renewed her push for free community college in Massachusetts on Wednesday, touting a new report that lays out a plan to cover all costs for residents attending one of the state’s 15 public two-year schools at an annual cost of $170 million.
Posted inEconomy
Spilka outlines a different vision of competitiveness
SENATE PRESIDENT Karen Spilka delivered a speech to a leading business group on Thursday staking out a different stance on competitiveness than Gov. Maura Healey, the House, and the state’s business community. Where those groups to one degree or another prioritized tax cuts designed to keep wealthy residents from fleeing the state, Spilka said the […]
Posted inOpinion
Senate early education bill could transform childcare landscape
IN THE 19TH CENTURY, Massachusetts pioneered the idea that K-12 education should be a public good, available and accessible to all children and families. Today we take this for granted. But at the time that Horace Mann was leading this movement, it was a revolutionary idea. Three years ago, the Massachusetts Legislature began the process […]
Posted inUncategorized
Senate budget focuses on early education, mental health, local aid
THE STATE budget proposal released by the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday largely hews to the same ideology as the plan adopted by House budget writers: Avoid tax cuts, while putting excess money toward investments in areas such as early education, mental health care, and housing. “Despite two-plus years of uncertainty because of […]
Posted inEducation, Health Care
Spilka joins calls for school mask mandate
AS BATTLE LINES are drawn among Massachusetts leaders, Senate President Karen Spilka added her voice to those calling for school children to be masked this fall. “No one wants to go back to the dark early days of this public health crisis, and so we must do everything possible to keep people safe and our […]
Posted inPolitics
In-person meetings could reset relations between Baker, lawmakers
COULD THE RETURN of the “stale cookies” improve relations between Gov. Charlie Baker and legislative leaders? For most of his two terms in office, the Republican governor appeared to have a strong working relationship with the Democrats who controlled the Legislature. Almost every week, Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, the House speaker, and Senate president […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Police reform: Big momentum, little time
WITH THE END OF the legislative session fast approaching, the House and Senate are trying to hammer out a bill dealing with police reform. In the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, there is tremendous momentum to pass a bill, but significant differences are emerging between the two branches. The Senate passed its bill […]
Posted inHealth Care
Senate bill extends telehealth, scope of practice
THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE is poised to extend the governor’s emergency order on insurance payments for telehealth, while at the same time reviving controversial proposals related to the types of services different medical professionals can provide. Senate leaders on Thursday released a health care bill, called the Patients First Act, which addresses telehealth, out-of-network billing, and scope of practice […]