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By CHRIS LISINSKI

The next phase in the fight over half a dozen major and pressing policy proposals kicked off Wednesday with a common feature on Beacon Hill: lawmakers recommending that the Legislature not to take action.A special committee tasked with overseeing the...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Over more than three hours of discussion about a proposal to stop using MCAS exam scores as a high school graduation requirement, lawmakers kept returning to one specific question: If the ballot measure were passed, how would Massachusetts...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

Gov. Maura Healey’s push to overhaul local procurement procedures, rethink post-employment benefits and make permanent some pandemic-era policies won over many city and town leaders, but points of friction in her bill could create some tricky...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey’s proposal to give cities and towns new tax-hike authority would provide “game-changers” at the local level, especially for less-populated areas, local mayors say.A bill Healey filed last month would offer municipalities the...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

Massachusetts businesses kicked off the new year with a sunny disposition.Business confidence among employers surveyed by Associated Industries of Massachusetts rose in January to an 11-month high. The business trade group attributed the boost to...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Senate Democrats rolled out a wide-ranging gun reform bill Thursday, targeting a vote in one week on a police-endorsed measure that is likely to generate considerable opposition among firearm owners.After months of closed-door talks between...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The Healey administration wants to tap new revenue sources and keep spending growth somewhat constrained in a $58.15 billion state budget that officials pitched as putting Massachusetts on a “glide path” toward potentially better financial...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The Healey administration’s plan to supercharge housing production with billions of dollars of investment won some degree of praise from almost every corner of the state Thursday, but influential voices are at odds over some of the more...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The climate crisis is fueling a steady growth in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather, and Massachusetts cities and towns face an increasingly common conundrum trying to respond to those emergencies.Many of the disasters that have...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey will press for major investments into the long-strained early education and care sector despite her administration’s muted forecast for state finances, pitching the spending as an economic and competitive necessity.Healey on...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Regulating artificial intelligence, creating an agricultural disaster relief fund and boosting food security emerged as areas of focus that lawmakers could tackle in 2024 following a batch of committee votes.Joint House-Senate panels advanced...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Reining in gun violence, increasing access to housing and health supports for migrant families, and studying the health effects of decommissioning the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station are among the policies the Massachusetts Medical Society...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON – After weeks of delays, a $3.1 billion spending bill packed with money for the stretched-thin emergency shelter system and public worker raises landed on Gov. Maura Healey’s desk Monday and was immediately signed.House Democrats were able to...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Allowing people younger than 16 to receive abortion care without a parent or judge’s consent, regulating so-called crisis pregnancy centers and permitting later-term abortions in more settings are coming into focus as the next fronts for...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Voters will not be asked next year whether Massachusetts should revive local-option rent control after organizers working on a 2024 ballot question suspended their campaign late Friday.After facing pushback from other housing justice and...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Patients would pay no more than $25 for certain name-brand medications to treat some chronic illnesses and face no costs whatsoever for similar generic options under the latest prescription drug legislation set to emerge in the Senate.Senate...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — While voters may have the final say, top House and Senate Democrats said a new decision from Attorney General Andrea Campbell reinforces their opinion that the state auditor lacks the “statutory or constitutional authority to audit any other...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — With Gov. Maura Healey’s emergency shelter capacity limit about to take effect, House and Senate Democrats are not signaling any broader plans to step in and demand a different approach to helping families in need.A day after a Superior Court...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

Massachusetts continued to record more births than deaths from July 2021 to July 2022 even though the state’s total population shrunk in that span, suggesting that residents decamping to other locales is the primary driver of a trend that has ramped...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Bay Staters of all stripes finally got the chance Tuesday to tell a panel of state representatives how they feel about a proposed overhaul of the state’s gun laws, and they poured out hours of impassioned commentary that sets the stage for a...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Twenty months elapsed between Republican Gov. Charlie Baker using his final State of the Commonwealth address in January 2022 to ignite debate about slashing taxes and the final enactment of a roughly $1 billion package.So what was the...