Beacon Hill witnessed something rare this past week. A Democratic state senator from Quincy publicly rebuked Senate President Karen Spilka’s reelection to the chamber’s top leadership post. Sen. John Keenan opted to vote “present” during Spilka’s reascension to the Senate President’s Office because of what he said were the branch’s poor marks on transparency. He … Read more
State Auditor Diana DiZoglio plans to again ask the Massachusetts Legislature Friday to participate in an audit of “high-risk areas” after she faced repeated rejections from top legislative leaders who claimed an audit law did not formally take effect until this month. In an interview with the Herald, DiZoglio said she is preparing to send … Read more
The office of the state’s top election overseer is partially backing away from a document that helped spark a brawl this week over the implementation date of a legislative audit law championed by Auditor Diana DiZoglio. The PDF document crafted by Secretary of State William Galvin’s Office says a successful voter-approved ballot question from the … Read more
Gov. Maura Healey asked, the Legislature delivered. Healey called on the Legislature, which had failed to complete work on two key pieces of legislation during a messy, late-summer end to formal lawmaking, to return to work to tie off a massive jobs package and energy reform proposal that the first-term Democrat argued were critical to … Read more
The Cannabis Control Commission is broken by the law that established it and needs to be placed under the authority of a receiver by the end of July, the Bay State’s Inspector General told legislative leaders in a letter. Pointing to numerous problems surrounding the ousted commission chair and challenges with the laws structuring the … Read more
In response to the housing crisis confronting the Bay State, the House on Monday released a $6.2 billion proposal aimed at filling the 200,000-home hole in the commonwealth’s housing stock. According to House Speaker Ron Mariano’s office, the House bill represents “the largest housing investment in state history.” “The cost of buying a home or … Read more
The Steward Healthcare crisis will be kept front and center on Beacon Hill this coming week when the Massachusetts House gavels into session to take up a nearly 100-page proposal that attempts to address some of its root causes. Representatives will be asked to vote on legislation that top Democrats say directly responds to the … Read more
When the House unveils their version of the fiscal 2025 budget on Wednesday, it will include “record” investment into the state’s beleaguered and aging transportation systems, according to House Speaker Ron Mariano’s office. The budget coming out of the House Ways and Means committee later this week will include more than half a billion dollars … Read more
House Speaker Ron Mariano cast doubt on efforts to funnel more state dollars to the shelter system, which is housing thousands of local and migrant families, including a plan to shuttle surplus revenues to the struggling support network. The Quincy Democrat did not directly address whether he agreed with Gov. Maura Healey’s plan to cover … Read more
Gov. Maura Healey knew coming into office at the start of 2023 that Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system was already experiencing issues as more people sought refuge in state-funded temporary housing. But an influx of migrants fleeing unstable home conditions and rising housing costs hurting vulnerable residents already here pushed the shelter network to the brink, … Read more
