STATE HOUSE ROUNDUP -- The top 10 stories of 2018
To put 2018 into context, consider this.Massachusetts voters overwhelmingly re-elected a Republican governor and a U.S. senator who is gearing up to run for president as a Democrat in 2020, and some...
View ArticleMassachusetts age to buy cigarettes rises in 2019
The state law also places existing prohibitions on public smoking over electronic cigarettes. Moreover, it outlaws the use of tobacco products on the grounds of any public or private primary, secondary...
View ArticleMassachusetts minimum wages rise in 2019
Increases are a direct result of what many called historic wage-and-benefits legislation that Massachusetts General Court passed and Gov. Charlie Baker signed in June. That law also established a new...
View ArticleSTATE HOUSE ROUNDUP -- Mostly familiar names return
A recap and analysis of the week in state government.With their right hands raised and their eyes full of optimism and hope, legislators -- some old and some new -- returned to Beacon Hill last week...
View ArticleSTATE HOUSE ROUNDUP -- Some decisions are harder than others
A recap and analysis of the week in state government.Decisions, decisions, decisions.Beacon Hill faced a slew of them last week as Gov. Charlie Baker wrestled with what bills deserved his signature to...
View ArticleSTATE HOUSE ROUNDUP -- Federal employees feel shutdown's bite
A recap and analysis of the week in state government.A month is a long time to go without a paycheck.But for nearly 7,000 federal workers in Massachusetts, that's the reality as another week came to a...
View ArticleBraintree pot growers face trafficking charges, police say
After investigating for weeks, Braintree police on Wednesday broke up an illicit marijuana growing operation and town officials condemned the Braintree home where dozens of plants were found. Police...
View ArticleSTATE HOUSE ROUNDUP -- Driver’s education
A recap and analysis of the week in state government.If someone's going to drive "pedal to the metal," as Gov. Charlie Baker suggested he would on election night, it's best that passengers take some...
View ArticleSTATE HOUSE ROUNDUP -- Setting the rules to legislate by
A recap and analysis of the week in state government.Young, intimidated and afraid is an apt description for many high school freshmen, but not the freshman class of legislators on Beacon Hill.The...
View ArticleHunters take a record number of Massachusetts deer in 2018
For the second year in a row, Massachusetts hunters in 2018 killed more deer than in any other year on record, wildlife officials reported Monday.The Division of Fisheries and Wildlife announced that...
View ArticleState proposes linking MBTA's Red and Blue lines
The state Department of Transportation's long-term plans include a proposed subway extension connecting the MBTA's Red and Blue lines, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said Monday.If the link...
View ArticlePatriots parade-goers, commuters combine to test T's capacity
BOSTON, FEB. 5, 2019....It seems like Julian Edelman could get his wish: transit officials said Tuesday morning that, based on commuter rail ridership, this New England Patriots' Super Bowl...
View ArticleDoctors' group challenges report on Weymouth compressor station
WEYMOUTH — A group of physicians is challenging the findings of a state-ordered report on Weymouth's proposed 7,700- horsepower natural-gas compressor station, arguing that the facility would pose “an...
View ArticleSTATE HOUSE ROUNDUP -- Two sides of the same coin
A recap and analysis of the week in state government.Climate hero or polluting villain? It kind of depends on where Gov. Charlie Baker is these days.While Massachusetts was coming down off a Super Bowl...
View ArticleSTATE HOUSE ROUNDUP -- Building team chemistry
A recap and analysis of the week in state government.House Speaker Robert DeLeo walked out of a caucus of his Democratic members Feb. 14 looking pleased.To his right was new Ways and Means Chairman...
View ArticleSTATE HOUSE ROUNDUP -- Political climate change
A recap and analysis of the week in state government.Snow. Melt. Repeat.The traditional week of February school vacations brought a lull to an already sleepy State House as winter reared its head in...
View ArticleJustice reformers set their sights on reducing life sentences in Massachusetts
Now that the landmark 2018 criminal justice reform law is on the books, lawmakers are exploring additional ideas and "even harder work," as Sen. Jamie Eldridge put it Thursday, including the...
View ArticleSTATE HOUSE ROUNDUP -- Slugging percentage
A recap and analysis of the week in state government.Maybe it's because meteorological winter officially ended last week. Or maybe it's because the Red Sox are playing actual spring training games in...
View ArticleGoldberg says Lottery could handle sports betting
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, MARCH 6, 2019.....New Hampshire, one of 11 states that offer lottery games online, took in more than $1.3 million in revenue from online sales in its first 12 weeks.In...
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