Rosenberg's Husband Accused of Sexual Misconduct
Ma. Senate President Stan Rosenberg says he supports an independent investigation into allegations that his husband sexually assaulted and harassed several men.
legislature
State Study Measures Cost of Free Birth Control
Legislative leaders looking to fast track a bill that would guarantee women in Massachusetts access to free coverage for birth control received a cost analysis key to moving the measure forward that determined the benefit would add between 7 cents and 20 cents to monthly health insurance premiums.
Rodrigues: If $15 Minimum Wage Goes Before Voters, ‘It Will Pass’
Senator Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport) is co-chair of a new Senate task force examining ways to improve the business climate for Massachusetts retailers, including a possible $15 minimum wage.
Proposed Immigration Enforcement Law Headed for State House Wednesday
Wednesday morning, State Representative James Lyons (R-Andover) will be leading a press conference on the steps of the State House to formally introduce legislation being filed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives that would allow local and state law enforcement to work with federal immigration authorities to detain suspected illegal immigrants wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcemen
Lawmakers Finally Push Marijuana Bill to Governor’s Desk
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON — The Legislature sent its rewrite of the voter-approved legal marijuana bill, with a higher tax rate and less power for voters, to the governor on Thursday, 255 days after about 1.8 million voters put the law on the books...
Budget, Marijuana Bills Appear to Be Linked
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON — Negotiations over a new state budget and legislation overhauling the retail marijuana legalization law might appear on paper to have little to do with one another.
But multiple sources close to the deliberations told the News Service on Wednesday that the fates of the two bills have become inextricably linked, with some officials now believing that a compromise on the budget
Massachusetts Among Six States Operating Without a Budget in Place
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON — Five days into the new fiscal year, Massachusetts has scant and dwindling company on the list of states yet to finalize a 2018 spending plan.
After Maine and New Jersey reached deals to end their government shutdowns, just six states remain in budgetary limbo: Massachusetts, Oregon, Wisconsin, Illinois, Rhode Island and Connecticut, according to the National Conference of Sta
Budget, Marijuana Bills Unresolved as State Legislators Head into Holiday Break
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON — The House and Senate on Friday afternoon banged out of Beacon Hill for the holiday weekend, signaling that deals on a marijuana bill and a fiscal 2018 state budget are still out of reach.
Lawmakers had set Friday as their goal to get a marijuana bill to Gov...
Koczera Proposing Bill Requiring Boating Safety Course, Licensing
If people need to take safety courses before driving a motor vehicle, then one State Representative thinks boaters should have to do the same.
State Representative Robert Koczera of New Bedford is pushing for legislation that would require all motorboat operators in Massachusetts to undergo a safety course and be certified to operate the watercraft...
Abreu: Pot Tax Bill ‘Spits in the Face of Democracy’
The chairman of New Bedford's committee designed to help the city implement the sale of recreational marijuana thinks the proposed bill to raise the taxes on pot sales from 12 percent to 28 percent should go up in smoke.
"This just kind of spits in the face of democracy," New Bedford City Councillor Ian Abreu, chair of the council's Committee on Licensing and Zoning of Cannabis, said of