Lawmakers Face Full Agenda At Statehouse

State lawmakers will have plenty on their plates when they ramp up activity after Labor Day.

    The House and Senate have not met formally since the end of July.

    Among the high-profile issues the Legislature is likely to grapple with in the fall are gun control, welfare reform and proposals to increase the minimum wage.

    A bill calling for stronger oversight of compounding pharmacies could also face a vote in the coming weeks. A fungal meningitis outbreak traced to tainted steroids produced by a now-defunct compounding pharmacy in Framingham last year killed 63 people and sickened hundreds more.

    Also still pending before lawmakers is a revised compact Gov. Deval Patrick signed in March with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe that hopes to build a resort casino in Taunton.  (Associated Press)