House Speaker

BOSTON (AP) _ Unions have spent decades cultivating ties on Beacon Hill and now Massachusetts lawmakers are looking for ways to help unions as they weigh a recent Supreme Court decision. The court ruled last month public employees can't be forced to pay fees to labor unions that represent them in collective bargaining...

BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo is defending the use of non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements a day after a fellow Democratic lawmaker said she was pressured into signing the agreements when she was a legislative staffer...

Massachusetts needs to join the rest of New England in requiring hands-free technology while driving.

BOSTON (AP) _ Massachusetts lawmakers are trying to hash out details of legislation intended to make major changes to the state's criminal justice system. Democratic leaders in the Senate have already floated a wide-ranging bill. Besides eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for some drug offenses while increasing penalties for others, the proposal calls for a reduction in court fees charged to

(Associated Press) - Mass. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is prodding state lawmakers to agree on a final version of a wide-ranging bill designed to address the state's deadly opioid addiction crisis.   Baker told reporters on Wednesday that the ``clock is ticking'' and that every day that goes by another four people die in Massachusetts from opioid-related overdoses. ...

In a huge surprise, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is out of the race for Speaker of the House. The California Republican withdrew his name in a closed meeting of House Republicans. McCarthy told reporters that his withdrawal is the best thing for the party...

Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo plans to ask the Department of Children and Families for an update on their policies following the death of 2-year-old Bella Bond, which he said exposed ``broader failures within the system.'' DeLeo said he wants DCF to give House lawmakers details on actions they've taken since the 2013 case of Jeremiah Oliver, a 5-year-old Fitchburg boy who went missing f

House Speaker Robert DeLeo is planning to run for another term as head of the Massachusetts House. A spokesman for the Winthrop Democrat confirmed that DeLeo will seek reelection to the House next year and will also seek another term as speaker...

Prospects for another sales tax holiday in Massachusetts are looking up. House Speaker Robert DeLeo said Monday that he expects lawmakers to act ``relatively soon'' on a bill that would suspend the state's 6.25 percent sales tax for one weekend during the summer...

Former Rhode Island House Speaker Gordon Fox is expected to plead guilty to charges of bribery, wire fraud and filing a false tax return following an investigation that included a dramatic federal raid on the Statehouse.