state budget

(Associated Press) - Massachusetts lawmakers have given final approval to a compromise $38.1 billion budget and sent it along to Gov. Charlie Baker for his signature. The spending plan includes measures aimed at strengthening management of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and requiring lawmakers to sign off before public money could be spent on a potential 2024 Olympics in Boston...

The state's top elections official says Massachusetts would not be able to hold a presidential primary next year under Republican Gov. Charlie Baker's state budget proposal. Secretary of State William Galvin, a Democrat, told lawmakers on Tuesday that the spending plan ``drastically'' underfunds his elections office and he said if the money was not restored, the primary scheduled for March 1 could

The state Senate is considering a proposed set of rules for the 2015-2016 session that includes efforts to improve transparency. The new rules, set for a vote on Wednesday, would require the Senate to make a list of bills available to the public two days before any meeting scheduled to consider those bills...

A University of Massachusetts panel has approved a freeze on tuition and mandatory fees for in-state undergraduate students for the 2014-15 academic year. The unanimous vote Wednesday by the UMass Board of Trustees' finance committee likely paves the way for a second consecutive year without tuition increases for most undergrads at the Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell campuses...