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By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — A new Massachusetts law signed Thursday by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker assures that women won’t be forced to choose between a healthy pregnancy and keeping their jobs, according to advocates for working women.The measure approved by the...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — Republican Gov. Charlie Baker planned to sign off Wednesday on a new $200 million health care assessment on Massachusetts employers, pulling back from his earlier insistence that lawmakers tie the fee directly to cost-saving measures in the...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker made a last-ditch effort Wednesday to put a weekend sales tax holiday on the summer calendar, but legislative leaders quickly appeared to throw cold water on the idea.Baker, a Republican, filed a bill that would suspend the...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — Proposed questions being offered for next year’s state ballot would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and guarantee that workers have access to paid family and medical leave from their employers.Raise Up Massachusetts, a...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is working on a bill in response to a court ruling that forbids police officers in Massachusetts from holding a person based solely on a federal immigration detainer request.Lizzy Guyton, the governor’s...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has delivered an ultimatum of sorts to Democrats on health care.He’s asked the Legislature to act within 60 days on a package of changes he’s proposed in the state’s Medicaid program, known as MassHealth.The...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — Massachusetts Senate President Stan Rosenberg, a chief architect of the state law that legalized casino gambling, said Wednesday he was strongly opposed to a new law that could allow casinos to serve alcohol until 4 a.m.“I hate it,” Rosenberg...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — State House and Senate negotiators reached an agreement Monday on a revamped version of Massachusetts’ voter-approved marijuana law that would allow retail pot sales to be taxed at a maximum 20 percent rate.The deal was struck following...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — Republican Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed $320 million from the state budget on Monday and asked lawmakers to revisit a package of cost-saving reforms he proposed to the state’s Medicaid program.More than two weeks into the state’s new fiscal...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — House and Senate negotiators hoping to hammer out a compromise over the state’s recreational marijuana law failed to meet a self-imposed deadline Friday aimed at getting a final bill to Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk and plan to get...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — After a week of sharp divisions and heated rhetoric over the future of the state’s recreational marijuana law, it’s now up to a conference committee of six legislators to try and sort everything out.On one hand, there’s a House bill that...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — A proposal to revamp the state’s voter-approved recreational marijuana law would weaken efforts to increase opportunities for blacks and other minorities to participate in the legal cannabis industry, diversity advocates argued on Tuesday.In...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — House leaders announced late Wednesday they were postponing debate on a contentious bill that seeks major changes in the state’s voter-approved recreational marijuana law, including higher taxes on retail sales and more control for municipal...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — Lawmakers reviewing the state’s new recreational marijuana law plan to recommend sharply higher taxes and more control for city and town officials over retail pot shops in their communities, according to a copy of a House proposal obtained...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — Pregnant women would be offered more protections in the workplace under a bill that has won unanimous approval in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.The legislation would require employers to offer “reasonable accommodations” for...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — In death, Aaron Hernandez may not be a guilty man in the eyes of the law.Under a long-standing Massachusetts legal principle, courts customarily vacate the convictions of defendants who die before their appeals are heard.Hernandez, a former...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — A $40.3 billion state budget unveiled Monday by House leaders puts on hold Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s plan for an assessment on employers who don’t offer health insurance benefits to their workers.The spending plan for the July 1 fiscal...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — A Harvard University professor who introduced Americans to the concept of designated drivers to deter drunken driving is now taking on the deadly problem of motorists distracted by cellphones and other electronics.Jay Winsten is consulting...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — When Alejandra Duarte learned she was pregnant, she asked her supervisor at an industrial laundry in Massachusetts if she could be given slightly less strenuous duty, but instead, she recalled, she was given longer shifts and more...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — Recreational marijuana is becoming legal in Massachusetts. Legal, but not readily available.The ballot question approved by voters Nov. 8 is scheduled to go into effect Thursday, allowing adults to have limited quantities of marijuana for...

By BOB SALSBERG

BOSTON — Democratic legislative leaders pushed back Wednesday against Gov. Charlie Baker’s decision to chop nearly $100 million from the state budget, suggesting they might move next month to restore some of the spending.House Speaker Robert DeLeo...