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By Credit search: State House News Service

By CHRIS LISINSKI

Massachusetts businesses kicked off the new year with a sunny disposition.Business confidence among employers surveyed by Associated Industries of Massachusetts rose in January to an 11-month high. The business trade group attributed the boost to...

By SAM DORAN

As part of her push to boost housing supply, Gov. Maura Healey swore in around 30 members of two panels late last month, bringing together groups like developers and builders, advocates for the homeless and people with disabilities, and local...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON – Make it seven months.Having already made mid-year budget cuts and dimmed the outlook for tax collections through June based on six consecutive months of underwhelming receipts, the state reported Monday that tax revenue came in below even...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — The Senate approved a sweeping overhaul of state firearms laws Thursday night, setting up talks with the House that could lead to a major new law later this spring or summer.The Senate bill seeks to rein in untraceable ghost guns, bans...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — A wide-ranging, police-endorsed gun reform bill rolled out by Senate Democrats late last week could be headed for a vote as soon as Thursday. The measure is likely to generate considerable opposition among firearm owners.After months of...

By MICHAEL P. NORTON

BOSTON — While the bill has a long path ahead of it, advocates for more government transparency are encouraged that a House-Senate committee on Tuesday gave a favorable report to a bill whose sponsors say it will bring needed “sunlight” to the...

By SAM DRYSDALE

Last month’s Boston Tea Party anniversary celebration was “just the tip of the iceberg” as Massachusetts prepares to leverage a series of upcoming historical anniversaries to market the state and draw in millions of tourists, the state’s top tourism...

By Chris Lisinski

BOSTON – A Massachusetts panel on Monday unanimously denied an effort to remove former President Donald Trump’s name from the Republican presidential primary ballot.The State Ballot Law Commission dismissed a challenge that alleged Trump is ineligible...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The Healey administration’s plan to supercharge housing production with billions of dollars of investment won some degree of praise from almost every corner of the state this week, but influential voices are at odds over some of the more...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Beleaguered public transit, K-12 education, and the growing climate and clean energy technology sector would all get major boosts in state funding under Gov. Maura Healey’s vision for the year ahead.In a State of the Commonwealth speech...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The climate crisis is fueling a steady growth in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather, and Massachusetts cities and towns face an increasingly common conundrum trying to respond to those emergencies.Many of the disasters that have...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — For the second straight legislative term, the House unanimously approved legislation Wednesday aimed at closing a “loophole” that makes Massachusetts one of only two states without a clear, enforceable ban on revenge porn.Representatives...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — “Keep your eyes peeled” for free community college funding in the Senate’s version of the fiscal year 2025 budget, Senate President Karen Spilka said Wednesday.Making community college free for every Massachusetts resident could cost the...

By SAM DORAN

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey and her budget team hit the reset button Monday, announcing a plan to cut $375 million from the current year’s budget amid flagging tax collections, to downgrade the amount of tax revenue expected this budget year by $1...

By SAM DRYSDALE

Between 2021 and 2023, the number of Massachusetts residents living in food-insecure households increased by close to 50%, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.A Hunger Free America analysis of USDA data shows that 363,433 Bay...

By CHRIS LISINSKI and SAM DRYSDALE

HOLYOKE — At Holyoke Community College this fall, 3,706 students are enrolled and receiving credits for classes they are taking. That’s a 4.4% increase over the 3,550 students at the college in the fall of 2022.The jump in enrollment mirrors what is...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — A Superior Court judge ruled Friday that Treasurer Deborah Goldberg can go ahead with the meeting that could lead to the firing of suspended Cannabis Control Commission Chairwoman Shannon O’Brien and also cautioned the parties that “political...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren threw her weight behind Gov. Maura Healey’s housing plan this week, and said the federal government will need to “step up” to help the state address its housing affordability and availability crisis.As many as...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON — Seeking to remove more barriers to voting, the House approved legislation last week allowing employees to take paid time off on Election Day to cast their ballots in person.Without discussion, lawmakers passed the bill (H 4217) during an...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — The state’s drug overdose crisis is persisting at record high levels, exacerbated by a “poisoned drug supply” that isn’t just affecting those who use opioids anymore.There were 2,323 confirmed and estimated fatal opioid-related overdoses...