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By Credit search: State House News Service

By SAM DRYSDALE

The program meant to give students a head start on their college enrollment is expanding, which officials say will save students money, make them more likely to attend college than their peers and increase lifelong earning potential.University of...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

The Healey administration’s budget chief is “cautiously optimistic” about the economic outlook for the year ahead, even though he expects lackluster tax collections to continue and sees “unavoidable deficiencies” on the horizon.Administration and...

By SAM DRYSDALE

As scores on statewide standardized tests rolled in Tuesday, revealing that students are still struggling from pandemic-related learning losses, education officials contemplated an overhaul of the state’s accountability system – against the backdrop...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

Opponents of a major new gun law say they have collected a bit less than half of the signatures they need by early next month to suspend the measure until voters would potentially get a chance to decide its fate in 2026.A group of gun owners and...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON — State housing officials kicked off outreach efforts on accessory dwelling units to municipal leaders Wednesday, as they prepare for zoning changes embedded in the Affordable Homes Act to take effect in February.Staff from the Executive Office...

By SAM DORAN

BOSTON — Paul Revere rode up Beacon Street blaring the news of rapidly approaching redcoats while Gov. Maura Healey trumpeted a message of her own, calling for Massachusetts to “show off our state over the next two years” as it prepares for center...

By SAM DORAN

BOSTON — As attorney general, Maura Healey lauded a bid to update the state’s wiretapping law and flagged it as “an important issue.” But since taking office as governor, Healey has been mum on the topic and the legislation she lobbied for has gained...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON — Three years after the state launched a registry of providers found to have abused individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, some advocates warn that too many workers are slipping through the cracks and staying employed in...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Students with cognitive disabilities and English language learners who are held back from a diploma due to the MCAS exam could stand to benefit the most from a ballot initiative that would “greatly diminish the state’s role as a gatekeeper to...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — More than a month since House and Senate Democrats failed to compromise on clean energy reforms that the industry and many advocates agree are essential to the transition the state wants to make, key trades associations urged lawmakers this...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON – Supporters of a ballot measure going before voters this fall say granting the state auditor the ability to investigate the Legislature would increase transparency and accountability for a body that they say is opaque. But a new study says...

By SAM DORAN

The Department of Public Health this week celebrated the 50th anniversary of a program for mothers and children that boosts childhood nutrition and, in the words of one state representative, serves as a “buffer against hardship.”Known as WIC, the...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Mindful of how difficult it is to grow much of anything in the outdoor climate of Massachusetts, never mind growing a crop that is legal here but still entirely prohibited at the federal level, the Cannabis Control Commission traveled to...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Massachusetts motorists racked up driving violations at an accelerating rate through the first seven months of 2024, according to data state regulators presented Tuesday.The head of the Merit Rating Board, a division of the state Registry of...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

Massachusetts is about to get a new law to shield firefighters from toxic chemicals in their protective equipment and eventually phase out the use of PFAS that’s been linked to cancer.Gov. Maura Healey announced Wednesday that she planned to sign...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON – Pregnant people and those who recently gave birth could gain access to expanded care options in Massachusetts under compromise maternal health legislation that awaits Gov. Maura Healey’s approval.The House and Senate had passed largely...

By BOB KATZEN

THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives’ and senators’ votes on roll calls from recent sessions.$5.1 BILLION FOR HOUSING (H 4977): House 128-24, Senate 37-2, approved and Gov. Maura Healey signed into law a housing...

By MICHAEL P. NORTON

Gun owners have taken the first step toward putting before Massachusetts voters a proposal to repeal the firearms law signed on July 25 by Gov. Maura Healey, a statute the governor called the “most significant gun safety legislation in a decade.”A...

By SAM DORAN

LEXINGTON — Gov. Maura Healey signed off Thursday on a new veterans’ benefits law that she touted as “a big deal,” while Veterans’ Services Secretary Jon Santiago told a packed town hall that the Holyoke Veterans Home had been awarded licensure by the...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The procrastination, upheaval and disappointment that defined the end to formal lawmaking business at the end of July was “nothing new,” according to the former legislator leading a push to subject the House and Senate to new scrutiny....

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON – As Gov. Maura Healey and lawmakers celebrated what they called “historic” housing legislation getting signed into law Tuesday, some of the advocates credited with influencing the bill say it is “underwhelming” and watered down, with a number...