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Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Can you guess who's Mass. governor this week?
Someone's sitting in for Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey this week. With one budget signature under her belt and a supplemental budget now before the Legislature, the Arlington Democrat headed out of town on vacation with her family, according to State House News Service. And that means Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll is minding the store as acting governor—with all the power that comes with it — until Healey returns, the wire service reported. And that's just a part of the constitutional order of things. Driscoll, a former Salem mayor, steps in when Healey isn't available. When neither Driscoll nor Healey is on the ground in the Bay State, duties devolve to Secretary of State William L. Galvin, who's next in line in the Bay State's foundational document. That last happened in February, when Healey was in Washington, D.C., for a conclave with her fellow governors, and Driscoll was similarly out of town. So what can Driscoll do while Healey's on vacation? Quite a bit. Driscoll will also be responsible for emergency response and serving as the state's liaison on federal matters. Because it's not like nothing is going on there. Under the state's constitution, the acting governor can file and sign bills, Though she's on holiday, Healey has nonetheless felt very present on this first full Monday in July. Earlier in the day, Healey was quoted at length in a scathing press release taking the Trump White House to task for freezing $108 million in previously approved money for public education. An hour or so later, one of Healey's Republican rivals for governor in 2026, former Baker administration aide Mike Kennealy, took her to task for remarks she made over the weekend on WBZ-TV's 'Keller @Large' program. Healey's last public event was on Friday, July 4, when she attended the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on the Charles River Esplanade, according to State House News Service. That same day, Healey ran her signature across a $60.9 billion annual budget for the new fiscal year that started July 1. Healey trimmed $130 million from the spending plan as a hedge against funding reductions from the Republican-authored domestic policy mega-bill. She also filed a supplemental budget that, among other things, would give her more leeway to unilaterally cut state spending. Two familiar faces step forward for Chicopee council, School Committee seats Planned Parenthood in Mass. sues Trump admin over 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Medicaid provision Health groups, including one from Mass., sue to stop RFK's vaccine changes Candidate, kin marked dead on Mass. Dem database, seemingly by his rival, state Rep. Puppolo 'Sea change': Dems' views on Israel swing by 56% in 8 years Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mass. has an on-time(ish) state budget: 3 big things to know about the $61B plan
Massachusetts lawmakers approved their earliest budget in more than a decade on Monday, sending a $61 billion, policy-packed spending blueprint to Gov. Maura Healey for her final say. The Democratic governor gets 10 days to sign the document or kick it back for changes, thus deciding whether the Bay State gets Christmas in July with the budget for the new fiscal year that started at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday. The spending plan, which does not raise any broad-based taxes, boosts state support for health care, education, and transportation, among other key sectors of state government. It includes 'investments that better support Massachusetts students and families, that increase access to affordable health care, and that provide for a safer and more reliable public transportation system – all without raising taxes," House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, said in a statement. With that in mind, here are three, key things to know about the budget now on Healey's desk: The budget is premised on billions of dollars in federal funding that could well be upended by President Donald Trump's domestic policy mega-bill, which makes deep cuts to Medicaid, food assistance and other parts of the social safety net. On Monday, as they raced through votes, legislative leaders said they wanted to beat Washington's express train by passing the state's budget before the 'Big Beautiful Bill' goes to Trump for his signature. "With deep uncertainty on the horizon, both from an economic standpoint and from any actions Washington might take in the near future, we felt it was in the commonwealth's best interest to finish this budget in a quicker manner than has been the case in the past few years,' House Ways and Means Committee Chairperson Aaron Michlewitz, D-3rd Suffolk, said, according to State House News Service. On the other side of the State House, Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairperson Michael Rodriques, D-1st Bristol/Plymouth, said the state already is feeling the pinch from Washington. The Republican White House's trade war already has resulted in 'less-than-anticipated state tax revenue,' Rodrigues said, according to the wire service, while cuts to scientific research funding and 'the elimination of these thousands of jobs have caused a decrease in state income tax collections.' Read more: Mass. 'Millionaire's Tax' is a year old. Where it's helped, hurt | Analysis All in, the compromise spending plan uses $2.4 billion in 'Millionaire's Tax' revenue to underwrite spending on education and transportation programs — as mandated by state law. The education-related programs getting a boost from that extra 4% tax on Bay State residents who earn more than $1 million a year include: $360 million for the state's early education grant program, Commonwealth Cares for Children. Augmented by an extra $115 million from the state's Early Education and Care Operational Grant Fund, the program will see a total investment of $475 million. $460 million for the state's Student Opportunity Act, which is intended to level the state's educational playing field. $180 million for universal free school meals. $120 million for the state's free community college program. The transportation-related programs getting a boost include: $470 million in direct support for the MBTA, which includes low-income fare relief, water ferry service and the MBTA Academy. The agency will see a total of $1 billion in state support this year, with the inclusion of $535 million in a recently approved supplemental budget for the Millionaire's Tax. $120 million for Regional Transit Authorities (RTAs) across the state. Together with resources from the General Fund, the bill provides a total of $214 million for the regional transit agencies. $55 million in operating support for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The spending plan also includes language that ends unpopular, renter-paid brokers' fees, usually the equivalent of one month's rent. In Boston, where rental prices hover comfortably around $3,000, that can mean prospective tenants have to cough up as much as $9,000 or $10,000 to rent an apartment. But to be clear, the fees aren't going away entirely: They're changing form. The language that lawmakers approved this week requires whoever first worked with the broker — whether the landlord or the renter — to cover the cost, The Boston Globe reported. Tenant advocates have long railed against the fees. And when New York's City Council passed a law last year banning them, the Bay State's reform effort picked up a new head of steam. Healey, who is running for reelection in 2026, has spoken publicly of her opposition to the fees and included a proposal to end them in the $62 billion budget outline she sent to lawmakers earlier this year. Mass. senators blast Trump settlement with Paramount: 'Bribery in plain sight' Trump's antisemitism probe mostly relies on Harvard's own report, Harvard claims Trump threatens arrest of NYC mayoral candidate during visit to 'Alligator Alcatraz' Here's how Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene described support for Trump's 'big beautiful bill' Group behind MCAS ballot question broke campaign finance law, state says Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Springfield to take action against illegal ‘Gas Station Weed'
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Springfield is cracking down on illegal 'Gas Station Weed' throughout the city. Springfield woman turns herself in for Old Navy merchandise theft in South Windsor On Wednesday, Mayor Domenic Sarno, along with other city officials, will announce a new ordinance that's aimed at illegal 'Gas Station Weed.' This type is targeting youth and putting the public's health at risk. The announcement is set to take place at 2:30 p.m. at Springfield City Hall. The State House News Service states that 'Gas Station Weed' is not the same cannabis that is sold at licensed dispensaries, and is often unregulated. They are advertised as a legal hemp product under federal law, but they offer the same kind of high as cannabis. Hemp is defined as cannabis that has no more than 0.3% Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the primary psychoactive compound of marijuana, by dry weight at the time of harvest. This type of hemp-based product has been around for about six years, but has become more popular recently. They are marked as things like 'Delta-8,' 'Delta-10' or 'THC In A Bottle,' and often come in bright packaging, which is sometimes meant to mimic the look of legal products. On Wednesday, a bill set to reform the Cannabis Control Commission will go before the House of Representatives after years of controversies and complaints from local business owners. The bill is now cleared through two committees and is poised to pass the House. The bill places the commission entirely under Governor Healey, which means the five-person board would go down to three appointed commissioners, with one of them a full-time chair. The bill would regulate and tax the sale of hemp-based and CBD gummies and drinks, and open the door to retail-only medical marijuana businesses. The City of Springfield states that no one should sell, cultivate, deliver, or otherwise commercially distribute marijuana products within the city without first obtaining a marijuana operating permit issued annually by the Department of Health and Human Services. Only owners of establishments with a permanent, nonmobile location in the city can apply for an operating permit at the specified location. The fee for a marijuana operating permit is $2,000 annually. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mass. budget debate points to a subtle but seismic shift on Beacon Hill
People talk a lot about inflection points — and it's always in the past tense. You rarely recognize them as they're happening. But if you were paying attention to Beacon Hill this week, you saw one in real-time and in the most unexpected and resolutely anodyne of places: The start of the Massachusetts Senate's annual budget debate. Ready? Here it is, courtesy of Senate Committee on Ways and Means Chairperson Michael Rodrigues, D-1st Bristol/Plymouth. 'Over the course of the last few months, we have witnessed firsthand how our federal partners have unleashed unprecedented amounts of uncertainty, unpredictability and volatility,' the South Coast lawmaker said Monday as the majority-Democrat chamber started debate on a $61.3 billion spending plan for the new fiscal year that starts July 1. 'In past turbulent times, the question we asked ourselves was, 'How much help can we expect from our friends in D.C.?' Yet today, we find ourselves in the unique position of asking, 'How much is D.C. going to hurt us today?'' Rodriques mused, according to State House News Service. The sentiment isn't a new one. Elected and community leaders across the Bay State have been sounding the alarm for months about the impact that diminished federal funding will have on the state's bottom line. And a word about process: The Senate is expected to spend most of the week wading through more than 1,000 amendments to the budget proposal. Senators have been advised of a 'potential' formal session on Thursday as well, the wire service reported As a refresher, Massachusetts gets nearly $23 billion in funding from Washington every year, with around $16 billion of it pumped into the state's operating budget, data show. But spending cuts across the federal government that already have taken place, and those being eyed by Republicans on Capitol Hill — including Medicaid and hunger assistance — are expected to throw states' economies into disarray. And that doesn't even count the hit that nonprofits and colleges and universities, all of them economic players, are taking this year. Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, who will have a big say in the final shape of the spending plan that hits her desk, already has announced an executive branch hiring freeze because of the shaky funding picture. Read More: These key public services won't be hit by the state's hiring freeze, Mass. Gov. Healey says One more big tell about the changed political and economic topography? While there's not exactly emphatic Republican agreement about the Democrats' spending priorities, there's a clear-eyed recognition that the state is facing seismic forces this year that it has not seen before. Here's Senate Minority Leader Bruce E. Tarr, R-1st Essex/Middlesex: 'I dare say that while every budget is important and while every budget is a challenge, the consequences of our decisions with this budget are perhaps more intense than some of the recent budgets that we've dealt with,' Tarr said Monday during the customary GOP response. The Gloucester lawmaker noted that he and his colleagues had faced uncertain times before, notably during the COVID-19 pandemic, State House News Service reported. But, he allowed, 'we always found a way to move forward to address the uncertainty and those difficult economic times.' That makes it 'imperative that we do so once again,' and while Rodriques pointed to one 'element of uncertainty, there is another element. And that other element deals with the issue of what could be an economic downturn that could have significant consequences for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.' Tarr isn't the only one thinking that way. Jim Rooney, the president and CEO of the influential Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, had the same issues on his mind recently. Massachusetts already was struggling with economic competitiveness and job creation issues before Trump returned to office in January, Rooney told WBZ-TV's 'Keller @Large' program last weekend. 'Now you layer on job-impacting types of federal policies like tariffs, like research funding, like immigration and that was going to be tough anyway,' Rooney said. 'And ... if you look at where our jobs are, [with] high concentrations in life sciences and medicine ... this is right in the gut of the Massachusetts economy,' he continued. Those concerns are further underlined by new research by Mark Williams, a master lecturer in finance at Boston University, concluding that the Republican White House's policies could result in billions of dollars in lost revenue and tens of thousands of job losses as early as next year. That's because, compared to other states, the Bay State's economy 'disproportionately' depends on such sectors as life sciences, higher education, trade and tourism, Williams said. All of those already have been — or will be hit — by Trump's economic policies. Which brings us back to Rodriques and the admittedly limited palette that he and his fellow lawmakers, along with Healey, have to work with this budget season. The Senate's top budget-writer has ruled out dipping into the state's Rainy Day Fund to backfill any lost federal money. Healey has repeatedly said the state doesn't have the cash to do it on its own. And over in the House, which passed its $61.4 billion budget proposal earlier this month, House Committee on Ways and Means Chairperson Aaron Michlewitz, D-3rd Suffolk, has been similarly circumspect. The fiscal picture could be clarified as the June 30 deadline to approve a new spending plan approaches — and as the two chambers reconcile the differences between the $62 billion budget plan backed by Healey and their respective proposals. Spending cuts appear to be decidedly off the table. Right now, the only certain thing is the budget deadline, and lawmakers routinely blow through that. So it's good to know we can count on at least one thing. From Baker to Ballot: Republican Mike Kennealy makes his pitch for governor | Bay State Briefing Rümeysa Öztürk chose grace over bitterness. What we can learn | John L. Micek 'What About Us?': Native leaders say time's up on broken promises | John L. Micek Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
State House spat: W.Mass lawmaker blocked from testifying on his own bills
So here's your daily reminder that, just because Democrats control everything on Beacon Hill, it doesn't mean that they're always going to get along. State Sen. Jacob Oliveira, D-Hampden/Hampshire/Worcester, was reminded of that first-hand on Monday when he attempted to testify remotely before the Legislature's Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. The Ludlow lawmaker has several bills before the committee. And on Monday, he was back in his district meeting with childcare providers, according to Senate President Karen Spilka's office. When it was his turn to speak, the panel's House chairperson, Rep. Tacky Chan, D-2nd Norfolk, cut him off, citing House rules requiring committee members to participate in hearings in person, Politico reported Tuesday. 'Pursuant to the House rules, the chair is not recognizing committee members who are not here physically in person,' Chan, of Quincy, said, according to State House News Service. 'As a result ... the chair does not recognize Senator Oliveira.' A bit of context: The two chambers are still sparring over joint operating rules that govern the flow of legislation between both sides of the State House. While the House and Senate each have agreed to their own internal rules, they've yet to reach an accord on this key bit of interchamber wheel-greasing. Negotiators are set to meet again on Thursday, State House News Service reported. Sen. Pavel Payano, D-1st Essex, the committee's Senate chairperson, protested, accusing his House colleagues of violating the 'sacred principle that no voice in democracy could be silenced,' the wire service reported. Sidelining Oliveira was the same thing as sidelining his constituents in Belchertown, Palmer, Wilbraham, Longmeadow, South Hadley, Warren, Hampden, Springfield, Granby, East Longmeadow and Ludlow, Payano continued. 'I think that that is a travesty,' Payano said, according to State House News Service. 'You're telling the entire community your concerns are not welcome here. This is just not a matter of procedural fairness. To me, I find it discriminatory. You know, the folks out in western Mass., it's not the same as people that are closer to Boston.' Payano then read the testimony that Oliveira had prepared to deliver. Chan, who said he understood 'there are complications for some folks,' reiterated the House stance that legislators should testify in person. The committee pile-up netted a stern rebuke from Spilka, who called the House's power play 'deeply troubling.' 'The joint rules the House and Senate mutually agreed to in January do not prohibit remote participation, and the notion that one branch's rules can bind the operations of joint committees is without merit,' Spilka said. The Ashland Democrat said she could 'personally attest to [Sen.] Oliveira's hard work and dedication to his district, his constituents, and the Senate. I thank him for ably serving all three this morning.' That wasn't the end of the day's drama. On Monday, the House announced that it had reached an agreement on a short-term funding bill to keep the doors open at the agency that provides health insurance for state employees. The Senate gaveled out for the day without taking up the rather urgent legislation, saying it would do so on Thursday. Episcopalians tell Trump 'nee' to resettling white South Africans Markey, Mass. pols call on Trump to reverse course on AmeriCorps cuts An undocumented student's story: Why it's hard to be here no matter who is president Worcester City Council meeting to be held virtually 'due to public safety concerns' Harvard letter says university shares 'common ground' with Trump admin Read the original article on MassLive.
