lawmakers

Rep. Anastasia Williams said last week on the House floor that she was called a “house slave” by a lawmaker who she respected, comparing the term to being called a distinctive racial slur. Williams did not name the lawmaker at the time, but Rep. Marcia Ranglin-Vassell eventually identified herself in a Facebook post to deny that she used the word…

A bill aimed to revamp the current sex education course in Massachusetts is drawing criticism as lawmakers consider it.

Local lawmakers in Massachusetts are speaking out on the tension between the U.S. and Iran.

Massachusetts lawmakers approved a spending plan Thursday for more than $1 billion in surplus tax revenue from the last fiscal year. House and Senate lawmakers sent the budget to Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk in the early morning. Lawmakers approved $541 million in spending. The remaining money was deposited in the state’s rainy day fund, bringing that fund’s total...

A proposed constitutional amendment calling for an additional 4% tax on the state’s highest earners is being debated by a joint session of the state Legislature. Supporters of the so-called “millionaire tax” say the surtax would generate as much as $2 billion in annual revenue, with the money earmarked for education and transportation.

Lawmakers in several states want to make sure women needing surgery have a chance to say no to a medical student examining them while they’re under anesthesia.

At the New Hampshire State House in Concord, they are discussing 90 different bills over 3 days. Some of them are already on their way to the Senate. New Hampshire restaurants wouldn’t be able to provide customers with single-use plastic straws, unless a customer requests it. In addition, certain public accommodations built in the future would have to include changing...

Massachusetts lawmakers are pushing legislation to ban so-called “gay conversion therapy” for minors. The legislature’s Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities moved two bills Wednesday that would make Massachusetts the 16th state to outlaw the practice — which aims to alter a person’s sexual orientation.

Members of the Massachusetts Legislature have been sworn-in to a new two-year term on Beacon Hill. Republican Gov. Charlie Baker first administered the oath to 40 senators in the ornate Senate chamber that reopened Wednesday for the first time in more than 18 months after undergoing a $20 million renovation.

New Hampshire lawmakers have re-elected their veteran secretary of state and guardian of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary in a close vote. Legislators voted Wednesday to keep Bill Gardner, the nation’s longest-serving secretary of state. He’s held the job for 42 years. Legislators voted twice; neither candidate won a majority the first time. The final vote was 209-205.

Massachusetts lawmakers have passed a supplemental spending plan. The budget approved Monday would let Massachusetts build up its rainy day fund and set aside money for infrastructure projects, including $40 million for local roads and bridges.

Of all the bills that stalled out during the Massachusetts Legislature’s just-completed formal session, perhaps the one creating the most heartburn is the failure to reach a deal overhauling the state’s 25-year-old education funding system.

Massachusetts lawmakers have given final approval to a bill that would prohibit the drowning of animals and double the penalties for hit and run accidents on dogs or cats.

Massachusetts lawmakers wrapped up their formal session by passing an economic development bill that includes a sales tax holiday for shoppers on the weekend of Aug. 11 to 12.

Massachusetts House and Senate lawmakers wrapped up their final session of the legislative year with several bills passed.

The Massachusetts Senate has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would let those seeking state driver’s licenses designate their gender as “X” instead of “male” or “female.”