Massachusetts Legislature

The majority of Bay State residents say they want sports betting to be legal, but a bill that would allow betting on professional and college sports still faces opposition.

The House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a bill to legalize sports betting in Massachusetts, but even before the vote, the question of whether to allow wagers on college sports emerged as a major sticking point between the House and Senate.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed a $47.6 billion fiscal 2022 budget into law Friday afternoon, his office announced, vetoing $7.9 million in gross spending and an outside section that would delay implementation of a charitable giving tax deduction approved by voters in 2000. State lawmakers unanimously passed a $48.1 billion spending bill on July 9, approving a House-Senate deal that…

Massachusetts lawmakers gave final approval to a new state budget Friday after House and Senate negotiators reached a deal Thursday on a $48.1 billion spending plan. When it became clear lawmakers would not have a final budget deal in place for the beginning of the new 2022 fiscal year on July 1, lawmakers approved — and Republican Gov. Charlie Baker…

A state representative from Boston pitched a strategy Tuesday to repair some of the damage the pandemic has done for education: allow any student who will soon graduate to stay in school for an additional year.

The Massachusetts House continues to function in large part through remote operations, and one of its members, Rep. Patrick Kearney, is really remote. According to the Scituate Democrat’s office, Kearney, a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve, is currently assisting with joint military exercises in North Africa. Specifically, he is serving as a tactical advisor aboard the heavy lift...

The Massachusetts Senate has approved legislation designed to create a more secure egg supply chain and raise the state’s farm animal welfare standards to be on a par with other states. Democratic Senate President Karen Spilka said the bill approved Thursday would upgrade Massachusetts’ egg production law — created by a successful 2016 ballot question — to create predictability and…

In an attempt to end the battle over who gets to spend Massachusetts’ nearly $5.2 billion in federal relief money, Gov. Charlie Baker on Thursday pitched a plan that would see him cede much of his control over the aid to the Legislature, as long as lawmakers agree quickly to spend more than half on priorities such as home ownership…

Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday agreed to schedule this year’s sales tax holiday for the weekend of Aug. 14 and 15. A 2018 law that put the state’s minimum hourly wage on a gradual path to $15 and created the paid family and medical leave program also made the holiday, when the 6.25% sales tax is waived for many purchases, an…

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law Wednesday a bill to restore pandemic-era policies including remote public meetings, to-go cocktail sales, eviction protections and more, according to Senate President Karen Spilka. Senate President Karen Spilka thanked the governor via Twitter Wednesday for signing a deal about 13 hours after the legislature sent Baker a partial compromise temporarily reinstating some policies…

The state of emergency in Massachusetts is over, but lawmakers are looking to keep some policies in effect.

The state of emergency that was in place in Massachusetts since March 10, 2020, ended at midnight, and with it, a batch of pandemic-era policies expired. The legislature failed to move legislation to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk that would keeping in place authorization for remote public meetings, eviction protections, and restaurant relief before those measures expired. But the Massachusetts House…

A bill temporarily extending a host of pandemic-era policies that would otherwise expire in connection with next Tuesday’s termination of the COVID-19 state of emergency cleared the Massachusetts Senate on a voice vote Thursday afternoon. The bill keeps measures including the authorizations for mail-in voting, remote public meetings and takeout cocktails for several months. Sen. Michael Rodrigues, who chairs...

The Massachusetts Senate will take up a bill that seeks to extend some pandemic-era policies beyond next week’s end of the COVID-19 state of emergency Thursday.

Massachusetts lawmakers are poised Wednesday to advance one of the most significant changes in state tax policy in years. Legislators will meet for a 1 p.m. Constitutional Convention, and Democrats who hold super-majorities in both chambers are set to vote to place on the 2022 ballot a constitutional amendment imposing a 4 percent surtax on household income above $1 million…

Market Basket supermarkets will host a series of walk-up mobile vaccine clinics in hard-hit communities across Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker announced on Wednesday. The new mobile COVID-19 vaccination program, intended to increase access to coronavirus vaccines in disproportionately impacted communities, will be hosted in several Market Basket parking lots. Anyone who gets a vaccine at a Market Basket in Massachusetts…

A state lawmaker from Boston is calling for more transparency from the MBTA. The development comes following an NBC10 investigation, which reported a $7.9 million project to refurbish historic trolleys on the Mattapan High Speed Line was two years behind schedule.

An $8 million project to refurbish the historic trolleys on the Mattapan line is two years behind schedule.

Massachusetts lawmakers want answers about a project to upgrade a trolley line being two years behind schedule.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed a sweeping climate change bill into law Friday, ending months of negotiations as the legislation shuttled back and forth between the Democratic-controlled Legislature and the Republican governor. Baker and lawmakers have both hailed a key goal of the new law — creating a net-zero greenhouse gas emission limit by 2050. “This bill puts us on…