Senate President Karen Spilka

State Senate President Karen Spilka was back on the rostrum, her first time inside the Massachusetts State House in almost five weeks. She sat down with NBC10 Boston political reporter Alison King to reveal for the first time what actually happened last month that kept her home.

Legislative leaders on Friday outlined plans to advance a $400 million bill funding the construction of a new Holyoke Soldiers Home but it’s unclear if their timeline will be fast enough to quickly secure federal funding. The House plans to vote next week on the bill — a formal session is planned on Thursday — and legislative leaders indicated they…

Emotions ran high as family members took the stand speaking to a special committee investigating one of the deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks in the state.

The Massachusetts Senate continued debate Monday on a bill backers say would increase police accountability, in part by imposing limits on the “qualified immunity” that now shields officers from civil prosecution. The bill would ban chokeholds and racial profiling in law enforcement, create a Police Officer Standards and Accreditation Commission, and place a moratorium on facial surveillance technology. It also…

The bill would create an independent oversight and investigatory body to hold police accountable and create a system to certify law enforcement officers. Police officers would also be required to intervene if they witness police misconduct and undergo racism training.