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By Credit search: State House News Service

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Drawing from Massachusetts history while also peeking into the future, Gov. Maura Healey on Thursday night took stock of the state’s strengths and challenges in a speech that focused more on following through on past work than on announcing new initiatives.

By ALISON KUZNITZ and SAM DORAN

BOSTON — The three-day countdown for Beacon Hill lawmakers to comply with Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s probe of the Legislature started Monday afternoon, DiZoglio said, with her office now requesting specific records from the House and Senate.Meantime,...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Fresh off winning another term leading the Massachusetts Senate, President Karen Spilka quickly set her sights on a combination of new and old priorities, including one that will have significant interest in the Pioneer Valley — reexamining...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

Fewer people who gave birth in 2022 received adequate prenatal care compared to the prior year, and more Massachusetts residents used fertility treatment, according to a new report from the Department of Public Health.DPH’s look-back into the 68,579...

By SAM DORAN

BOSTON — Lawmakers dropped the controversial idea to pursue so-called safe injection sites in a compromise addiction and substance use disorder bill they filed Tuesday after months of private negotiations.Reps. Alice Peisch and Adrian Madaro and Sen....

By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey’s office intends over the next roughly 19 months to phase out the use of hotels and motels for emergency shelter, seek a legislative change to boost rental assistance for needy families, create a reserve account for shelter...

By MICHAEL P. NORTON

State officials characterized the drought in Massachusetts as being in a “critical” stage across most of the state Tuesday.The state environmental affairs secretariat said precipitation was “at an unprecedented low over the last three months,” and...

By SAM DRYSDALEand ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON – Massachusetts students will no longer have to pass the MCAS exam to earn a diploma here.Question 2, which advanced with a hard push by the Massachusetts Teachers Association, prevailed in Tuesday’s election. The measure was favored by 59% of...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

Gov. Maura Healey cast her ballot at an Arlington elementary school Tuesday morning, and after dropping off Dunkin’ coffee and donuts for poll workers turned north to spend most of Election Day in her native — and more electorally active — New...

By SAM DRYSALE

BOSTON — Treasurer Deb Goldberg is beginning to look for a new chair of the Cannabis Control Commission, despite an upcoming legislative hearing that could redefine how the regulatory agency’s leadership is appointed.Amid a slew of controversies at...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — House and Senate Democrats announced a breakthrough Thursday morning on “comprehensive climate and clean energy siting and permitting legislation,” calling for a vote soon on a major bill that stumbled at the traditional end of formal...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — After a $2.78 billion settlement that will allow colleges to pay their athletes got preliminary approval earlier this week, NCAA president and former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker was in Boston on Thursday touting the deal as “[solving]...

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 COLIN A. YOUNG

Treasurer Deborah Goldberg fired Cannabis Control Commission Chair Shannon O’Brien on Monday, her office confirmed, a removal that seems likely to kick the yearlong drama back into the courts.In a statement, Goldberg said she decided to fire O’Brien...

By SAM DRYSDALE

Students with cognitive disabilities and English language learners could stand to benefit the most from a ballot initiative that would “greatly diminish the state’s role as a gatekeeper to high school graduation,” and lower the stakes of statewide...

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 — The Department of Public Health is moving on multiple fronts to address the elevated risks of mosquito-borne illnesses this year, including spraying pesticides from trucks in southern Worcester County and from planes in Plymouth County...

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 CHRIS LISINSKI

Legislative leaders have few specifics ironed out for a potential return to formal business after they failed to find agreement last week on a major jobs bill and several other popular proposals.With Beacon Hill now fully ensconced in summer vacation...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Supporters of medical aid in dying pressed Wednesday for a late-session vote on the proposal, pointing to growing numbers of legislative backers and movement at the committee level as a sign that “anything is possible.”With one week remaining...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — The Massachusetts House was split along party lines Wednesday night in voting to support climate and energy legislation that would “help accelerate the green transition,” according to the bill’s lead architect.“The bill before you continues...