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By Credit search: State House News Service

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — This week’s dismal weather forecast might actually have a silver lining for some restaurateurs.After nearly four years with a streamlined system in place to permit outdoor dining and permission to sell takeout alcoholic drinks, both practices...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Lawmakers tasked with negotiating details of a major firearms bill left their work open to the public last week — a move that broke from opaque traditions on Beacon Hill. A week later, those negotiators moved to close their meetings to the...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey’s team is looking into what more the state can do to help high school students who do not pass the MCAS exam, but she gave voice Tuesday to her opposition to a potential ballot question that would force the state to stop...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON — With funding for “vital” human services and early education programs running low, Gov. Maura Healey filed a nearly $535 million supplemental budget Monday afternoon to address the shortfalls and to shore up funding for safety-net...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — More Massachusetts families would become eligible for subsidized child care and “transformational” grants that kept the early education system afloat during the pandemic under a bill the Senate unanimously passed late last week.It’s the...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Aiming to have its new executive director on board by this summer, the state Cannabis Control Commission spent hours last week crafting the contours of the job and detailing what qualities a successful applicant will demonstrate.The CCC has...

By Alison Kuznitz

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey will recommend reauthorizing the state’s life sciences initiative for another decade in a sprawling economic development bill she plans to file this week, she told hundreds of business leaders Tuesday morning. The bill will...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Although they would not explicitly commit to fulfilling a funding request for Head Start, two of the most powerful players at the State House indicated Wednesday that funding the early education program is at the top of their priority list in...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Massachusetts voters may get the chance to cast ballots to legalize access to some psychedelic substances this fall. And though advocates say the Oregon psilocybin therapy program that would be used as a model for Massachusetts is beneficial...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley plans to step down on March 15 after six years leading Massachusetts’ K-12 school system, according to a letter he sent to the state’s education board on Thursday.Riley plans to...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey has signed an executive order to create a task force meant to study artificial intelligence and to advise her administration on the state’s role in implementing and encouraging private sector use of the new technology.The...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey’s proposal to give cities and towns new tax-hike authority would provide “game-changers” at the local level, especially for less-populated areas, local mayors say.A bill Healey filed last month would offer municipalities the...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Having already made mid-year budget cuts and dimmed the outlook for tax collections through June based on six consecutive months of underwhelming receipts, the state reported Monday that tax revenue came in below even downgraded expectations...

By SAM DRYSALE

BOSTON — Following a presentation on reforming education to embrace artificial intelligence, build more flexibility into the school day, and fundamentally rethink how and where students learn, the state’s K-12 education commissioner agreed that...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — The Senate on Thursday night approved a sweeping overhaul of state firearms laws, setting up talks with the House that could lead to a major new law later this spring or summer.The Senate bill seeks to rein in untraceable ghost guns, bans...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — The Healey administration’s plan to supercharge housing production with billions of dollars of investment won some degree of praise from almost every corner of the state this week, but influential voices are at odds over some of the more...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Beleaguered public transit, K-12 education, and the growing climate and clean energy technology sector would all get major boosts in state funding under Gov. Maura Healey’s vision for the year ahead.In a State of the Commonwealth speech...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Senate President Karen Spilka advises to “keep your eyes peeled” for free community college funding in the Senate’s version of the fiscal year 2025 budget.Making community college free for every Massachusetts resident could cost the state...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Utility regulators want to hear from Massachusetts residents who grapple each month to make choices between paying utility bills and covering other essential costs.The Department of Public Utilities on Thursday launched an official “inquiry”...