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By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON — Seeking to remove more barriers to voting, the House approved legislation last week allowing employees to take paid time off on Election Day to cast their ballots in person.Without discussion, lawmakers passed the bill (H 4217) during an...

By STELLA TANNENBAUM

BOSTON — Massachusetts would become the second state in the nation to ban discrimination based on body size under a proposal aired at a recent hearing of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.During a seven-hour hearing in which over 230 people...

By BELLA LEVAVI

BOSTON — Multiple Franklin County and North Quabbin residents testified Wednesday in favor of a bill that aims to change forest management and conservation efforts in the state. H.4150, “An act relative to forest protection” filed by state Rep....

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Most lawmakers seem to agree that something needs to be done about so-called “ghost guns,” but a fierce debate continues about the extent of additional gun regulation such as restricting where legal gun owners can carry and updating the...

By LINDSAY SHACHNOW

Laura Kleiman was running a research center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute when her mother was diagnosed with cancer.In exploring potential treatment options, Kleiman said she discovered that repurposing drugs — particularly generic ones that are...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — The 23 schools in Massachusetts that use an image of an Indigenous person as their school mascot would have to start looking for new names and logos under a pair of bills that advocates hope will get passed this session.After years of...

By LIESEL NYGARD

As a way to help cities and towns retain police and firefighters longer, a local lawmaker has filed a bill that would allow them to work in public safety roles until age 72.Under state law, emergency services personnel such as police officers and...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Patients would pay no more than $25 for certain name-brand medications to treat some chronic illnesses and face no costs whatsoever for similar generic options under the latest prescription drug legislation set to emerge in the Senate.Senate...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

After weeks of maintaining distance from Gov. Maura Healey’s handling of the state’s emergency shelter capacity crisis, the House is likely to approve a legislative directive that Healey establish a shelter overflow site — and the move is revealing...

By CHRIS LISINSKI and SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Shortly before a court hearing challenging the Healey administration’s allegedly “rushed” changes to the shelter system, officials filed new emergency regulations seeking to enable a temporary hard cap on the number of families that can be...

By CHRIS LARABEE

BOSTON — Educators, town officials and students from across the Pioneer Valley appeared before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Education on Monday to share their support for bills that would codify several recommendations to ensure the stability...

By EDEN MOR

Two Pioneer Valley lawmakers are seeking a more concrete plan — including the creation of a “watchdog group” — to improve the health of public school buildings and reduce their environmental impact.Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and Rep. Mindy...

By MARY BYRNE

GREENFIELD — Members of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Higher Education, including Sen. Jo Comerford, stopped by Greenfield Community College on Friday afternoon as part of a statewide public higher education tour. “It’s an honor to have them...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Pointing to a shooting in Holyoke last week that left a pregnant mother critically injured and killed her baby, House Democrats have resurrected their campaign to overhaul the state’s firearms laws, rolling out a redrafted bill that continues...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

Weeks of research into a change they would like to see in the world prompted students at Fort River School in Amherst to champion the idea of Indigenous Peoples Day becoming a state holiday. This week, three sixth graders brought their expertise on...

By SAM DORAN and CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Representatives nearly unanimously embraced a compromise tax relief bill Wednesday, one day after the final contours of the long-awaited deal became clear.The House voted 155-1 to accept a conference committee report that would roll out a...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

With Massachusetts straining under an overburdened emergency shelter system and staring down a shortfall of workers, more than 60 lawmakers are sending a letter urging the White House and Congress to work quickly to find a bipartisan solution that can...

By BELLA LEVAVI

The Legislature’s Joint Committee on Health Care Financing will host a hearing for a bill that could vastly improve access to and increase funding for doula services.The hearing for bill H 1240/ S 782, “An act relative to Medicaid coverage for doula...

By MARY BYRNE

GREENFIELD — Housing and shelter experts from across Franklin and Hampshire counties recently joined legislative Housing Committee Chair Sen. Lydia Edwards on a tour of the region to discuss rural housing and shelter challenges and opportunities.“The...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

One of the Legislature’s point people on veterans’ affairs threw his support behind a campaign to give service members a bigger role in Massachusetts Democratic Party conventions.Sen. John Velis of Westfield, who co-chairs the Veterans and Federal...