Search Results

Keyword search: Legislature

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — A pair of western Massachusetts lawmakers made an urgent plea to their colleagues last week to allow smaller farms to access property tax benefits currently available only to their larger peers.

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL — Residents voiced concerns about recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement apprehensions and deportations, and support for a Medicare-for-All system and land conservation, during a town hall-style meeting with the Democrat representing the 7th Hampden District on Monday afternoon.

By ALEXA LEWIS

Western Massachusetts stands to “greatly benefit” from a $1.33 billion spending plan for education and transportation that was adopted by the state Senate last week, thanks in part to a lengthy debate leading up to the vote that sought to reverse an initial proposal that Sen. Jo Comerford called “skewed” and “wildly unfair” to this region.

By SAMUEL GELINAS

BOSTON — Eight months after she started working in a Holyoke marijuana cultivation facility in 2021, 27-year-old Lorna McMurrey died from an asthma attack after inhaling ground cannabis dust — a death that drew national attention as it was the first to be traced to dust and mold deposits found within marijuana workspaces.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

A recommendation from a task force the Legislature created a decade ago resurfaced last week before the Revenue Committee, which took testimony related to the machinations involved when a farm wants to use a portion of its land to generate both renewable electricity and supplemental income.

By ALEXA LEWIS

A bill allowing for medical aid in dying once again made it to a hearing before the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Health on Wednesday morning. While versions of this bill have reached this stage before, local proponents are feeling hopeful as this is the earliest in a legislative session it has been brought to this committee’s hearing.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Most legislative committees are still getting organized and have not yet held their first hearing of the new two-year session. But for House members of the Committee on Public Health, the clock is already ticking on one of the most controversial matters that perennially comes before them.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Two weeks before the policies are set to expire, the House and Senate took the first steps Monday to once again temporarily extend pandemic-era laws allowing remote access for public meetings in Massachusetts.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

MONTAGUE — State Sen. Jo Comerford and state Rep. Natalie Blais met with the Selectboard on Monday to discuss a range of legislative priorities and concerns, such as regionalization of services, rural school challenges and economic development projects that would benefit Montague.

By BOB KATZEN

By SCOTT MERZBACH

NORTHAMPTON — Over the course of two hours Monday, legislators sitting on the Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism presented numerous pro-Palestinian exhibits — resources that educators might use in their classroom — drawn from a members-only section of the Massachusetts Teachers Association website.

By ALEXA LEWIS

During the last election cycle, voters in nearly a dozen legislative districts voted in favor of a nonbinding ballot question instructing their state representative to support a single-payer health care system in the state.

By EMILEE KLEIN, ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL and DOMENIC POLI

Supporting K-12 public education, confronting climate change, and protecting health care and reproductive care are among the priorities this year for the legislative delegation representing Franklin County.

By EMILEE KLEIN

In a “People’s Town Hall” that attracted more than 300 attendees from 25 cities and towns across the region, state Sen. Jo Comerford reminded her “bosses” — the people — that they are the force behind democracy and to make their voices heard as the...

By CHRIS LARABEE

GREENFIELD — With the continued success of the first accredited family medicine training program in western Massachusetts, state legislators joined Baystate Franklin Medical Center’s Department of Family Medicine Friday morning for a roundtable...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

A longtime pledge by State Auditor Diana DiZoglio to audit the state Legislature, contending this will provide more transparency and accountability to legislative proceedings, is coming before voters at the November election, after she was unable to...

By BOB KATZEN

Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives’ votes on roll calls from recent sessions.$650,000 for microloans to businesses (H 4800)House 155-2, overrode Gov. Healey’s veto of $650,000 (reducing funding from $1.5 million to $850,000) for loans...

By ALISON KUZNITZ

BOSTON — Maternal health legislation is heading to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk.The conference committee report (H 4999), which emerged from negotiations Wednesday, won House and Senate approval during sparsely attended informal sessions Thursday.“It’s...

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 EMILEE KLEIN

On Nov. 15, 2022, thousands of Taylor Swift fans glued one eye to the clock and the other eye to their computer screen, counting the seconds until their one-in-a-lifetime chance to see the artist’s cumulative career on stage in the United States’ leg...

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

Towns across Franklin County have signed letters in support of a paint recycling bill that advocates say could save municipalities money and help protect the environment.Bernardston, Northfield, Montague, Deerfield, Sunderland and Hawley have signed...