STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SAYING IT WANTED to alert the public, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles late Monday announced that the US Department of Homeland Security has extended the REAL ID enforcement date from May 3, 2023 to May 7, 2025. The extension means that beginning on May 7, 2025, air travelers 18 years […]
Michael P. Norton I State House News Service
Posted inTransportation
New airport terminal coming in New Bedford
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SOUTH COAST leaders say state transportation officials have made a “commitment” for design and project funding for a new airport terminal and control tower at New Bedford Regional Airport. Mayor Jon Mitchell and Rep. William Straus, co-chair of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, hosted a visit to the airport in June with […]
Posted inPolitics
Healey: Millionaire tax money would go to transportation, education
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR Maura Healey on Sunday denied she’s abandoning some of her boldness to avoid making a campaign misstep and promised to help create a “whole climate corridor” in Massachusetts to help the world move away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. During an interview on WCVB’s On The […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Dems feel Baker knew of looming tax-break blockbuster
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AS THEIR CAREFULLY crafted plans for tax relief and massive spending outlays began to slip away with last Thursday’s stunning news about a 1986 tax law, frustrated Democrats on Beacon Hill went into spin mode. First, late Friday afternoon, Rep. Christine Barber of Somerville took to the House floor to suggest […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
House approves veterans bill, pandemic policy extensions
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH JUST 24 days left to pass significant legislation until the House and Senate hibernate until early 2023, more is being added to the Legislature’s joint to-do list than is being crossed off of it. The House on Thursday added two issues to the pile of matters that lawmakers will try […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Baker tax relief bill clears committee mostly intact
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE LEGISLATURE’S Revenue Committee advanced a $600 million tax relief package on Friday, but the panel’s House chairman said the measure remains a work in progress. The committee voted 17-0, according to House chairman Rep. Mark Cusack, to advance a redraft of Gov. Charlie Baker’s tax relief plan that does not […]
Posted inGuns
Mass. concealed-carry law threatened by Supreme Ct. decision
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN A RULING praised by gun rights advocates, the US Supreme Court on Thursday struck down New York’s concealed-carry gun licensing law with a decision that Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey said flouts hundreds of years of state-level gun regulation and “poses a grave danger” to people traveling in public spaces. […]
Posted inEconomy
Raytheon moving headquarters to Virginia
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE IN A BLOW to Massachusetts, Waltham-based Raytheon Technologies is moving its global headquarters to Arlington, Virginia. Raytheon announced its plans Tuesday, saying a headquarters in Virginia “increases agility in supporting US government and commercial aerospace customers and serves to reinforce partnerships that will progress innovative technologies to advance the industry.” The […]
Posted inTransportation
Neal, Baker strike deal on East-West rail
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FEDERAL AND STATE officials on Tuesday agreed on a path forward to extend passenger rail service west of Worcester to the cities of Springfield and Pittsfield, an effort designed to finally connect the eastern and western parts of the state by rail. Speaking with reporters after a meeting at Springfield’s Union […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
State preparing to close down Walpole prison
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE OFFICIALS plan to wind down operations at MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole, one of the state’s oldest correctional facilities. The Department of Correction on Thursday announced a two-year, phased plan to “suspend housing operations” at the maximum-security prison, which is currently operating at 68 percent capacity with about 525 inmates. The […]