STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE CALLING IT “ONE of the greatest health care tragedies in my memory,” the Patrick administration’s top health official told lawmakers Wednesday that she is committed to finding out how fungal meningitis tied to tainted steroids from a Framingham company killed 32 people and infected 438 more to date. “I know you […]
Michael P. Norton I State House News Service
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
No election highlights for Massachusetts GOP
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the number of House Republicans members scheduled to be sworn in on Jan. 2, 2013. The correct number is 29, down from the current 33. STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE REPUBLICANS on Tuesday relinquished some gains they made during the 2010 elections, adding to a miserable […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
State makes plans for revenue falloff
State House News Service In the face of economic risksand uncertainty three months into the fiscal year, the Patrick administration is capping full-time equivalent employees at current levels and taking other immediate steps to control spending. The hiring cap, which may be waived by the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, is intended to help […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics, State House News Service
Patrick signs sentencing reform bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE Gov. Deval Patrick on Thursday morning signed legislation eliminating parole eligibility for certain repeat violent offenders and making about 600 non-violent drug offenders immediately eligible for parole. The bill-signing was not publicized by Patrick or listed on his public schedule for the day, but one of its chief proponents, Les Gosule, […]
Posted inEconomy, Health Care, Politics, State House News Service
Senate passes food pricing bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE With just two senators present, the Senate on Monday morning approved a bill that food stores in Massachusetts have been pressing unsuccessfully for a decade. Under the bill, which has already cleared the House, grocery stores in Massachusetts would no longer be required to put price tags on each item and […]
Posted inTransportation
Hurdles face ferry transfer plan
In addition to a cool reaction from a top Patrick administration official, a key aspect of the House’s plan to rescue the MBTA from its fiscal crisis is getting a measured response from the agency directly involved: Massport. Ten days ago, House members of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee advanced a bill requiring the Massachusetts Port […]
Posted inPolitics
DeLeo benches Murphy during tense caucus
House Majority Whip Charles Murphy resigned today from his leadership post moments before he was about to be removed from that position by House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who elevated three Boston delegation representatives on his leadership team. “The speaker and others in his leadership team are not happy that I have the audacity to speak […]
Posted inPolitics
Olver alters math of redistricting
Congressman John Olver of Amherst plans to retire at the end of the current session, the 11th term Democrat announced Wednesday, altering the dynamics facing state lawmakers as they look to carve up the state’s 10 Congressional districts. Olver’s decision could change the way members of a Redistricting Committee reconfigure the boundaries of the districts […]
Posted inHealth Care
State workers embrace lower-cost health plans
Ninety-nine percent of active state employees have re-enrolled in health plans under an initiative state officials predict will save more than $20 million this year as more employees agree to enlist in plans with featuring limited networks of health care providers. According to Group Insurance Commission Executive Director Dolores Mitchell, more than 30 percent of […]