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By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Though Gov. Maura Healey maintains that she is not raising taxes, the budget she rolled out Wednesday could apply existing taxes to some purchases, or decrease how much residents are able to write off on their tax returns.

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON – As enrollment at community colleges booms under the state’s new free tuition program, the faculty that teach and support the burgeoning population are asking for their first wage equity adjustment in 25 years.

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON – The state’s top education official pledged Tuesday that Massachusetts schools would protect transgender students, even after a federal judge scrapped President Joe Biden’s expanded Title IX protections of LGBTQ students the previous week.

By SAM DRYSDALE

Gov. Maura Healey on Friday discussed an interest in realigning the state’s right-to-shelter law “with its original intent,” opening up a possible area of debate in talks over her shelter spending bill.

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Massachusetts has the second-highest family health insurance premiums in the country, according to the Health Policy Commission, and the state Division of Insurance is investigating medical inflation as average premium rates across the individual and small group markets increased by 7.9% over the course of 2024.

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Fueled by the highest immigration levels in decades, Massachusetts saw its largest population increase in 60 years between 2023 and 2024, and the rate of domestic outmigration has significantly slowed, according to U.S Census data released last month.

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON – Senate President Karen Spilka won another term leading the chamber with no speedbumps Wednesday and quickly set her sights on a combination of new and old priorities.During her inaugural speech, a newly reelected Spilka previewed some of her...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON – A new coalition of organizations is threatening to file a lawsuit in January to try to force the Legislature to comply with a new voter law giving the state auditor the authority to investigate the House and Senate.The Mass. Fiscal Alliance,...

By SAM DRYSDALE

Following two years of significantly increased funding for public higher education resulting in a tripling of state-offered financial aid and making community colleges free, the Board of Higher Education wants to keep its foot on the gas next year for...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON – The Governor’s Council on Wednesday certified the results of Massachusetts’s electors for the U.S. offices of president, vice president, and U.S. senator and representative.All 50 states had to certify their votes in the federal election and...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — The head of the state’s K-12 education board expects the state will be sued for failing to assure there’s adequate and equitable learning taking place in schools, after voters overwhelmingly supported a new law this November that got rid of...

By SAM DRYSDALE

The state’s emergency assistance shelter system cannot insist that families provide third-party verification of certain information – like proof of their family ties or whether at least one of them is a Massachusetts resident – before immediately...

By SAM DRYSDALE

After voters overwhelmingly cast their ballots to eliminate the requirement that high school students pass the MCAS exam in order to receive a diploma, the question of whether the state will pursue a new statewide standard in the exams’ place – and...

By SAM DRYSDALE

The state’s top elections official anticipates record voter turnout in Massachusetts this November, exceeding the almost 3.7 million voters who went to the polls in 2020.“We have 1.7 [million] almost having already been returned, we expect more votes...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — The University of Massachusetts is simplifying its message for prospective in-state students and their families: If you make under $75,000, you can come to any one of the system’s campuses for free.There’s been a surge in state funding for...

By SAM DRYSDALE

In a state where over 10% of the population lives in poverty, activists, public officials and members of the public have now pitched solutions to the problem to the lawmakers tasked with coming up with solutions.A legislative commission charged with...

By SAM DRYSDALE

As scores on statewide standardized tests rolled in Tuesday, revealing that students are still struggling from pandemic-related learning losses, education officials contemplated an overhaul of the state’s accountability system – against the backdrop...

By SAM DRYSDALE

Kids in Massachusetts, and nationwide, are behind on reading.In her State of the Commonwealth address at the beginning of this year, Gov. Maura Healey proposed a $30 million investment over five years to boost early literacy efforts.“Every child in...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — A commission tasked with considering the structure and sustainability of the state’s beleaguered emergency family shelter system is up against a quickly approaching deadline, with still broad disagreement amongst its members about what...

By SAM DRYSDALE

Six months later and $180 million lighter, lawmakers on Thursday returned to Gov. Maura Healey a spending bill that ratifies 38 collective bargaining agreements for state employees and approves millions in last-chance spending of federal pandemic...

By SAM DRYSDALE

As business leaders and Beacon Hill officials have focused more on competing with other states to keep residents in Massachusetts, a new report says that domestic outmigration may be threatening one of its key advantages.Among the state’s greatest...