Ways & Means Committee budget falls short of many of Gov. Deval Patrick's proposals.
The Massachusetts State Senate Ways & Means Committee released a budget proposal Wednesday just shy of $34 billion for fiscal year 2014 that falls short of several of Gov. Deval Patrick's budget recommendations. According to the Boston Globe, the Senate $33.92 billion budget would increase spending by 4.4 percent as opposed to Patrick's budget that hikes spending by 6.9 percent. The Senate budget is roughly in line in terms of spending with the proposed $33.8 billion House budget last month. The Globe reported that the Senate budget increases spending for elderly services and special education but does not reach Patrick's recommendations for expanding transportation and providing universal childcare access. Committee Chairman Sen. Stephen …
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The new plan would create $500 million in new revenue over the next five years.
State House and Senate lawmakers have announced a joint transportation plan which would close an estimated five-year $2.3 billion transportation budget gap through tax increases to cigarettes, gas and new taxes on business technologies. The plan, which would create $500 million in new revenue, focuses on long-term financing for the state’s regional transit authorities and the state department of transportation, it asks the MBTA and MassDOT to continue to hit revenue and savings targets, it moves employees off of the capital budget for three years and it fully funds the state ice and snow budget. The plan was unveiled at a State House news conference Tuesday led by Massachusetts Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo and Senate President …
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Three bills seeks now in the Joint Committee on the Judiciary would make public the names of lower-level sex offenders.
The recent state auditor report revealing that a large number of sex offenders live at addresses registered as childcare facilities has added fuel to the effort on Beacon Hill to publicize the names of all those who've committed sex crimes. "The auditor's recent findings should serve as a catalyst to pass targeted legislation which protects the Commonwealth's citizens from dangerous sex offenders," House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. (R-North Reading) said in a statement Wednesday. "The report published today is an unfortunate example of why comprehensive sex offender legislation I filed will, in part, open the lines of communication between the Department of Early Education and Care and the Sex Offender Registry Board." Jones' …
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Advocates come together to let legislators know the water system needs funding to stay sustainable.
Pop quiz: If people in the greater Boston area consumed 340 million gallons of water per day in the 1980s, how much do you think they consume today? 400 million? 500? More? Less? The answer, thanks to sustained but largely behind-the-scenes efforts of conservationists, is that we consume dramatically less water today than in the 1980s. Last year, greater Boston consumed 200 million gallons. "The great result is we've saved a whole bunch of precious drinking water, which is important to our residents and to the state that that conservation effort has been successful," Fred Laskey, executive director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. Laskey was one of many conservationists at the State House Friday as part of the Massachusetts…
The former Patriots quarterback was back in town today, not to reminisce about his days playing ball, but to change the way Massachusetts handles shipping wine.
Massachusetts is one of 11 states that doesn't allow out-of-state vineyards to directly ship wine to their customers, and former New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe is urging Beacon Hill legislators to pass a bill that would change that law. "Very simply put, this bill is fair, and it's right. It's fair to the consumers to be able to purchase wine directly from the wineries, it's fair to the small businesses like ours who want to sell directly to the customers, it's right for the state – it actually increases revenue to the state – and in the states that this has happened, it's also benefitted the package stores and the distributors," Bledsoe said during a press conference on the State House steps Thursday afternoon. The bill, …
The Patrick administration announced this week that 31 state boards have adopted new procedures to enable military members to transfer their skills to the civilian world.
As a follow-up to the act passed last year calling for state agencies that oversee professional licensing to establish guidelines to assist members of the armed forces, veterans and their spouses find jobs in Massachusetts, the Patrick administration announced this week that such guidelines are in now place. "This component of the (Veterans' Access, Livelihood, Opportunity and Resources) Act was inspired by a request from First Lady Michelle Obama and the Joining Forces Initiative to ensure that those who have served in the military have a streamlined and efficient process through which to obtain appropriate licensure for jobs when they are home," the administration said in a press release. Each of the state's 31 boards that oversee …
The grounds were closed after Sept. 11, 2001, but Patrick has said he wants to make the State House's iconic statue of JFK available once more.
More than three years after Gov. Deval Patrick said he'd make the State House grounds open to the public, the gates remain shut. The grounds were closed after Sept. 11, 2001, and Patrick has said he wants to make the State House's iconic statue of JFK, in particular, available once more. However, Boston Herald reporters were recently turned away from the plaza and told that it is open during the summer during official tours of the State House, the Herald reported. The governor seemed unaware that the grounds were never reopened. “Well, the JFK statue is accessible now, which is great,” he told Herald reporters Friday. “The rangers can take you out. You just have to ask them. It doesn’t have to be a tour, and that’s a great thing.” …
Or do you have something else in mind?
A little more than a week after a bill was filed to make "Roadrunner" by The Modern Lovers the state's official rock song, two legislators responded by filing their own bill to make Aerosmith's "Dream On" the anthem. "("Dream On" is a) classic ballad that's all about holding on to your dreams and seizing opportunity," Rep. Josh Cutler (D-Duxbury) said. Cutler is co-sponsoring the bill with Rep. James Cantwell (D-Marshfield). The two songs represent very different stories, both about rock and roll, and about Massachusetts. One is a buoyant tribute to the thrill of being young in Massachusetts, speeding down Route 128. The other is a wistful look back by a Boston band that was just at its beginnings as one of the most famous in rock …
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The program also allows users to develop their own plan and see its effects on their tax bill.
In an effort to further promote his proposed $34.8 billlion budget, Gov. Deval Patrick this week rolled out an online tool that would help families see the effect his plan would have on their bottom line. The tool was released less than a week after Patrick unveiled 400 online maps showing what each district would receive in transportation and education benefits under his tax plan. "We are proposing meaningful investments in education and transportation, and people want to know what that means for them," Patrick said. "Last week, with the maps, we showed what long-postponed projects would get done in each community. Now, with this tool, we show just what the costs or savings will be for individual households." The program not only lets …
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Gov. Deval Patrick told the crowd that his proposed budget will make college more affordable and accessible.
Hundreds of college students rallied at the State House Tuesday to urge legislators to increase funding for financial aid programs. Telling lawmakers that college has become increasingly unaffordable without government help, the students advocated for greater state support. Gov. Deval Patrick, who addressed the crowd, said his proposed budget does exactly that. "We have made great strides in higher education, but there is more to do to make sure everyone can get to college, no matter their income," Patrick said. The administration's proposed 2014 budget invests $6.79 billion in education – $152 million of that directed at making college more affordable and accessible, according to an administration press release. This money would be used …
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Plenty O'Toole
7:02 am on Friday, March 8, 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_BoAXopS54 We're setting sail to a place on the map From which no-one has ever returned Drawn by the promise of the joker and the fool By the light of the crosses that burned Drawn by the promise of the wormen and lace And the gold and the cotton and pearls It's the place where they keep all the darkness you need You sail away from the light of the world on this … more ›