Little feet and little hands tried their hardest to stay still as state senators read to children in Head Start classrooms in Malden on Thursday. They were there to introduce a bill they said would make child care programs like this largely more accessible for families, realistic for providers and sustainable for teachers.
Read More“Today, I could not be more excited to have Abigail join our space here in the Senate and I look forward to knowing that thousands of women are going to walk down the hall full of men, walk into our lobby, and be greeted by a woman– Abigail Adams,” Spilka said.
Read MoreHonoring Frederick Douglass, the bust was unveiled in the recently renovated Senate chamber in a well-attended ceremony held on the abolitionist, orator and newspaper owner's birthday nearly 130 years after he addressed state lawmakers himself.
Read MoreThe SAFER Act would crack down on privately assembled and untraceable "ghost guns," prohibit guns from being carried in certain government buildings, and ban devices like Glock switches that allow semiautomatic weapons to fire more quickly.
Read MoreThe effort to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 20 in Massachusetts got a big boost Wednesday from a star of the Boston Celtics… "Society continues to evolve. I think the system that serves it should evolve as well," he said. Brown joined lawmakers making the push to keep young people ages 18 to 20 in the juvenile system. "It makes all the sense in the world. I think all of us in this room, including myself, were one decision away from, you know, being in a different situation," Brown said.
Read MoreThe Massachusetts Senate last week unanimously passed the bill, which would remove outdated laws against "sodomy," "night walking" and "unnatural acts." … "We need to take off the books archaic laws that, in theory, could become enforceable if the Supreme Court moves further right," says Sen. William Brownsberger, who sponsored this bill with Sen. Julian Cyr.
Read MoreSenators moved as a unit on Thursday, unanimously passing a trio of bills early in the busy seven-month stretch at the end of the legislative session. The Senate unanimously approved bills to prohibit inhumane cat declawing (S 2552), require real estate appraisers licensed (S 2550), and remove so-called “archaic laws” from state statute (S 2551).
Read MoreMassachusetts senators unanimously passed a bill (S 2552) Thursday that would make the state the third in the country to outlaw surgeries that declaw cats. … "Declawing is an abhorrent practice that most veterinarians view as inhumane," Sen. Mark Montigny, the lead sponsor of the bill, said.
Read MoreSenate lawmakers were in the process of advancing three bills Friday, teeing up likely votes next week on legislation addressing feline declawing, consumer protections in real estate appraisals, and archaic laws dealing with privacy around sexual activity.
Read MoreSpilka, joined by the Senate’s top budget writer, the Senate chair of the Legislature’s higher education committee, and several community college presidents, said the report, which pegs the annual cost of such an effort at $170 million, moves the state “one step closer to that vision of free community college for all.”
Read MoreAs the state pursues federal funds, the legislation could make $750 million in state funding available over the next three years, as well as $50 million in matching funds for local and regional government-led projects seeking federal funding.
Read MoreThe Massachusetts Senate has unanimously passed a bill that will provide protections for drivers with autism when dealing with law enforcement.
Read MoreMassachusetts could soon become the latest state to legalize small strips of paper for detecting whether street drugs contain fentanyl, the fast-acting and highly potent synthetic opioid driving the overdose crisis.
Read MoreWheelchair users took a victory lap at the State House on Thursday after the state Senate passed legislation to address a national crisis, chronic delays of months or longer for even the most basic repairs to chairs.
“We’ve been fighting so hard just to get here,” said Pamela Daly, of Charlestown, after the Senate vote. “They’re simple mechanical problems or they’re simple parts that need to be ordered. This is not rocket science.”
Read MoreSenators on Tuesday teed up the three bills to debate at their Thursday session: to protect people who administer or use fentanyl test strips from criminal liability (S 2458), expand wheelchair warranty protections for people with disabilities (S 152), and require new guidance on how police officers should interact with people with autism (S 2204).
Read MoreSenate President Karen Spilka says she wants to “hit the ground running in 2024,” with a focus on bills that will make the state a more affordable place to live, work and raise a family. Here’s a look at some of the top items on her agenda.
Read MoreIn the Senate, the optics were very different, illustrated by the joint press conference after the final vote held by Senate President Karen Spilka, the chamber’s top Democrat, and Sen. Bruce Tarr of Gloucester, the chamber’s top Republican…
…Spilka made clear that she didn’t agree with Republicans who wanted the spending bill debated in a formal session. Indeed, she said the bill was already debated in formal sessions and everyone knew what was in it.
But Spilka was happy to give Tarr the symbolic motion he wanted because her goal with the spending bill was more concrete. “We got it done,” she said.
Read More“This bill will ensure that when folks go to the pharmacy counter, they are going to pay less for their medications that they need to maintain their quality of life,” said Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland. “It is a lifesaving bill.”
Read MoreThe measure, dubbed the PACT Act 3.0, targets drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers. They have been the subject of intense debates in statehouses and Congress, as lawmakers’ attempts to make life-saving drugs more accessible and affordable collided with the interests of some of the most deep-pocketed and influential industries in the country.
Read MoreThis time around, the legislation will feature new language aimed at reducing or eliminating cost burdens for Bay Staters with conditions like heart disease, asthma and diabetes, a push Senate President Karen Spilka forecast when she signaled plans to bring the bill to the floor before Thanksgiving.
Read More