Government & Politics

Elected officials and advocates cheered the state's paid family and medical leave program Tuesday, while rising application numbers are set to play into a 39 percent hike in the program's employer contribution rate in 2024, as PFML enters its third year in existence.

A report conducted by cannabis industry trade publication Marijuana Business Daily has shown that Massachusetts marijuana business ownership has less racial and gender diversity than the national industry average.

The unemployment rate across Central Massachusetts remained low through September, continuing a downward trend carried over from the summer months.

Two of the state's top elected officials are encouraging colleges and universities in Massachusetts to find new approaches to advance diversity, break down barriers, and increase access for historically underrepresented groups in light of the Supreme Court's June ruling that restricted the use of race by college administrators in admissions decisions.

About 76,000 people have been removed from the MassHealth rolls since March, and officials continue to forecast the biggest impacts are around the corner as a massive reevaluation of eligibility ramps up this fall.

Abby’s House, a Worcester nonprofit that provides shelter, housing, and advocacy for women with and without children, received funding from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and the City of Worcester to renovate its existing shelter on Crown Street.

The Senate on Thursday passed a bill aimed at closing gender and demographic wage gaps, which would require employers with 25 or more employees to disclose pay ranges when posting a job opening or offering certain promotions or transfers.

Gov. Maura Healey on Thursday outlined a novel approach to competing for federal aid, proposing legislation that would use $750 million in interest earned on the state's bulging rainy day fund to help attract billions of federal dollars up for grabs in a competition among states.

Unplanned hospital readmissions are viewed by health care analysts as an measure of system performance and quality, and new state data marks the inaugural look at readmission rates among people 18 or younger in Massachusetts.

Framing her new legislation as "historic" and "urgent," Gov. Maura Healey detailed her wide-ranging housing bill on Wednesday morning and speculated that its passage could provide a jolt for the 2024 construction season.