Government & Politics

Supporters of a minimum wage increase have opted not to pursue a ballot question in 2024.

A pandemic-era program that paused roughly 10,000 eviction cases while tenants sought financial aid could return as a permanent tool if Gov. Maura Healey joins lawmakers in support.

While the bills were intertwined, a breakthrough on an overdue annual state budget on Sunday did not coincide with a pact on a tax relief bill, whose contents have now been debated across parts of three fiscal years and two governors.

Legislative negotiators filed a compromise $56.2 billion annual state budget Sunday night, packing major education, transportation and health care policy measures and spending into an overdue fiscal 2024 accord that is expected to win House and Senate approval on Monday.

The executive director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, Shawn Collins, will vacate his role by the end of the year, exacerbating problems at the already under-fire state agency based in Worcester.

Gov. Maura Healey bought top legislative Democrats up to another month to reach a long-overdue budget deal Thursday when she handed them a get-out-of-missed-deadline-free card, but it's not clear if they will actually take full advantage of it.

Facing a long list of needed safety, service and reliability improvements, the MBTA mined additional leadership from the same place it found its current top official: New York.

People who are in favor of rent control would waver in their support of the policy shift depending on how different phrases appear in a potential ballot question, according to a poll released Thursday that focused on a range of issues confronting Beacon Hill lawmakers, including gun reform, standardizing testing and raising the minimum wage.

International tourists to Massachusetts spent only about half as much money here in 2022 than they did before the pandemic, but a boost in spending among visitors from other parts of this country helped push the economic impact of the state's travel and tourism industry to $24.2 billion in direct spending last year.

Hairdressers and other personal care workers would be required to attend one hour of standardized domestic violence and sexual assault awareness training as they seek to obtain or renew their license, under pending legislation.