Government & Politics

The Department of Revenue reported last month that the state had collected just less than $2.6 billion from the 4% surtax between July 1, 2024 and April 30, 2025, surpassing the $2.46 billion that the surtax generated in fiscal 2024 in just 10 months of fiscal 2025. 

Within six months of its passage, 5% of all hours building public construction projects will have to be done by apprentices. After one year, 10%, and after two years, 15%. 

The Division of Insurance in the coming weeks will review 2026 merged market rates submitted by carriers, which average out to a 13.4% hike that's more than twice as large as the 4.8% growth regulators approved two years ago.

Warning that a "silver tsunami" of Baby Boomer businessowners looking to sell in the next 15 to 20 years could lead to vanishing local small businesses, advocates asked lawmakers Thursday to provide incentives for employee ownership structures.

A federal judge had ordered the Trump Administration to stop its attempts to shutter Job Corps centers across the country, including in Grafton and Devens. 

Asked what makes the CCC's existing model unworkable, Mariano said it was a structural problem but gave a conflicted explanation.

Former Sen. Dean Tran of Fitchburg pleaded guilty to three state charges Monday in connection with stealing a firearm from an elderly constituent and misleading investigators about it, according to the attorney general's office.

Rep. Marcus Vaughn of Wrentham proposed an amendment (#6) to put limits on the potency of legal marijuana products.

The governor's pitch to leverage the new income surtax to invest $2.5 billion into replacing and repairing buildings on the state's 29 public colleges and universities was met with enthusiasm on Tuesday from the committee in whose hands the proposal now rests.

In response to financial challenges and a dramatically reduced incoming freshman class, Clark University in Worcester will restructure its degree tracks and layoff up to 30% of its faculty.