Government & Politics

The legislation (H 4172), which Healey dubbed the HERO Act, calls for 17 different spending and policy changes with a combined goal of expanding benefits, modernizing services, and ensuring that veterans of all backgrounds are included and represented.

Sen. Cindy Friedman, Senate co-chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, acknowledged that lawmakers always need to pick their battles when asked about the Legislature's ability to tackle health care disparities alongside other crises, including financial challenges at Steward Health Care that could lead to more facility closures across Massachusetts.

The first-term executive team described alcohol licensing reform as one of several key features in a wide-ranging "Municipal Empowerment Act" they rolled out Friday, pitching it as a way to remove the existing hurdle of securing state approval.

Cannabis Control Commission Chair Shannon O'Brien's challenge of her suspension is now headed to the Appeals Court.

Residents of Great Brook Valley in Worcester are now eligible to receive technical assistance and training to become business owners and employees in the legal cannabis industry.

The funding jolt from subsidies and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, which saw a $20 million increase in the tax package Gov. Maura Healey signed in October, will benefit more than 1,900 housing units.

The most significant burden on the single-family market, not just in Central Massachusetts but around the country, is interest rates.

“Hopefully this is a cautionary tale for those municipalities that are still resistant to refunding unsubstantiated community impact fees,” Thomas MacMillian, the legal representative for Caroline’s, told WBJ in an email.

Hundreds of people crowded into the State House's largest hearing room to offer feedback on the five-year, $4.1 billion housing bond bill, representing a cross-section of affordable and public housing activists, real estate developers, and residents who themselves continue to withstand the crushing pressure of high costs and low supply.

With concerns over a lack of affordable housing dominating headlines, communities across the country are starting to reconsider the issue of mandatory parking minimums.