On May 16, 2017, the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee proposed a $40.791 billion FY2018 budget. The budget, which increases spending by 3.3% over FY2017 levels, spends $280 million more than Governor Charlie...more
On April 25, 2017, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a $40.829 billion FY2018 budget by vote of 159-1. Over two days of debate, the House considered 1,210 amendments to pass a final budget that spends...more
On Monday, April 10th, the House Ways and Means Committee proposed a $40.3 billion budget for FY2018 that calls for increasing spending by 3.8 percent, or about $1.47 billion, above FY2017 levels. The spending increase is...more
On Monday, April 10th, the House Ways and Means Committee proposed a $40.3 billion budget for FY2018 that calls for increasing spending by 3.8 percent, or about $1.47 billion, above FY2017 levels. The spending increase is...more
4/20/2017
/ Economic Development ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Benefits ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Health Insurance ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Homeless Issues ,
Inpatient Rehab Facilities ,
Medicaid ,
State Budgets ,
Surface Transportation ,
Tax Rates
Senate President Stan Rosenberg and House Speaker Robert DeLeo announced this week their leadership teams and committee appointments for the 2017-2018 legislative session.
Retaining the core of his leadership team for...more
With the unveiling of Governor Charlie Baker’s FY2018 budget, the commencement of the 2017-2018 legislative session on Beacon Hill, and a new presidential administration underway in Washington D.C., the Massachusetts health...more
On Wednesday, January 25th, Governor Charlie Baker announced a $40.508 billion budget for FY2018 that increases state spending by a projected $1.65 billion, or 4.3 percent, over FY2017 levels. The budget proposal, Baker’s...more
On Tuesday, December 6, Governor Charlie Baker, under his Section 9C authority, ordered $98 million in mid-year cuts from the $39.25 billion FY17 state budget. The administration has warned of budget imbalances for months and...more
Massachusetts policy makers are increasing their focus on behavioral health treatment and how this relates to overall state health care spending. This issue was heavily discussed at the Health Policy Commission’s (HPC) annual...more
Throughout the fall, policy makers in Massachusetts have sharpened their focus on the rise of pharmaceutical drug prices and their role in the growth of overall health care spending in the Commonwealth. Both the Center for...more
The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission conducted its fourth annual Cost Trends Hearing on October 17 and 18, 2016, under the requirements of Massachusetts’s 2012 health care reform legislation (“Chapter 224”). The hearing...more
After closing the book on the formal sessions in July, Massachusetts lawmakers have turned their attention to the November election. The Senate and House of Representatives convene in informal sessions for the remainder of...more
10/4/2016
/ Clean Energy ,
Energy Sector ,
Gaming ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
PACE ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Presidential Elections ,
Solar Energy ,
State Budgets ,
Tax Exemptions
In the final weeks before the end of the legislative session, the Massachusetts House and State both addressed major pieces of labor and employment legislation. However, although the legislature passed S.2119, an Act to...more
8/11/2016
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Credit Checks ,
Equal Pay ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Governor Baker ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Pay Equity Act (PEA) ,
State and Local Government ,
Transgender ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
After a mad scramble to take action before their midnight deadline, Massachusetts lawmakers closed the 20152016 legislative session by passing five of the “Big Six” bills on their agenda. Beacon Hill saw a flurry of activity...more
8/9/2016
/ Background Checks ,
Economic Development ,
EHealth ,
Equal Pay ,
Fantasy Sports ,
Garden Leave ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Governor Baker ,
Infrastructure ,
Innovation ,
Job Creation ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Manufacturing Hubs ,
Municipalities ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Offshore Wind ,
Renewable Energy ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wind Power
Governor Charlie Baker signed a budget for FY17 on Friday, July 8, after vetoing $256 million in spending included in the plan approved by the legislature. The budget, which represents the second annual spending plan signed...more
Just before the close of the fiscal year, the House and Senate reached an agreement on a $39.146 billion state budget for FY17. Due to a recently identified $750 million drop in projected state revenue, the budget, which was...more
7/7/2016
/ Fantasy Sports ,
Health and Safety ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Online Gaming ,
Opioid ,
Public Schools ,
Public Transportation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
State Health Plans ,
Substance Abuse
Reform Overview -
On Wednesday, June 29th, the House passed H. 4434: An Act relative to the judicial enforcement of noncompetition agreements, which includes a number of provisions that have long been discussed as the...more
The Massachusetts Senate voted unanimously to pass its FY2017 state budget just before midnight on Thursday, May 26. The spending plan, which totals $39.558 billion, spends $60 million more than Governor Baker’s proposal and...more
Legislation limiting employee non-compete agreements in Massachusetts advanced on Monday in the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development. Co-chaired by Rep. John Scibak and Sen. Dan Wolf, the Committee approved a...more
In a unanimous vote of 156-0, the Massachusetts House of Representatives approved a $39.56 billion spending plan for FY2017 on April 27. Over three days, the House considered more than 1,300 amendments to pass a final budget...more
On March 14, 2016, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed a bill that offers long-awaited measures aimed at tackling the state’s growing opioid abuse crisis. After receiving House and Senate approval last week and...more
With Beacon Hill off and running in the new year, Governor Charlie Baker and House Speaker Robert DeLeo this week unveiled key parts of their policy agendas for 2016. As part of his second budget proposal since assuming...more