By Bob Katzen

“Massachusetts is where the American Revolution began. We’re also the birthplace of the abolition movement, a constant leader in civil rights movements and a state made stronger by our immigrant communities. As we celebrate MA250 and America250, it is a disgrace that President Trump is attempting to erase voices and perspectives from one of our nation’s most important historic sites. That’s not preserving history. That’s censoring it. President Trump doesn’t get to decide which parts of our history are worth remembering.” Continue reading THIS WEEK’S QUOTABLE QUOTES ON BEACON HILL →

By Bob Katzen

The Healey Administration announced $10.1 million in grants to Massachusetts cities and towns to help them build or complete municipal fiber networks, enabling modern, efficient technology infrastructure and stronger cybersecurity capabilities.
Continue reading $10.1 MILLION TO CITIES AND TOWNS FOR FIBER NETWORKS →

By Bob Katzen

The House referred to the Committee on Financial Services a bill that would amend and expand current law which mandates coverage for the expense of treatment of cleft palate and cleft lip for children under the age of 18. The bill would expand the law to include patients over the age of 18.
Continue reading CLEFT PALATE AND CLEFT LIP (HD 4385) →

By Bob Katzen

The Senate approved, on a voice vote without a roll call, and sent to the House legislation that would create optional state licensure for commercial interior designers, a step that supporters say would empower smaller designers to bid individually for certain projects rather than having to contract with a larger firm. Currently, smaller interior design operations have to contract with larger firms that have architectural licenses in order to bid on certain projects.
Continue reading COMMERCIAL INTERIOR DESIGNERS (S 3107) →

By Bob Katzen

The Senate approved, on a voice vote without a roll call, and sent to the House a bill that would ban the use of DEHP, a toxic chemical which is commonly added to plastic intravenous bags and tubing and linked to breast, liver, lung and testicular cancer. Many IV bags currently contain DEHP, which is added to improve the plastic’s flexibility but can pose serious health dangers to patients.
Continue reading BAN CANCER-LINKED CHEMICAL FROM IV BAGS (S 3106) →

By Bob Katzen

Senate 39-0, approved legislation that would allow longtime public school teachers the opportunity, until mid-2027, to join “Retirement Plus” and buy into an enhanced savings program if they missed out when the program was first established in 2001.
Continue reading TEACHERS’ RETIREMENT BENEFITS (S 3109) →

By Bob Katzen

House 146-0, approved a proposal that would guard personal privacy and provide data protection for Massachusetts residents.

The Senate has already approved a different version of the measure and the House version now goes to the Senate for consideration.
Continue reading DATA PRIVACY (H 5479) →

House 150-0, approved and sent to the Senate legislation that would enable Massachusetts bars to push their “last call” to as late as 3 a.m., this summer, from June 8 to July 31, if they get local approval from their city or town. The measure would also allow municipalities to establish designated public consumption districts for expanded alcohol purchase and consumption.
Continue reading MOVE “LAST CALL” FOR ALCOHOL TO 3 A.M. (H 5478) →

By Bob Katzen

House 150-0, approved, Senate approved on a voice vote without a roll call, and sent to Gov. Healey legislation that would modernize and remove archaic language in state laws to reflect the evolution of terminology relating to persons with disabilities.
Continue reading CHANGE ARCHAIC LANGUAGE REFERRING TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES (H 5474) →

By Bob Katzen

House 125-28, approved and sent to the Senate a bill that would narrow the scope of a voter-approved legislative audit and create a formal process to govern public access to legislative records. Democratic leaders argued the bill preserves the constitutional separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches, where the auditor’s office is positioned. Democratic State Auditor Diana DiZoglio and the Republicans disagreed and argued the bill goes against the will of the voters who, in the November 2024 election, approved Ballot Question 1 asking them if they favor allowing the state auditor to audit the Legislature. The question passed overwhelmingly by 72% of the vote. It has now been 19 months since the voters approved the audit but an audit has yet to take place.
Continue reading AUDIT THE LEGISLATURE AND MORE (H 5469) →

By Bob Katzen

House 152-0, Senate 39-0, approved and sent to Gov. Healey a measure that authorizes $4.58 billion in bonding for various local, regional and state transportation programs. The package includes $300 million for cities and towns for local road and bridges — $200 million which will be distributed to all municipalities based on the standard Chapter 90 Program distribution formula and another $100 million which will be distributed to all municipalities based solely on road mileage.
Continue reading $4.58 BILLION FOR TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS INCLUDING $300 MILLION FOR LOCAL ROADS AND BRIDGES (H 5375) →

By Bob Katzen

House 153-0, Senate 37-3, approved and sent to Gov. Maura Healey a $1.35 billion fiscal 2026 supplemental budget that includes $558 million for education and $794 million for transportation.
Continue reading $1.35 BILLION SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET (H 5470) →