State marijuana regulators on Thursday eased their ban on vaping product sales, allowing certain types of products to return to store shelves one day after state public health officials backed off a ban on nicotine vape sales.
The Massachusetts Democratic Party submitted the names of 15 candidates for inclusion on the March president primary ballot, including two who call Massachusetts home.
Just a couple of weeks after Lottery officials said a lack of big jackpots was cutting into profits, the Mega Millions pot for this coming Friday's drawing has grown to be the largest so far this fiscal year.
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority picked Colliers International to represent it as it attempts to sell the Hynes Convention Center in Boston's Back Bay as part of a plan to expand the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
While the Baker administration has an expansion of a solar energy development program under review, the state's Congressional delegation is pressing policymakers to be mindful of its impact on shared community solar projects and the industry's growth generally.
![Rep. Louis Kafka of Stoughton. [Photo: Sam Doran/SHNS/2017]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2019/12-12_Kafka_FILE-2017.jpg "Rep. Louis Kafka of Stoughton. [Photo: Sam Doran/SHNS/2017]")
Rep. Louis Kafka, a Stoughton Democrat who has served in the House since 1991, announced to his constituents Thursday that he does not plan to run for re-election next year.
![Ex-Gov. Bill Weld joined his former aide Charlie Baker on the stage of the 2014 Republican state convention, after Baker was endorsed as the party's nominee for governor. [Photo: SHNS/File/2014]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2019/12-12_Weld_Baker_FILE-2014.jpg "Ex-Gov. Bill Weld joined his former aide Charlie Baker on the stage of the 2014 Republican state convention, after Baker was endorsed as the party's nominee for governor. [Photo: SHNS/File/2014]")
For almost seven years, Bill Weld carried the flag for Massachusetts Republicans in the governor's office, starting a 16-year reign of GOP chief executives on Beacon Hill that lasted until 2007.
... A retired Housing Court judge is joining the State Ethics Commission ... a former State House reporter is returning to journalism after spending time working inside government ... an Economic Mobility Pathways official has joined the Board of Early Education and Care ... MassEcon elected three new board members this week ... and Wellforce has a new CEO coming on board in January ... Please enjoy the Personnel File ...
Some health plans would be allowed to set higher deductibles for consumers and health care sharing arrangements established by religious organizations will face new reporting requirements under regulations approved by a state board on Thursday.
Attorney General Maura Healey is stepping up her advocacy for clean energy, launching a website where she hopes ratepayers will sign a petition encouraging the region's electric grid operator to set rules that support clean energy resources.
After a day of discord between his office and the House, Comptroller Andrew Maylor thanked negotiators in the Legislature for keeping him in the loop as a deal to close the books on last fiscal year emerged Wednesday.
House and Senate leaders broke a weeks-long impasse over a more than $1 billion surplus spending bill on Wednesday night, cutting a deal that dropped a controversial corporate tax change that would have financially benefited Massachusetts businesses and set aside $32 million for repairs on the MBTA, which is less than the $50 million sought by Gov. Charlie Baker.
A shorthanded Senate met past midnight and rubber-stamped a $541 million fiscal 2019 spending bill that would close the books on the fiscal year if signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker.
In an informal session that lasted more than half a day, the House was finally able to enact a budget bill to close the books on fiscal 2019.
Just before Senate suspended rules to allow a night session, Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues was asked if he had a deal with the House on the overdue fiscal 2019 supplemental budget bill. He said, "I hope. We're working it."
![With two minutes until a 3 p.m. deadline when Comptroller Andrew Maylor was going to rake the fiscal 2019 surplus into the rainy day fund, his spokesman Michael Sangalang emerged from the office suite to say the $1 billion transfer was being postponed. [Photo: Sam Doran/SHNS]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2019/12-11_Sangalang_comptroller_office.jpg "With two minutes until a 3 p.m. deadline when Comptroller Andrew Maylor was going to rake the fiscal 2019 surplus into the rainy day fund, his spokesman Michael Sangalang emerged from the office suite to say the $1 billion transfer was being postponed. [Photo: Sam Doran/SHNS]")
With the House and Senate working late into the night to try to reach a deal on a $1 billion surplus spending bill, the top lawyer for the House sent a letter to Comptroller Andrew Maylor's office challenging his legal authority to transfer the surplus to the state's "rainy day" fund if an agreement gets further delayed.
State public health officials acknowledged that they still do not know what is causing lung injuries and illnesses among some people who vape, and reiterated that the products should not be used. But the Public Health Council nonetheless rescinded a ban on sales of all vaping products and approved new regulations Wednesday that will make vaping products again available in stores.
An annual report detailing tax breaks and an online portal that sheds light on some economic development subsidies prevented Massachusetts from receiving a "D" or "F" grade in a new transparency report.
The government's inflation index rose 2.1 percent in the Boston area over the last year, a rate that matched the national increase in inflation over that period.
Rep. Kevin Honan, a Boston Democrat who co-chairs the Housing Committee, is on track to face his first primary opponent in a decade.