Friday, March 22, 2013
The Patrick administration announced this week that 31 state boards have adopted new procedures to enable military members to transfer their skills to the civilian world.
As a follow-up to the act passed last year calling for state agencies that oversee professional licensing to establish guidelines to assist members of the armed forces, veterans and their spouses find jobs in Massachusetts, the Patrick administration announced this week that such guidelines are in now place. "This component of the (Veterans' Access, Livelihood, Opportunity and Resources) Act was inspired by a request from First Lady Michelle Obama and the Joining Forces Initiative to ensure that those who have served in the military have a streamlined and efficient process through which to obtain appropriate licensure for jobs when they are home," administration officials said in a press release. Each of the state's 31 boards that …
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Drew Bledsoe and other out-of-state winemakers are prohibited from shipping directly to their customers if they have a distributor.
Massachusetts is one of 11 states that doesn't allow out-of-state vineyards to directly ship wine to their customers, and former New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe is urging Beacon Hill legislators to pass a bill that would change that law. "Very simply put, this bill is fair, and it's right. It's fair to the consumers to be able to purchase wine directly from the wineries, it's fair to the small businesses like ours who want to sell directly to the customers, it's right for the state—it actually increases revenue to the state—and in the states that this has happened, it's also benefited the package stores and the distributors," Bledsoe said during a press conference on the State House steps Thursday afternoon. The bill, an Act…
Friday, January 18, 2013
As of Tuesday, 1,221 seniors remained on waiting lists for home care.
Dozens of senior citizens stood outside Gov. Deval Patrick's office in the State House on Thursday demanding that their concerns about cuts in home care spending be heard. Chanting "Can you hear us now, governor?" the seniors wanted Patrick to respond to a letter several senior advocacy groups sent him in September detailing what they say has been a $15 million cut since 2009 in home care services and asking for such funding to be restored. Although Patrick didn't meet with the seniors, Ann Hartstein, his secretary of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, took their questions and comments in a downstairs press room. "The governor is totally communted to community-first," Hartstein said of the policy that promotes home care over nursing-…
Monday, January 14, 2013
Women's health activists met with their representatives and senators in a total of 46 meetings.
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Monday, January 14
Below is an edited press release from Planned Parenthood: More than 220 women’s health advocates from across the state gathered at the State House on Monday, Jan. 14, one week before the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v Wade that made abortion legal in the United States. Advocates from across the state met with their legislators to lobby for pro-women’s health bills filed last week. Regarded as a celebration and kick-off to the new legislative session, the event began with a legislative breakfast and program featuring keynote speaker Dr. Paula Johnson. “The 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade is a time to celebrate and to renew our commitment to women’s health and reproductive choice,” said Johnson. “In the years since …
Thursday, January 3, 2013
A drop in the state's median household income led to the salary reduction.
Massachusetts lawmakers will get a pay cut this year, in accordance with a state law that links legislators’ salaries to the state’s median household income. Governor Deval Patrick’s office announced the drop in wages this week. “As required by Article CXVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution, for the purpose of adjusting the base compensation of members of the General Court, we have ascertained, from the federal census American Community Survey and reports of average weekly wages, that the median household income for the Commonwealth for the preceding two-year period decreased by 1.8 percent,” Patrick said in a Jan. 2 letter to State Treasurer Steven Grossman. The pay cut amounts to about $1,000 annually from legislators’ current base…
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Instead, respondents said, the state should increase taxes on the rich and end corporate subsidies.
As Congress wrestles with how to avoid the imminent fiscal cliff, a new poll finds that Massachusetts voters strongly favor increased taxes on the rich, less corporate welfare and no cuts in Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. "I think that this survey really gives us a clear view of voters expectations of their elected officials," said Jason Stephany of MassUniting, a coalition of community groups, neighborhoods, faith organizations and workers advocating for good jobs, corporate accountability. MassUniting conducted the poll along with Public Policy Polling. It was conducted from Nov. 27-29 and included 638 Massachusetts voters. "Essentially, the big thing that this poll tells us is that this election was not a fluke or a one-off …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
In January, the cabinet will have new secretaries of finance, education, health and public safety.
Governor Deval Patrick announced late last week that he has appointed four new secretaries to join his cabinet. In January, Glen Shor will replace outgoing Secretary of Finance Jay Gonzalez; Matt Malone will replace Secretary of Education Paul Reville; John Polanowicz will replace Secretary of Health JudyAnn Bigby; and Sheriff Andrea Cabral will replace Secretary of Public Safety Marybeth Heffernan. “Glen, Matt, John and Andrea are the real deal. They come to their new positions with the expertise, the talent, the respect and the vision to achieve our bold agenda over the next two years,” Patrick said. “Jay, Paul, Judy and Marybeth were instrumental in achieving the cornerstones of an agenda that is making a difference,” he added. “This …
Monday, December 10, 2012
If passed, the law would allow the public to access information about Level 1 sex offenders.
In the wake of last week's horrific news of a Wakefield man arrested on charges that he raped infants and toddlers, House Speaker Robert DeLeo said he will take another look at legislation to publicize names of low-level sex offenders, according to a Boston Herald report. The proposed law, filed by Gov. Deval Patrick last year but stalled in the Legislature, would add Massachusetts to the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act and allow the public to see which Level 1 offenders, deemed the least likely to reoffend by the Sex Offender Registry Board, live or work in their neighborhoods. Currently, the police are required to publicize the names of Level 3 offenders, who are consider the most likely to reoffend. The issue is …
Friday, November 9, 2012
The scandal has also resulted in a state regulator being fired and talk of increased FDA oversight.
The director of a Framingham pharmacy connected to the deaths of up to 30 people has been subpoenaed to appear at state House and Senate hearings next week on how his company's tainted steroids could have caused hundreds of people to contract meningitis. Barry Cadden, the director and co-founder of New England Compounding Center, which produced the drugs, has indicated that he will not appear voluntarily at the hearings, according to the Associated Press. Food and Drug Administration officials and experts at the Centers for Disease Control are also expected to testify. The scandal also took down the state's pharmacy board director, James Coffey, after it came to light this week that he failed to investigate a compliant against NECC by …
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Tuition will be 4.9 percent higher next year and could keep rising unless the Legislature restores funding.
Depite all the talk across the nation—from families around dinner tables to Occupiers to President Obama—of the need to make college more affordable, it just got a little tougher to go to the University of Massachusetts. Last week the school's Board of Directors voted to raise tuition by 4.9 percent, raising the average tuition from $11,901 to $12,481. The hike is expected to generate $25 million. But in passing the increase, the board turned the spotlight back on the State House by promising to hold off on any further increases if the Legislature restores its share of funding to 50 percent. After the tuition hike, approved in Dartmouth June 6, the state's share of funding on the five campuses will drop lower than the 45 it paid this year…
Matthew
11:01 pm on Thursday, March 21, 2013
Considering all the best wine is not from MA, it'd be nice of they repealed this stupid law. Tax it. I'm fine with that. I was stationed in California for 6 years and there are wines I definitely miss from that neck of the woods that I can't get here. It's the little things in life... more ›