Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The area was closed to the public after Sept. 11, 2001, but Gov. Deval Patrick has said he wants to make the State House's iconic statue of JFK available once more.
More than three years after Gov. Deval Patrick said he'd make the State House grounds open to the public, the gates remain shut. The grounds were closed after Sept. 11, 2001, and Patrick has said he wants to make the State House's iconic statue of JFK, in particular, available once more. However, Boston Herald reporters were recently turned away from the plaza and told that it is open during the summer during official tours of the State House, the Herald reported. The governor seemed unaware that the grounds were never reopened. “Well, the JFK statue is accessible now, which is great,” he told Herald reporters Friday. “The rangers can take you out, you just have to ask them, it doesn’t have to be a tour, and that’s a great thing.” …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Their proposal calls for a two-thirds majority vote before tax increases can be passed.
House Republicans are proposing new rules that would make tax increases harder to pass. Now, tax increases need a simple majority to pass but under the GOP's proposal they would need a two-thirds majority to become law, the AP reported. Republicans also want any change to apply to withdrawals from the state's rainy day fund as well. They also want to bar the house speaker from voting unless there is a tie, claiming that the speaker's vote tends to strongly influence the vote of majority party members. The proposals came out just before Gov. Deval Patrick submitted his $34.8 billion budget to the State House. The budget calls for an income tax increase of one percentage point—from 5.25 percent to 6.25 percent—coupled with a decrease in …
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Massachusetts has some old, sometimes funny morality laws about cursing and other no-nos. But sometimes those laws play havoc with modern-day living. Is it time to clear the books?
Massachusetts is famous for its out-of-date laws. The Boston Globe cites a few, like a cursing ban at sporting events. But there are other laws, passed over 100 years ago, which could complicate present-day political and legal dilemmas. But these old laws sometimes have a major effect on modern day issues. Representative Byron Rushing, D-South End, reminded the Globe that Governor Mitt Romney used a 1913 law about residency rules to prevent out-of-state gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts. That old law was scrubbed from the books in 2008, five years after it was cited by Romney. The 19th-century anti-abortion laws are a particularly thorny issue, according to the Globe. They may be relics of a time past, but that didn't stop the …
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Although the state is expected to fall short of projected revenue, some say the raises are justified since staff hasn't had a raise in four years.
Despite recent news that the state is projected to take in less than expected in tax revenues, State House leaders last week announced 3 percent salary raises for aides to state representatives and some senators, the Globe reported. But Seth Gitell, a spokesman for House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, said the increases are justified because the employees haven't had a raise since 2008. "It’s been more than four years since the last cost-of-living adjustment,” Gitell told the Globe. “Previously, employees received cost-of-living increases every one or, in many cases, every one or two years. There hasn’t been one in a long time.” Last week, DeLeo gave raises to all 460 people who work in the House, and Senate President Therese Murray gave raises…
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The mayor and governor joined family members of 9/11 victims on Tuesday morning in commemoration ceremonies.
Eleven years ago, on a cloudless day much like today, Anna Sweeney's father told her that "mommy's plane was taken by bad guys and a lot of people went to heaven." Anna's mother, Amy Sweeney of Acton, had been a flight attendant on Flight 11, the first plane to fly into the towers. She was one of 207 people from Massachusetts to die from the attacks. Anna, now a teenager, joined other families of victims Tuesday morning to honor the memory of those killed. "It's hard to believe that that terrible trajedy was 11 years ago," Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo told the crowd inside the House chambers, where they were assembled for the presentation of the Madeline "Amy" Sweeney Award for Civilian Bravery. "We think of Amy Sweeney, who stood up…
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Despite the setback last legislative session, a restaurant alliance will try again to get the holiday.
Would you be more likely to go out to eat in Charlestown or Boston-proper if the state suspended its meals tax? The Restaurant and Business Alliance thinks so, and is gearing up to try again to get it passed in the State House. Unlike the sales tax holiday, which is offered one weekend out of most summers, the meals tax holiday would benefit workers in Massachusetts since the amount restaurant workers make is usually tied to how many customers come in, according to Vincent A.J. Errichetti, the alliance's spokesman. Both the sales tax and meals tax are 6.25 percent in Massachusetts. "They understand that not only would it help waiters, waitresses and bartenders, but it would help an industry that is really hurting. And it would stay in the…
Friday, August 24, 2012
A new state law bans animal control laws that target specific breeds, nullifying a Boston regulation for pit bulls. Does the new law go to far?
Boston officials are fuming over a new state law that nullifies the city's pit bull muzzle law. According to the Boston Herald, Mayor Thomas Menino and City Councilor Ron Consalvo are among the city leaders criticizing the new state law, saying the city knows best when it comes to protecting the public from what many consider vicious dogs. The new state rule, supported by animal rights groups, bans breed-specific regulations, like muzzle and leashing laws for pit bulls or other types of dogs the public considers aggressive or violent. Does the new state law go too far? Should cities and towns get to decide what kinds of dogs need muzzles? Or do you believe the laws supporters when they say there's no data to support breed-specific laws? …
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
“Happy hour is a very bad thing for our industry," says one.
CORRECTION: The position of the Restaurant and Business Alliance was misrepresented in the previous version of this article. Their true position is reported below. The state's alcohol control board is looking atlifting the ban on happy hour but Massachusetts restauranteurs are largely against the idea. About two dozen of them showed up to a hearing on the topic in Boston Tuesday, and all but one spoke against legalizing cheap drinks. "The majority of them were in favor of maintaining the happy hour ban," Jon Carlisle, spokesman for the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, told Patch. What the board heard in Boston largely mirrors what it has heard in other parts of the state at the three previous hearings on happy hour, Carlisle said…
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Over the course of a year, the state has stepped up its efforts to fight the crime.
Massachusetts likes to think of itself as a progressive state, but it was only last year that it was among the worst in the nation in terms of cracking down on human trafficking. But today, thanks to the efforts of lawmakers and Attorney General Martha Coakley's office, the Bay State has gone far in tackling one of the most sinister crimes in the commonwealth. The Polaris Project, a national group that fights slavery, this year elevated Massachusetts from the group of 11 states doing the worst jobs at combating human trafficking to the tier of states with the best frameworks in place against it. In fact, more than half the states in the nation stepped up their fight against human trafficking in the past year. The Polaris Project reports …
Thursday, August 16, 2012
The state's alcohol control board is conducting public hearings on whether to allow bars to offer discounted drinks.
Happy hour has been illegal in Massachusetts for the past 28 years, but a revived debate about two-for-one and discounted alcoholic drink specials could bring the practice back. In light of bars' and restaurants' competitive disadvantage to proposed casinos, which will be allowed to offer free drinks, the state is looking into whether to update the happy hour law for bars and restaurants. Proposed Hearing Next week the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission will hear Boston residents views in a public hearing in Boston. The hearing will take place on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon at the McCormick Building, 1 Ashburton Place (21st Floor Conference Room). It's the fourth of five public hearings across the state. Currently, the law does not…
Joseph
3:18 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Finally!! A voice to rein in this ridiculous tax and spend policy of Gov. Jackass! Go get em GOP. Thank you!! I've been questioning this Rainy Day Fund and the ability to just take money to increase his spending spree? Is it raining? more ›