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The Week Ahead On Beacon Hill: Taxes, Budget And Marijuana Lobbying

Key budget leaders in the Massachusetts House have said no new “broad-based” taxes are needed for the next state budget, even though tax revenues for the current fiscal year keep coming up short.

Like most Mondays, we checked in with Matt Murphy, a reporter for the State House News Service in Boston. He explained when lawmakers say they’re not raising “broad-based” taxes, that doesn’t mean no new taxes at all.

Click the audio player above to hear Henry Epp’s conversation with Matt Murphy about the week ahead on Beacon Hill.

The Week Ahead On Beacon Hill

This week, a state commission in Massachusetts will meet to set the official health care cost benchmark. This system was put into place a number of years ago to keep a close watch on rising health care costs. For more, we checked in with State House News Service reporter Matt Murphy, as we do most Mondays.

Also this week:

  • The legislature’s transportation committee takes up road construction funds.
  • Governor Charlie Baker’s $40.5 billion state budget proposal gets its first public hearing on Thursday.

Click the audio player above to hear Carrie Healy’s conversation with Matt Murphy about the week ahead on Beacon Hill.

The Week Ahead On Beacon Hill: Slow Start To New Session, No Marijuana Committee (Yet)

Beacon Hill lawmakers are five weeks into a new two-year session, and things are off to a pretty slow start. Leaders in the Massachusetts legislature haven’t yet assigned members to committees, including a new panel that will examine the state’s new recreational marijuana law. Top Democrats in the legislature, as well as Governor Charlie Baker, have said they’d like to change parts of the voter-passed law in the next few months.

For more, we spoke to Matt Murphy of the State House News Service in Boston. He said the slow start to the marijuana committee could complicate efforts to change the new law.

Click the audio player above to hear Henry Epp’s conversation with Matt Murphy about the week ahead on Beacon Hill.

 

The Week Ahead On Beacon Hill

Massachusetts lawmakers pushed through their first major piece of legislation of the new session last week: a pay raise for themselves. The bill also boosts pay for the governor, judges and other elected officials. Governor Charlie Baker vetoed the measure, but Democrats in the legislature seem to have enough votes to override that veto.

For our weekly look at all things Beacon Hill, we checked in with Matt Murphy, a reporter with the State House News Service. He said the legislature could take an override vote this week, and it would be difficult to peel away enough lawmakers to prevent it from passing.

Click the audio player above to hear Henry Epp’s conversation with Matt Murphy about the week ahead on Beacon Hill.

The Week Ahead On Beacon Hill

President Donald Trump’s first full week in office began today, and we still know little about the magnitude of the cuts and changes he’ll make to measures passed under the Obama Administration. Will the changes make a big difference to the budget Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker lays out this week? As we do most Mondays, we turned to State House News Service reporter Matt Murphy.

Also this week:

  • Governor Baker may not be able to exclude non-recurring revenues from the state budget.
  • This week Massachusetts lawmakers could begin discussions to beef up their own salaries.

Click the audio player above to hear Matt Murphy and New England Public Radio’s Carrie Healy discuss the week ahead on Beacon Hill.

Inauguration Week On Beacon Hill

On Friday, Donald Trump will be sworn-in as president. Throughout the campaign, Massachusetts Republican Governor Charlie Baker opposed Trump, but Baker is planning to attend the inauguration in Washington. However, the governor’s plans are not a concern to his supporters, according to State House News Service reporter Matt Murphy.

Also this week:

  • Friday is the deadline for Massachusetts lawmakers to file many bills for the new two-year legislative session.
  • By the weekend, municipal leaders will likely hear from Baker how much state aid they can expect in the next fiscal year.

Click the audio player above to hear Matt Murphy and Henry Epp discuss the week ahead in Massachusetts politics.