State House Takeout

The annual state budget process moved into the next stage this week with the release of the House Ways and Means fiscal year 2022 proposal. With many factors looming over state spending -- policy changes from the Biden administration, billions in federal aid dollars, and an evolving revenue picture -- the News Service's Chris Lisinski talks with Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation Executive Vice President Doug Howgate and Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center Policy Analyst Monique Ching to dive into how House lawmakers are suggesting the state spend $47.65 billion. Tune into this week's "State House Takeout" to hear about surprises in the House Ways and Means proposal, impact of revenue outlooks, and gaps in the spending recommendations.

Advocates and public officials alike have been pushing for the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines even before the state announced its vaccination plan. On this week's "State House Takeout," reporter Katie Lannan sits down with Dr. Atyia Martin and Eva Millona of the Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition to discuss the group's demands and how the state can fairly get shots into residents' arms.

As the one-year anniversary approaches of Massachusetts' COVID-19 state of emergency, the SHNS reporters recount their memories from March 2020, recap the news of this week, and look ahead to the vaccination outlook for March 2021.

After the state's vaccine appointment website crashed the day that approximately 1 million residents became newly-eligible for shots, Gov. Charlie Baker took to GBH on Thursday to say his "hair is on fire about the whole thing." On this week's "State House Takeout," GBH's Mike Deehan, the Boston Herald's Erin Tiernan, and SHNS' Katie Lannan and Sam Doran round up the latest vaccination news.

On this week's "State House Takeout," reporter Chris Lisinski dives into new election reform efforts and legislation with Sen. Cynthia Creem and MassVOTE Policy and Communications Manager Alex Psilakis. Tune in this week to hear about the senator's new bill, dubbed the VOTES Act, the effort to implement same-day voter registration, and make voting by mail permanent in Massachusetts.

Wondering how lobbyists manage to serve their clients during a pandemic where face-to-face interactions have been forced into the virtual realm? Ben Fierro of Lynch & Fierro, LLP joins State House News Service's Matt Murphy on this week's "State House Takeout" to talk about the pandemic's impact on the lobbying world and what it's been like to keep an eye on and in contact with legislators from afar. Fierro is a 40-year veteran of the lobbying world and first started on Beacon Hill in 1981 when former Gov. Ed King was in office.

On this week's "State House Takeout", reporter Katie Lannan sits down with MassBudget President Marie-Frances Rivera and Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation Executive Vice President Doug Howgate for a close look at Gov. Charlie Baker's fiscal 2022 budget, what people should be paying attention to, and how the spending plan affects K-12 education.

A class of 19 new lawmakers joined the Legislature this month and many of them have only known lawmaking during the COVID-19 era where a large majority of House and Senate functions have been pushed into the virtual realm. On this week's "State House Takeout," hear from two of the new legislators, Sen. Adam Gomez (D-Springfield) and Rep. Meg Kilcoyne (D-Northborough) on what it's like to arrive at the State House virtually.

On this week's State House Takeout, join reporters Matt Murphy, Katie Lannan, Colin Young, and Chris Lisinski as they break down the start of the 2021-2022 session, vaccination rollout efforts, the latest on the climate and emissions bill, and the security situation at the State House ahead of the Presidential Inauguration next week.

With only hours remaining in a year that drastically reshaped all of our lives, the State House News Service crew sits down to reflect on the top stories of 2020. From a reckoning on race to former Speaker Robert DeLeo stepping down and a historically late budget to service cuts at the MBTA, the pandemic has touched every aspect of life and state government. For the last time in 2020, listen to this week's "State House Takeout" to revisit the most impactful events of the year as determined by the journalists on top of Beacon Hill. Weekly Roundup - Top 10 Stories of 2020: https://www.statehousenews.com/news/20202708

All signs point to House Speaker Robert DeLeo exiting his post on Beacon Hill after he filed a disclosure form revealing his plans to negotiate employment opportunities with his alma mater, Northeastern University. State House News Service's Sam Doran breaks down the latest developments with SHNS's Matt Murphy and the Boston Globe's Matt Stout on this week's "State House Takeout."

With Gov. Charlie Baker rolling back the state's reopening plan and issuing new COVID-19 guidance, retail store capacity limits have been cut and restaurant patrons will have to vacate their tables after 90 minutes. The State House News Service's Sam Doran talks to Retailers Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst and Massachusetts Restaurant Association President Bob Luz on this week's "State House Takeout" to break down how the orders affect dining locales and local shops

With 32 days remaining until the legislative session ends on Jan. 5, the branches sprung into action on two closely watched bills this week: policing reform and the five-month-overdue state budget. On this week's "State House Takeout," the News Service's Sam Doran talks with Shira Schoenberg of CommonWealth, Steve Brown of WBUR, and the News Service's Matt Murphy about what happened this week and what's left to tackle as the final month of the 2019-2020 session kicks off.

Budget talk never dies, it just fades away for a few months. With COVID-19 scrambling the timeline for pretty much everything, the passage of a fiscal 2021 budget is running up against the start of talks for fiscal 2022. The State House News Service's Katie Lannan checks-in with Marie-Frances Rivera of Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and Eileen McAnneny of Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. Listen to this week's "State House Takeout" to satisfy all your budget cravings and hear two of the state's top fiscal experts react to the House and Senate budget bills and what they have their eyes on as fiscal 2022 approaches.

Numbers are flying around. Reporters are doing math. And in Massachusetts, election officials and budget writers are crunching those numbers during a week like no other. The "State House Takeout" crew sits down to parse through a huge news week including election results for legislative races and ballot questions. Stick around for a preview of next week's House budget debate and discussion of legislative leadership's commitment to debate reproductive health care legislation this year.

Rain? Snow? Sunny skies? None of the above ... only political forecasts on this week's "State House Takeout" with veteran commentator Jon Keller and the News Service's Sam Doran. Listen to Keller's thoughts on how a potential Biden administration might shake up the political scene in the Massachusetts, the legislative outlook for the fall and winter, and the 2022 gubernatorial race.

Every day around 2:30 a.m. Danielle Sicard wakes up and starts running checklists through her head of things she needs to do the next day. Did she miss something? What might she forget? If she's lucky, she'll write a few notes down and head back to sleep for a few hours. As town clerk of Easton, Sicard said she is working 10 to 14 hour days to prepare and manage the general elections in her community. Sicard and Northborough Town Clerk Andy Dowd, both members of the Massachusetts Town Clerks Association, sat down (virtually, of course) with the News Service's Matt Murphy on this week's "State House Takeout" for a closer look at how the general elections are starting to play out at the local level, what election day might look like, and their experiences with early and mail-in voting.

Puzzling proposal or simple solution? Ranked-choice voting is on the ballot this November and it offers a chance for voters to decided whether or not they want to change the way elections run in the state. On this week's episode of the "State House Takeout," the News Service's Chris Lisinski moderates a conversation on ranked-choice voting with Yes on 2 Campaign Policy Director Greg Dennis and former Maine Congressman Bruce Poliquin, who lost his 2018 campaign during the state's first ranked-choice voting election.

The Ripple Effect by State House News Service

House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz sits down (virtually) with the News Service's Colin Young to mull through the status of the state's finances, the fiscal 2020 closeout supplemental budget, the conference committee negotiating an economic development bill, and the much anticipated fiscal 2021 budget. Listen to this week's "State House Takeout" to catch up on the latest fiscal news from the House's chief budget writer.

Former Senate President Stan Rosenberg joins the News Service's Matt Murphy on this week's Takeout to talk about his new career as lobbyist, the state of progressive politics on Beacon Hill, and some of the major policy issues currently before the Legislature. Read more about the interview here: https://www.statehousenews.com/news/20202037

Rep. Lori Ehrlich and Every Voice Coalition Co-Chairs Nora Gallo and John Gabrieli sat down with News Service reporter Katie Lannan on this week's State House Takeout to dive into a bill addressing sexual assault on college campuses. With formal sessions in both branches extended until Jan. 5, House Speaker Robert DeLeo earlier this week signaled his interest in taking up the legislation by the end of the year. The coalition and Ehrlich have been advocating for the bill for several years and DeLeo's comments on Tuesday add an additional priority to House leadership's agenda outside of the budget or pending conference committees.

Ranking minority member of House Ways and Means Rep. Todd Smola sat down with the News Service this week to talk about the impact President Donald Trump is having on state elections, August tax revenue numbers, and uncertainty around federal stimulus relief. In an interview with the News Service's Matt Murphy, Smola pointed to the budget as the top priority for the House GOP caucus this fall and forecasted a "tough year" for Republicans in Massachusetts as races become more nationalized. Check out the full interview on this week's State House Takeout.

The primaries are over and the places are set for a full reporters' roundtable on this week's State House Takeout. The SHNS crew reviews the results in primary races for U.S. Senate, the Fourth Congressional District, and state House and Senate seats, and looks ahead to what we might expect in November.

On the latest Takeout, Secretary of State William Galvin checks in with the News Service ahead of next week's primaries about managing the elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. Reporter Chris Lisinski previews some of the races to watch and issues at play.

Three members of Beacon BLOC -- a coalition of Black State House staffers -- talk about their organization's mission and action points to change the institutional culture on Beacon Hill. The panelists are Black and Latino Legislative Caucus director Kyéra Sterling; Maia Raynor, legislative director for Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz; and Mark Martinez, policy and budget advisor to Sen. Pat Jehlen.

Reporters Katie Lannan and Matt Murphy stop by for some Friday takeout, detailing the state's new color-coded COVID map, the outlook for school reopenings and youth sports, and a look ahead to next week's Democratic National Convention.

On this week's Takeout, Senate President Karen Spilka checks in with Katie Lannan about the Legislature's ongoing work as formal sessions extend past July 31, with major bills in the negotiation process and a budget still on the to-do list. The president also talks about how her chamber has been adapting to the pandemic era, including the use of a lawmaker "buddy system."

Not your normal end-of-July #mapoli podcast. A roundtable of News Service reporters mull over the Legislature's decision to extend formal sessions past July 31 and potentially into January 2021. The corridors under the Golden Dome are still busy with lawmaking, and the SHNS crew has the latest on priorities like the budget, policing reform, and climate legislation... along with a look ahead to what we might see in the fall.

Beacon Hill debate was still underway on policing reform proposals Friday, and the Takeout has a preview of a big topic that hadn't yet hit the House floor: qualified immunity. Three big voices in the conversation joined the Takeout this week: Black and Latino Legislative Caucus Chairman Rep. Carlos Gonzalez, Mass. Law Enforcement Policy Group Chairman Larry Calderone, and ACLU of Massachusetts Executive Director Carol Rose. Matt Murphy moderates the panel, and Katie Lannan joins Sam Doran to recap the rest of a busy week under the Golden Dome.

State House Takeout, the News Service's weekly podcast, is back! On this week's edition, Chris Lisinski talks transportation funding with a trio of advocates: Chris Dempsey of Transportation for Massachusetts, Stacy Thompson of LivableStreets, and Jarred Johnson of TransitMatters. Catching up on the last few months, the Takeout kicks off with analysis from Matt Murphy and Sam Doran on what's been happening atop Beacon Hill, and what remains on the Legislature's plate as the scheduled end of formal lawmaking approaches. State House Takeout is the News Service's podcast offering bite-sized insights from the reporters on top of Beacon Hill, available on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play, and Stitcher. The podcast is produced by Chris Van Buskirk.

It's all coronavirus news this week on the Takeout because the pandemic has touched all aspects of daily life for state government and Massachusetts residents. An emergency declaration and $15 million in preparedness funding were part of the government's response, and the SHNS crew looks ahead to what else we might see coming up next week.

The crew tackles dual House transportation sessions, Super Tuesday results, and the very latest updates on coronavirus cases in Massachusetts and the state's response.

The SHNS crew has a three-course Takeout this week: reporter Katie Lannan talks COVID-19, Matt Murphy and Chris Lisinski discuss the House transportation funding bill, and Colin Young touches on recent developments with Columbia Gas ... that and more on this week's State House Takeout!

On this week's episode, the Takeout crew dives into the federal charges against Lowell Rep. David Nangle, along with analysis of the Markey-Kennedy debate and a rundown of the new safe driving law that takes effect this Sunday. Stick around for an informed discussion on the best places to get takeout in Lowell from several former Lowell Sun reporters.

The Takeout crew filed into the studio this week for another episode of your favorite podcast. With Matt Murphy sitting in for Sam Doran (don't worry, he's just feeling under the weather), the gang talked about a mental health bill the Senate unanimously passed Thursday, updates to the state's various wind projects, and the unofficial holiday on Beacon Hill -- nomination paper pulling day. Stick around to hear about the exciting plans these reporters have for Valentine's Day.

Some were favorable... some died... some lived to be reported on another day. Many bills' fates were decided Wednesday, and new deadlines were set for scores of others. The SHNS crew looks at where the high-profile issues fall in the wake of "Joint Rule 10 Day," and talks about the effectiveness of deadlines.

This week's Takeout is all about the Senate's climate policy debate. Why did the Senate choose this "dramatic" three-bill approach? How far do senators' proposed climate measures go, and could they go farther? What are Speaker DeLeo and Gov. Baker going to make of what Sen. Barrett called a "radical" bill? And, hey, let's step back and ask, to quote the posterboard Sen. Bruce Tarr held aloft during Thursday's session... "What Does This Do?" The Takeout is hosted by Sam Doran and produced by Chris Van Buskirk.

On this week's Takeout, the reporters dig into Gov. Baker's State of the Commonwealth speech: what he said, what he didn't say, and what effect it may have on Beacon Hill action in 2020. Also: education and transportation themes in Baker's budget proposal, and takeaways from the Senate's climate package up for debate next week. And, a little talk about what's going on in Washington.

The Takeout team digs into packed hearings about the housing crisis and carbon emissions, along with further challenges to the Transportation and Climate Initiative and mounting pressure on next year's budget, then steps back to talk about the crowded, often chaotic nature of State House committee hearings. Jan. 17, 2020.

As Beacon Hill table-setting for 2020 continues, mayors like Marty Walsh in Boston are pushing their local legislative agendas. The SHNS crew also looks to leaders of other New England states for clues to the future of the Transportation Climate Initiative pact. Colin A. Young has updates on long-term clean energy planning, with news on Canadian hydropower and offshore wind.

Here's what to watch as 2020 dawns on Beacon Hill. The SHNS crew previews what we might expect from Gov. Baker's State of the Commonwealth speech, and legislative debates on transportation funding and climate change initiatives.

Count down the Top 10 Beacon Hill stories of 2019, as voted on by members of the State House Press Association. The SHNS crew analyzes the last 12 months along with the big stories of the last decade.

For this week's Takeout, the News Service gathered a venerable band of State House reporters, past and present, to discuss changes they've seen in journalism under the Golden Dome. Panelists are Mark Leccese of Emerson College, Craig Sandler of SHNS, Steve LeBlanc of The Associated Press, and Peter Lucas of the Lowell Sun and Boston Herald. This week's special podcast covers a wide range of topics including camaraderie in the Press Gallery and the changing nature of press secretaries.

Holiday spirit abounds, and the House and Senate finally came together on a supplemental budget compromise - under pressure from the comptroller, a Gov. Baker appointee. Also: a sharp report on MBTA safety failings was unveiled, and the ban on sales of vaping products in Massachusetts is largely in the rear-view mirror.

The Takeout crew takes stock of economists' predictions for next fiscal year, and ruminates on lawmakers' inability to wrap up last fiscal year's accounts. Also: a hangup in setting a special election date for the open Senate seat on the South Shore.

The Takeout team runs down the final formal sessions of the year, where lawmakers sent Gov. Charlie Baker a cornucopia of bills banning flavored tobacco and taxing e-cigarettes, injecting $1.5 billion in K-12 public education, requiring drivers to put down phones behind the wheel, and more. The crew also ponders the fate of the fiscal year 2019 closeout budget that failed to emerge and what pathway forward there is at this late time of year.

The Takeout crew reviews the ethics report on Sen. Michael Brady and the punishment he faced Thursday, along with progress on vaping and flavored tobacco legislation, a look ahead to the final week of 2019 formal sessions, and other tidbits from a long four-day week.

There's always fresh vaping news, and the Takeout crew this week digs into legal and regulatory moves imminently affecting medical marijuana vapers. Also on this week's episode: municipal elections and their effect on the House and Senate ranks, and a sweeping vision for the future of Massachusetts railroads.

In a post-Halloween edition, the Takeout team talks about the specter of an overdue fiscal year-end budget, the debate over inclusion of menthol in the proposed ban on flavored tobacco products, and all the ideas floating around for new revenue.

The SHNS crew digs in to what comes next for Gov. Charlie Baker's ban on sales of vaping products. The team also digests unanimous votes in the House, for a $1.5 billion education funding reform bill, and in the Senate, on a $780 million closeout spending bill.