Eric Convey

The ghosts, ghouls and goblins have departed for a lengthy slumber, All Saints’ Day is here, and believe it or not, it’s almost time for another extended legislative break. Only two weeks are left before the end of formal sessions for 2023 under legislative rules, leaving a narrow window for lawmakers to finish any major business […]

It could be a day of big change for a pair of the most harrowing, complex issues vexing Massachusetts policymakers. Tuesday will bring an emergency court hearing over Gov. Maura Healey’s response to the overwhelming demand on the state’s emergency shelter system, driven in large part by a significant increase in newly arriving migrants. Hours after […]

The Massachusetts migrant crisis has created an unwinnable political morass for Gov. Healey, so when she recently hung a no-vacancy sign over the state’s right-to-shelter law, it felt like magical thinking that wouldn’t survive a legal test. We’ll soon find out, now that Lawyers for Civil Rights has filed a class action lawsuit Friday in Suffolk Superior […]

While the powers that be continue to wring their hands over $250 million the governor requested to address the state’s jam-packed shelter system, the administration is looking at new creative ways to get some green from D.C. There seems to be a stalemate over the supplemental budget that would close the books on fiscal year 2023 that […]

Despite some recent speculation, it would be “highly unusual” for the Legislature to include a provision to facilitate a new soccer stadium in their end-of-the-year spending, House Speaker Ron Mariano said on Monday.  Rumor has spread on Beacon Hill over the last week that there may be an attempt to add an amendment to the fiscal year […]

Early next month Daylight Saving Time will end, giving us back the hour taken away in March but also casting us on the path to late afternoon darkness, including the dreaded 4:30 sunsets (the exact nadir is 4:11 p.m. in early December). The switching of time back and forth is widely viewed as not only a pain […]

Backers of potential 2024 ballot questions are running toward their next hurdle: 74,574 signatures. Initiative petition supporters need to get those autographs in to local officials for certification by Nov. 22 (the day before Thanksgiving), ahead of a December deadline to turn the signature pages over to the state Elections Division. Plenty of high-profile questions grabbing […]

Detractors of Rep. Mike Day’s firearm bill at a public hearing last week said top lawmakers hadn’t been listening to their apprehensions about the gun reform package. But Day has heard out at least a few critics, if you take a look at his campaign checkbook. The House’s point-person on the Judiciary Committee, Day was anointed last year […]

A former long-serving state representative and officer in the Army JAG Corps, Hank Naughton once briefly ran for attorney general, turned his attention to judicial aspirations, and ultimately scored one of Gov. Charlie Baker’s final court appointments. But after just six months presiding over District Court cases in Worcester County, Naughton dashed off a sudden resignation letter […]

They’re coming around the track… Sunday marked one month to go ’til the Nov. 15 deadline for lawmakers to conduct major business in 2023. (That’s when they gavel into a holiday break that stretches from pre-Thanksgiving to post-New Year’s.) What’s on deck? The House plans to vote Wednesday on one of its leaders’ priorities: gun law reform. Then it’ll […]