Browsing: Massachusetts Legislature

A small group of protestors gathered outside the State House on Wednesday to oppose state spending on emergency shelters in Massachusetts that are providing temporary housing to both local residents and migrants from other countries.

A dispute over a proposal to enhance the state auditor's authority to audit the Legislature escalated on Tuesday as State Auditor Diana DiZoglio defended her plan against a range of critics who questioned whether it violated separation of power principles in the state constitution.

State Auditor Diana DiZoglio is realistic about the likelihood of her suggestion to make the Legislature's financial records public being accepted on Beacon Hill. However, she mentioned that she is going into a legislative hearing next week to discuss the issue with a sense of hopeful uncertainty.

Massachusetts is currently allocating about $75 million monthly to shelters, a significant increase that coincides with the expected depletion of emergency services funding by Governor Maura Healey’s administration in April without additional financial support.

Massachusetts senators voted Thursday to shuttle hundreds of millions of one-time use dollars to a state-run shelter system buckling under the weight of an influx of migrants from other countries and soaring costs that show little sign of slowing down.

A Westfield Democrat responded to U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who leads the House Judiciary Committee, for an investigation the congressman initiated into a Haitian national accused of assaulting a migrant girl at a Massachusetts shelter last week.

Lawmakers on Beacon Hill responsible for working out adjustments to firearm regulations in Massachusetts said that recent shootings throughout the state have made it necessary to quickly address discrepancies between two rival gun reform plans.