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By MARY BYRNE

BOSTON — Officials from across the Pioneer Valley testified at the State House on Thursday in support of a bill seeking to resolve what they called an “inequitable system” of providing public health services that was only further magnified amid the...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — Top House and Senate Democrats have not publicly mentioned legalizing medical aid in dying as a priority, but one legislative sponsor believes the chances of action are better than ever now that Gov. Maura Healey is in the corner office.Rep....

By JULIAN MENDOZA

LEVERETT — Outraged by videos she described as “horrific,” state Rep. Natalie Blais joined state Sen. Jo Comerford at a family’s Leverett home on Tuesday afternoon to draw attention to the importance of school bus safety. Wes and Audra Goscenski, who...

GREENFIELD — State Rep. Michael Day, D-Stoneham, will be in Greenfield on Tuesday as part of a statewide tour to hear from hunters and gun enthusiasts about Massachusetts firearm policies.The stop is scheduled to take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at...

By SAM DORAN

Anti-child abuse advocates on Thursday lined up behind bills they said would crack down on sexual exploitation of children in school settings.Speaking at a webinar held by Massachusetts Citizens for Children and the Enough Abuse Campaign, Sen. Joan...

By BOB FLAHERTY

AMHERST — It’s fitting that those who knew John Olver and worked with him during his 40 years of public service would gather to honor the late congressman’s memory at a place named for him — the John W. Olver Design Center at the University of...

By CHRIS LARABEE

TURNERS FALLS — Legislative advocacy for parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities and increased funding for service workers were the focus of The United Arc’s virtual Coffee & Conversation event on Friday.United Arc staff members were...

By SYDNEY KO

Brittainy Simpson grew up in the hearing world but was considered an oral deaf, a person who is born deaf or becomes deaf before they learn how to speak. Despite getting by with a hearing aid and lip-reading, Simpson only learned how to sign at age...

By MARY BYRNE

Local public health officials are asking for the community’s help in garnering support for its list of priorities this legislative session. “We have an extremely narrow group [of legislative bills] that we’ve identified, and we’re hoping to track the...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

AMHERST — Educational issues pertaining to schools across western Massachusetts — including transportation, rural inequities and a lack of sufficient state aid — peppered the discussion of a Joint Ways and Means Committee hearing at the University of...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

BOSTON — What’s the first step in dealing with an overflowing bathtub? That’s the question MASSPIRG Legislative Director Deirdre Cummings asks to make her pitch for a sweeping new bill aimed at wrangling the presence of PFAS chemicals in food...

By CHRIS LISINSKI

The state House of Representatives on Wednesday unanimously approved injecting more than $280 million into emergency shelter, school meals and food aid programs on the verge of running out of capacity or money.And with the governor already making a...

By SYDNEY KO

Western Massachusetts will have ample representation on a new legislative committee focused on agriculture.Sens. Anne Gobi, D-Spencer, and Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, were named Senate chair and vice chair, respectively, of the new Agriculture...

By SAM DRYSDALE

The state needs to take action to make remote participation in town meetings permanent, according to the president of the Local Government Advisory Commission.In Lexington, where LGAC President Jill Hai is a selectboard member, representatives at Town...

By CHRIS LISINSKI and SAM DORAN

BOSTON — The biennial increases in legislator pay always generate a hearty share of public attention and inevitable criticism of the automatic, inflation-adjusted raises required by state law. But it’s the supplemental pay on top of that where the...

By SAM DRYSDALE

BOSTON — Of the more than 7,000 bills lawmakers filed in the last month, anti-poverty advocates are pushing to ensure increases in direct cash assistance to low-income families is one of the few hundred that will cross the finish line this...

By SAM DORAN

The Legislature’s Food System Caucus is getting ready to “fight like hell” for its priorities, Co-Chair Sen. Jo Comerford said Wednesday, and another caucus leader said money to combat hunger can be realized by the savings it will create elsewhere in...

By GREG VINE

Speaking in response to news that U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will need to take “extraordinary measures” to prevent a default on the nation’s debt should lawmakers fail to increase or suspend the federal debt ceiling, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern...

By CHRIS LARABEE

For her efforts to advance bills that support seniors, the Massachusetts chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (MassNAELA) has honored state Sen. Jo Comerford with its Legislator of the Year award.In the last legislative session, the...

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

NORTHAMPTON — Sen. Jo Comerford said she intends to reintroduce a bill next month that would legalize “physician-assisted suicide,” just days after the state’s highest court ruled that the state constitution does not protect a doctor who provides...