![Congresswoman Katherine Clark, the second highest-ranking woman in the U.S. House, spoke at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce online forum Thursday. [Screenshot]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2020/10-22_Clark_Chamber.jpg "Congresswoman Katherine Clark, the second highest-ranking woman in the U.S. House, spoke at a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce online forum Thursday. [Screenshot]")
Congresswoman Katherine Clark on Thursday said a lack of access to child care is "holding our economy hostage" and called for a shift in how the public views care and education of young children.
Breaking from a humdrum of local bills Thursday, the Senate stamped its approval on a nearly two-year-old bill aiming to improve quick, safe access to hospital emergency rooms. The legislation would require state-issued standards for proper wayfinding signs, lighting, and security monitoring of emergency department entryways. Also Thursday, the Senate voted to register its support with U.S. Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett and Major Gen. Gary Keefe, the state adjutant general, for assignment of F-35A fighter jets to the National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing in Westfield.
[Coverage Developing] Looking to further boost an economy that has added back tens of thousands of jobs since April but has a long way to climb out of the hole dug by the pandemic, Gov. Charlie Baker rolled out a multi-pronged strategy Thursday to infuse small businesses and workforce training programs with new money to stabilize some sectors and help revive others.
The House on Thursday sent a new $5.4 billion interim budget (H 5065) to the House Ways and Means Committee that Rep. Aaron Michlewitz chairs. The third temporary spending bill this fiscal year seeks to keep state government operating through the end of November, in the continuing absence of a full-year fiscal 2021 budget.
Legislation aimed at ensuring patients can access clearly marked emergency rooms in times of crisis cleared the Senate on Thursday after it was rushed through the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
![This 1,840-foot pier is part of a federal research facility in North Carolina where researchers from Massachusetts hope to learn more next summer about the impacts of storm surges on water pollution in coastal communities. [Courtesy/Old Dominion University]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2020/10-22_US_Corps_of_Engineers_Field_Research_Facility_NC.jpg "This 1,840-foot pier is part of a federal research facility in North Carolina where researchers from Massachusetts hope to learn more next summer about the impacts of storm surges on water pollution in coastal communities. [Courtesy/Old Dominion University]")
A series of grants announced this week could put a small dent in what can be a big problem - pollution caused when rainwater sweeps into public watersheds carrying with it agricultural agents, bacteria from pet and waterfowl waste, and oil and grease deposits left behind by humans.
Even now that roulette has been reintroduced to gaming floors, crowd sizes at Massachusetts casinos are still "well below" occupancy levels authorized by the Gaming Commission, one top regulator said Thursday.
The state's 15 regional transit agencies should all be able to balance their budgets this year without cutting critical services or raising rider fares, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said.
With the pandemic taking a toll on jobs and the economy, the Baker administration plans Thursday to announce what they are describing as a comprehensive $774 million plan to help small businesses, provide housing stability, and boost downtowns and the innovation economy.
[Story Developing] A series of small grants announced this week could put a dent in what can be a big problem: pollution caused when rainwater sweeps into public watersheds, carrying with it agricultural agents, bacteria from pet waste and waterfowl, and oil and grease deposits left behind by humans.
![The statue of President John Kennedy in front of a locked State House entryway was sculpted by Isabel McIlvain and unveiled in 1990. [Sam Doran/SHNS]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2020/10-21_Kennedy_statue.jpg "The statue of President John Kennedy in front of a locked State House entryway was sculpted by Isabel McIlvain and unveiled in 1990. [Sam Doran/SHNS]")
The bronze statue of President John Kennedy on a little-used corner of the State House lawn is taking a stroll back into the limelight.
Gov. Charlie Baker's administration hopes to avoid government layoffs both this year and next year, the governor's top budget official told lawmakers Wednesday, describing Baker's new spending plan as a "stability" budget intended to protect services at a time of great need.
The crowds in Salem are smaller this month than they would normally be, but the number of people visiting the Witch City is still "more than we feel comfortable having," Mayor Kim Driscoll said Wednesday as she and Gov. Charlie Baker pleaded with Halloween revelers to stay away this year.
[Coverage Developing]Gov. Charlie Baker's administration hopes to avoid government layoffs both this year and next year, the governor's top budget official told lawmakers Wednesday, describing Baker's new spending plan as a "stability" budget intended to protect services at a time of great need.
Attorneys Robert Harnais and Susan McNeil were confirmed to the District Court bench Wednesday by the Governor's Council.
Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday filed a new temporary budget to keep state government running through the end of November, a plan that landed as lawmakers were reviewing his revised $45.5 billion annual spending plan.
U.S. postal inspectors are investigating a summertime incident in which a member of the Governor's Council allegedly fiddled with a piece of mail in a neighbor's letterbox.
Without revealing how the Legislature would respond to the revised annual spending plan Gov. Charlie Baker unveiled last week, Senate President Karen Spilka on Wednesday praised Beacon Hill's decision to "hit pause" on the state budget process.
Since President Donald Trump took office in 2017, Attorney General Maura Healey's office has been part of at least 200 actions that have sought to resist what the office referred to as the president's "illegal and dangerous rollbacks of critical environmental protections," her office said.
All Boston public school students will learn remotely starting Thursday as the COVID-19 infection rate continues its climb in the city, the mayor and school system announced Wednesday morning.