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.

Earlier this week, three of the state's top budget chiefs gathered for an economic roundtable to hear revenue forecasts that will aid in the creation of a full fiscal 2021 budget. The news: a predicted revenue decline in the range of $2 billion to $5 billion. On this week's "State House Takeout," News Service reporter Katie Lannan chats with former Senate President Therese Murray about the budget-crafting process during an economic crisis. Murray, now a senior advisor at Rasky Partners, chaired Senate Ways and Means from 2003-2007 and then served as president until 2015. Listen to the episode to hear all about making tough decisions, behind-the-scenes insights, and more.

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.