Legislative Reports
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[ NATIONAL ]
September 10, 2008
A recent online survey of American voters conducted by the Friends of the U.S. Chamber showed the most important issue facing our country today is ... increased access to reliable and affordable energy.
Here are the current results of our survey:
Which of the following do you think is the most important issue facing our country today?
Increased access to reliable and affordable energy: 28%
Making health care more affordable: 20%
Keeping taxes down: 19%
Holding Big Labor accountable in the workplace: 16%
Limiting the number of frivolous lawsuits: 16%
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[ STATE ]
September 9, 2008
The group behind an income tax repeal ballot question raised $160,179 during the first eight months of this year, spending $139,466. The Committee for Small Government, which filed its report with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance Tuesday after missing Friday’s deadline, had $24,754 on hand heading into September, far short of the $1.3 million in the opposition group’s kitty. The Committee for Small Government spent much of its funds
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[ STATE ]
September 9, 2008
The business community, already incensed over new health care assessments on employers and state efforts to draw more money from employers struggling to provide coverage, maintained a drumbeat of concern as they decried proposed regulations to require prescription drug benefits, effective Jan. 1, 2009, and to prohibit certain types of plans from satisfying minimum coverage requirements.
At a public hearing on the regulations, given initial approval in July by the state’s Connector Authority, businesses and insurers said proposed limits on high-deductible health plans would eliminate those plans as an option for consumers who can’t afford the premiums of traditional plans.
High-deductible plans and others that could fall short of proposed “minimum creditable coverage” requirements often provide comprehensive care, they argued, and provide consumers an avenue to health coverage, which could otherwise prove unaffordable.
“We are deeply concerned that your proposed changes would disrupt and disqualify” existing
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[ State ]
July 5, 2008
The final month of formal sessions could feature action in the House and Senate on another mountain of legislative proposals being pushed in both branches. Lawmakers are expected to advance yet another mini-budget and a series of capital spending bills totaling more than $10 billion in the areas of higher education, the environment, transportation, bridge repair and “general government” needs. Lawmakers could act in July on bills toughening penalties for sexual assault of children, promoting biofuels and “green jobs” and investing in broadband expansion, and pushing safer alternatives to toxic chemicals and “solutions” to global warming. Lawmakers are
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[ STATE ]
July 5, 2008
Secret talks between the Patrick and Bush administrations over a waiver that will dictate whether Massachusetts continues to receive hundreds of millions of dollars for health care spending continue under a two-week extension. State and federal government officials will say very little about the waiver on the record, citing the confidentiality of negotiations, and the waiver process appears to include little in the way of public access, even though
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[ NATIONAL ]
July 5, 2008
For the sixth straight month, the national economy lost jobs, down 62,000 in June, with construction, manufacturing, and business services suffering the biggest blows. The unemployment rate remained at 5.5 percent. Education, health services, government, and leisure and hospitality all showed gains. Average hourly earnings climbed 6 cents, 0.3 percent, during June. The number of unemployed was 1.5 million higher than June 2007, reaching 8.5 million. The unemployment rate stayed steady across ethnic lines, except for Hispanics, who saw an increase. Analysts called the losses the results of soaring energy prices and employer concerns
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[ STATE ]
July 5, 2008
The House voted 133-19 at 12:29 pm and the Senate 29-5 eight minutes later to approve a $28.22 billion state budget that assumes federal approval of $600 million in state health care requests, spends hundreds of millions of dollars from planned tax increases and the state's rainy day stabilization fund, and boosts scores of budget accounts that lawmakers described as critical priorities.
As the Legislature was putting finishing touches on the spending bill, Gov. Deval Patrick announced
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[ STATE ]
June 26, 2008
The Senate unanimously endorsed a compromise energy bill that the House will likely approve on Thursday and Gov. Deval Patrick will likely sign, promoting energy conservation and fostering growth in renewable sources, but stopping short of including House-backed tax credits for energy-saving cars and climate-control equipment.
The 98-page conference committee report instructs the state to meet at least 25 percent of its electric load with demand-side resources like energy efficiency
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[ STATE ]
June 26, 2008
Former Gov. Mitt Romney scored successor Gov. Deval Patrick’s education reform proposals Tuesday, charging Patrick with weakening support for charter schools by trying to establish “readiness schools.”
“How are they like a charter school? Well, they’re not. Because he of course gave into the two constituencies that opposed charter schools,” Romney said at a state Republican Party fundraiser.
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[ NATIONAL ]
June 26, 2008
By Tom Donohue, President and CEO - US Chamber of Commerce: It's been a year since a hard fought, bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform plan collapsed in the United States Senate among much rancor and finger-pointing. The emotionally charged debate rifted the nation, dividing communities and citizens and bringing protestors of all viewpoints out into the streets.
Although immigration is no longer on the front burner of the national debate--and comprehensive reform has been left for dead in Congress--we continue
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