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As legislative session winds to a close, Mass. lawmakers still have big policymaking to do. Here’s what they have left. – The Boston Globe

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As legislative session winds to a close, Mass. lawmakers still have big policymaking to do. Here’s what they have left. – The Boston Globe


The Senate approved six new significant bills Monday — covering issues as diverse as domestic violence and sexual assault awareness, liquor licenses in Boston, and legal parentage for families that have children through means such as in-vitro fertilization or surrogacy — voted on three others Tuesday. Representatives also pursued their own batch of late-session legislation. On Thursday, the House teed up and approved nine bills, including a string of proposals related to the welfare of animals.

Here are some of the larger bills left to be hammered out between the chambers if a compromise is to land on Governor Maura Healey’s desk before the formal session comes to an end.

Housing policy

Healey’s first big swing on housing policy, a multibillion dollar bond bill, is coming down to the wire as well. Bond bills for housing come up every five years, typically for the Legislature to reauthorize bond spending for housing programs and development. Healey however, has turned this bill into a vehicle for wide-ranging housing policy legislation, which has complicated its path and drawn intense lobbying from real estate interests and housing advocates.

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While the House and Senate are in agreement on most of the major policies and spending commitments — such as legalizing Accessory Dwelling Units and rejecting the prospect of a new fee on high-dollar real estate transactions — there are a few major sticking points.

The House, for example, proposed spending $6.2 billion on housing programs, while the Senate only proposed $5.2 billion. The $1 billion difference between the two versions is a proposal in the House that is a priority of Speaker Ron Mariano to help expand the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s water service area, making housing production easier in some municipalities.

The Senate version of the bill proposes to reduce a fund to jumpstart paused mixed-income developments from the House’s proposed $250 million to $50 million, and removes a clause from the House version that would give renters the opportunity to buy their unit if their landlord wants to sell.

The Senate bill favors a provision from Healey’s initial proposal that would allow for the sealing of renters’ past eviction records in some cases. The House did not include that policy.

The two chambers also differ over a policy that would allow cities and towns to pass rules that mandate certain ratios of affordable housing in new market rate developments by simple majority instead of a two-thirds vote.

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Liquor licenses

The Legislature is weighing plans to add more than 200 liquor licenses to Boston, where permits to serve alcohol are expensive, in short supply, and especially rare in communities of color.

In May, the House recommended creating 205 permits in total. That would include 180 restricted liquor licenses for 12 ZIP codes (Roxbury, Roslindale, Mattapan, Hyde Park, West Roxbury, East Boston, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Charlestown). Those permits cannot be bought and sold to other businesses, as Boston licenses typically are, and they must be returned to the city after a business closes. In the House plan, six licenses would be distributed annually to each neighborhood for three years. The House version also created 15 restricted licenses for nonprofit agencies, such as zoos and small theaters; three restricted license for Oak Square in Brighton; and seven unrestricted licenses to be used anywhere in the city.

The Senate came back with an expanded plan on Monday, looking to add more licenses to Boston than the City Council asked for in its original home-rule petition.

In that version, lawmakers created 264 restricted permits for the same areas the House identified, plus parts of the South End, with the same rollout schedule. The additional 15 licenses for nonprofits would also be made available to quasi-government and government agencies. The Senate also chose to create 12, rather than seven, unrestricted permits citywide. Another three restricted licenses would remain for Oak Square.

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Both versions would mark the largest effort to expand licenses in Boston since Prohibition. Advocates hope that introducing more permits will aid disadvantaged restauranteurs, enliven quiet neighborhoods, and help narrow the racial wealth gap.

Economic development

Both chambers have also passed sweeping economic development bills that tuck in hundreds of millions for the life sciences industry, though they vary drastically in funding levels.

The Senate’s $2.8 billion economic development package dramatically scaled back what Healey and the House sought for life sciences. Senate lawmakers propose to borrow $225 million over five years for the sector — less than half of the $500 million over a decade that Healey and House lawmakers sought.

In its version of the economic development bill, the House also sought to increase tax incentives for life sciences companies by $200 million.

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Senate leaders skipped that measure in their proposal, instead proposing to keep the tax incentives at their current level.

The Senate also includes language that would allow the Kraft Group to build a new soccer stadium for the New England Revolution near the Encore Boston Harbor casino in Everett — a key provision left out of the House’s version.

The House, on the other hand, included a proposal to rename the Seaport convention center after late Boston mayor Thomas M. Menino while the Senate did not.

Climate bill

Negotiators from the House and Senate are still at work on a climate bill. The main thrust of bills passed in both houses would reform the process for approving new energy infrastructure in the state — cutting the time to less than half of the current rate, while adding in assurances to consider the needs of environmental justice communities and the environment.

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But the rest of the bill has proven harder to nail down. The Senate is seeking a broader bill that would rein in natural gas infrastructure, ban the ability of third party competitive electric suppliers to sell directly to residents, update the state’s bottle bill, and more.

The House, meanwhile, has pushed for a bill that would call for the procurement of additional clean energy, including long-duration battery storage, and introduce measures to boost the availability of electric vehicle chargers in the state.

At stake is the state’s ability to pass its third successive major climate bill, and continue its momentum on slashing emissions and greening the electricity supply.

Opioid bill

Massachusetts senators approved a bill that would allow cities or towns to approve sites that could offer supervised consumption of drugs, marking an 11th-hour push for a provision that surprised House leaders who passed their own opioid-related bill earlier this summer.

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The provision allowing for so-called overdose prevention centers, more commonly known as safe consumption sites, is part of a larger package released by the Senate on Monday aimed at treating substance abuse. Senate leaders had supported a measure six years ago to create a supervised consumption site pilot program before they stripped it from a bill amid opposition from then-governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, and the Massachusetts US attorney’s office.

Members of the House did not make a push for the idea this session. Neither did Healey, though late last year her administration signaled its support for the concept.


Samantha J. Gross can be reached at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her @samanthajgross. Diti Kohli can be reached at diti.kohli@globe.com. Follow her @ditikohli_. Andrew Brinker can be reached at andrew.brinker@globe.com. Follow him @andrewnbrinker. Sabrina Shankman can be reached at sabrina.shankman@globe.com. Follow her @shankman.





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Massachusetts

How will the Iran war impact gas prices in Massachusetts?

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How will the Iran war impact gas prices in Massachusetts?


With a widening conflict in the Middle East after the American and Israeli attack on Iran Saturday, global markets are bracing for a shakeup in the energy supply chain.

So, here at home, what can consumers expect at the gas pump?

An increase in oil prices is almost always followed by an increase in gas prices. And the oil market has already reacted to the war. NBC News reported on Sunday that U.S. crude oil initially spiked more than 10%, while Brent, the international oil benchmark, rose as much as 13%.

Early Monday morning, reports were coming in of black smoke rising from the U.S. embassy in Kuwait City.

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While Iran’s oil reserves supply less than an estimated 5% of global production, the main concern is the Strait of Hormuz. This maritime passageway borders Iran at the bottleneck of the Persian Gulf, and more than 20% of the world’s oil passes through. If Iran closes or restricts Hormuz, the oil market could face severe disruptions.

Gas prices rise about 2.5 cents for every dollar increase in crude oil prices. As of Sunday, U.S. crude oil prices had already increased by nearly $5 a barrel.

“I fully expect that by Monday night, you could credibly say that gas prices are being impacted by oil prices having gone up,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan told NBC News.

GasBuddy characterizes their expectations for price increases as “incremental” rather than “explosive”. The group said to anticipate a potential 10-15 cent increase over the next couple of weeks.

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Body camera video shows Massachusetts police officer save 78-year-old man from burning truck – East Idaho News

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Body camera video shows Massachusetts police officer save 78-year-old man from burning truck – East Idaho News


EASTON, Mass. (WBZ) — Police body camera video shows an Easton, Massachusetts, officer rescuing a 78-year-old Raynham man from a burning car on Friday morning.

A Mack dump truck was experiencing problems on the side of Turnpike Street just after 2 a.m. when a Ford pickup truck struck the back of it, according to police.

The pickup truck then became stuck under the dump truck, trapping the driver, Francis Leverone, inside. A Toyota Camry then hit the back of the pickup truck and caught fire, police said.

Easton police officer Dean Soucie arrived at the crash and saw that the two vehicles were on fire. Video shows Soucie rushing over before breaking the driver’s side window and then, with the help of the two witnesses, freeing Leverone from the pickup truck. Soucie said he was confused but conscious.

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“As I reached inside the vehicle, one of the passersby — he actually jumped into the cab of the truck, and he helped me free the individual,” Soucie said.

They then carried the driver to safety.

Leverone was taken to a nearby hospital before being transferred to a Boston hospital. He received serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

No one else was injured in the crash.

Dee Leverone told WBZ her husband is doing OK. “I’m just thankful for the people that got him out,” she said. “Very thankful.”

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After watching the police body-cam video on the news she said, “I was shocked, I was like ‘Oh my God!’ I just couldn’t believe it. His truck is like melted.”

She says she realized that something was wrong last night when her husband never made it home from work.

“I kept trying to call him and call him, and I finally got a hold of him at like 4:30 a.m., and he was at (Good Samaritan Hospital) and he told me he’s gotten in an accident,” Dee said.

She says he’s recovering at the Boston Medical Center and being treated for a dislocated hip.

“He’s a trooper,” Dee said. “He’s a strong man — and you know he’s 78, but you know he’s a toughie. He definitely is a toughie.”

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Soucie commended the help of the two witnesses and said that before he arrived at the crash, they had attempted to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher and removed a gasoline tank from the pickup truck before it could ignite.

“They jumped into action like it was nothing,” Soucie said. “Those two individuals were absolutely awesome.”

Easton Police Chief Keith Boone said that he is “extremely proud” of Soucie and the witnesses.

“He saved a life last night,” Chief Boone said. “He is an exemplary police officer and this is just one example. I think he’s a hero.”

Turnpike Street was closed for several hours following the crash. Easton Police are investigating.

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Crews battle fire at Townsend home

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Crews battle fire at Townsend home


A fire broke out Sunday morning in Townsend, Massachusetts.

The Townsend Fire department said shortly before 7 a.m. that firefighters were on scene for a structure fire on Dudley Road.

People have been asked to avoid the area.

The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services said state police fire investigators assigned to the state fire marshal’s office are responding to assist the Townsend Fire Department.

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There was no immediate word on any injuries, or any information on what caused the fire. It’s also unclear if the large snow piles in the area impeded access to fire hydrants, as was the case at the house explosion in Taunton last week.

This developing story will be updated when we learn more



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