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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

Mass. House votes to set new rules for DiZoglio’s audit

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Mass. House votes to set new rules for DiZoglio’s audit


Twenty-eight lawmakers dissented Wednesday as the Massachusetts House voted to set new terms around what state Auditor Diana DiZoglio would be able to review in the legislative audit voters authorized her to carry out in 2024.

Almost all House Democrats voted for the measure, which also proposes to make more state government records accessible to the public. Three Democrats — Cambridge Rep. Mike Connolly, Attleboro Rep. Jim Hawkins and Fall River Rep. Alan Silvia — joined the body’s 25 Republicans in voting no.

Speaker Ron Mariano said the bill responds to an ongoing call from voters for more transparency out of Beacon Hill and provides a path forward in lieu of a what he called “politically motivated audit conducted in violation of the Constitution.”

Leaders of the House and Senate have resisted DiZoglio’s audit push, arguing that a probe by the auditor’s office would run afoul of the separation of powers laid out in the state Constitution, bringing the legislative branch under the review of a piece of the executive branch.

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“We are not accountable to any constitutional officer,” said Rep. Mindy Domb, an Amherst Democrat. “We are only accountable to our constituents.”

Taunton Rep. Lisa Field, a Democrat in her first term, said she was among the 72% of Massachusetts voters who backed the audit ballot question in 2024.

“Due to legitimate concerns and questions about constitutional privileges and separation of powers, we have been stuck on this audit issue for more than a year,” Field said. “Let’s not be like Washington, D.C. and accept such gridlock — not about the audit and not about public records. Let’s not let perfect be the enemy of good progress.”

The House’s bill would authorize DiZoglio to review what it defines as the “administrative functions” of the Legislature, going back to the 2021 fiscal year. Those areas include the adoption of annual budgets, official audits of the House and Senate by independent firms, spending by both chambers, and the execution of any financial settlements with lawmakers and employees.

It would also newly apply the state’s public records law to the governor’s office, and create a process by which people could request and receive certain legislative files.

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Massachusetts is currently the only state where the Legislature, governor and judiciary all claim to be exempt from the public records law.

Warren Republican Rep. Todd Smola described the process that led up to Wednesday’s vote as opaque in and of itself. Mariano last week said the House would take up what he called comprehensive transparency legislation, but did not say when or what, specifically, the bill would do.

The bill was circulated to members of the House Ways and Means Committee around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, and committee members had a little over a half hour to vote on whether to advance it. Smola, the ranking Republican on the committee, said during that 34-minute window, “we had members on both sides of the political aisle that were calling each other back and forth to say, ‘Can you explain this portion to me?’”

“We are so much better than the process that has unfolded,” he said. “And for the sake of people that are asking us for transparency, that is not transparency. That’s the opposite of transparency.”

Rep. Michael Soter, a Bellingham Republican, said he was particularly concerned with a part of the bill that removes the courts from settling disputes between the auditor and the Legislature.

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He said that by setting its own rules around an audit, the House would be “ensuring the auditor can only see exactly what we allow her to see and nothing more.”

It’s not clear yet if the Senate will pass the bill. Last week, state senators voted to turn over a limited set of documents to DiZoglio. The documents the Senate plans to provide mirror the records she would be allowed to review under the House bill.

Asked if he expected the Senate to agree to the legislation, Mariano on Tuesday said only, “I talked to the Senate.”



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French-Mediterranean Eatery Charts Opening In Boston

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French-Mediterranean Eatery Charts Opening In Boston


BOSTON, MA — An international restaurant group with locations across the globe is preparing to open its first Massachusetts restaurant this year.

LPM Restaurant & Bar, a French Riviera-inspired restaurant founded in London, is set to open on the second floor of the Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street in Back Bay, according to Four Seasons. The hotel lists the restaurant as “Opening Summer 2026,” while the Boston Business Journal reported the restaurant plans to open in September.

The Boston restaurant will mark LPM’s debut in the Northeast and its third U.S. outpost, following locations in Miami and Las Vegas, according to a Four Seasons announcement.

LPM, also known as La Petite Maison, was founded in London in 2007 and is known for French-Mediterranean food, Mediterranean ingredients and dining rooms influenced by Belle Époque design.

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The business operates locations in London, Dubai, Miami, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Riyadh, Limassol, Doha, Mykonos, Kuwait, Boston, Maldives and Bangkok.

Four Seasons said LPM will take over the space that formerly housed One Dalton’s breakfast concept, One + One. The restaurant will join other dining options at the hotel, including Zuma and Trifecta.

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Massachusetts high school under investigation after teachers diagnosed with breast cancer

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Massachusetts high school under investigation after teachers diagnosed with breast cancer


A Massachusetts high school is under investigation after “several” teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions.

The state Department of Public Health is set to visit Uxbridge High School on Thursday to “conduct a series of air quality tests,” to determine whether the multiple cases are potentially connected.

Superintendent David Ljungberg and Principal Michael Rubin alerted families and district staff on Monday of the “sombering news,” after Uxbridge High School’s graduation over the weekend.

“We are writing to inform you about a concern we are investigating at Uxbridge High School,” Ljungberg and Rubin stated in the letter. “Several female teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions over the past few years.”

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“It is, of course, possible that these multiple cases are not connected to one another,” the leaders added, “but out of abundance of caution, we are looking into any environmental factors at the school that may be a factor in their diagnoses.”

The 123,000-square-foot school, with an enrollment of roughly 600, was constructed in 2012 at a cost of $45 million, including a $22-million state reimbursement.

Uxbridge school leaders say they notified the state Department of Health and local health board as soon as they became aware of the cases, seeking “counsel about how best to proceed.”

“Massachusetts DPH officials have indicated that there is no evidence of immediate danger in the building and no reason to limit access to or use of the facility at this time,” they wrote in their letter. “In fact, the public health officials have commended our decision to approach them with these concerns, our readiness to partner with them in support of the evaluation process.”

Health officials are assessing the school’s interior and exterior to “ensure there are no issues with the infrastructure that would present risks (including electrical, plumbing, mechanical, HVAC, and other systems)” and the indoor and outdoor air quality on campus.

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The superintendent and principal said that state officials have ruled out water supply as a “risk factor” after “thorough testing.”

“The team has reached out to the women who have been diagnosed, requesting data to evaluate whether there may be a connection among their cases,” Ljungberg and Rubin wrote. “We are grateful for their cooperation.”

They added that the state has said discovering an environmental “smoking gun” is “rare” in workplace investigations.

“However, even if a direct causal link is not established,” the leaders wrote, “the administration is utilizing this process to rigorously test the building and guarantee that it meets all safety standards moving forward.”

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