Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Tuesday signed a $2.31 billion spending bill to settle the books at MassHealth and steer funding to former Steward Health Care hospitals and the program that covers some care costs for uninsured and underinsured patients.

The Legislature shipped the spending package to Healey’s desk last Wednesday, which was the last day of formal sessions for the year. Spokesperson Karissa Hand told the News Service Tuesday afternoon that Healey signed the closeout.

The package allocates $1.67 billion for MassHealth, $374 million for Steward hospital payments, $10 million in hosting costs tied to next year’s World Cup games, $18.3 million for student financial aid and $10 million for “operational and technical enhancements” at the Department of Transitional Assistance.

Ahead of the FIFA World Cup next year, local organizers say Massachusetts has yet to keep its end of the deal to help fund certain services.

The law closing the books on fiscal 2025 also increases an assessment on hospital to generate more money for the Health Safety Net program and authorizes a $50 million transfer into the account from the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund.

Lawmakers opted to withhold the majority of appropriations sought by sheriffs to settle county budgets, as they wait on the inspector general to file an interim report by the end of February.

As officials investigate the crash that killed a teenager on an electric dirt bike in Stoneham, Massachusetts, last week, House Speaker Ron Mariano on Monday expressed an interest in beefing up enforcement and potentially installing new licensing requirements.

A 13-year-old boy struck a Toyota Corolla on Friday afternoon as the car was making a left turn, according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan’s office. The boy was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Mariano called the crash a “tragedy.”

“But we have begun to look at making sure that the rules that are in place are enforced, and if they have to be expanded or training has to be insisted upon, then we begin to do that — to license these folks that ride these bicycles,” Mariano said. “Because if you drive around the City of Boston, I’m sure you’ve been cut off or you’ve been frightened by these folks who are trying to make deliveries and pay very little attention to the traffic pattern or the traffic laws.”

Certain categories of e-bikes do not currently require rider licenses, according to MassBike.

Ryan’s office said its investigation includes the Stoneham Police Department, the State Police Crime Scene Services Section and the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section.

“We want to get to the bottom of it,” Mariano said. “We want to look at ways to make it safer and make sure that folks follow the laws that we have on the books.”

• The rising cost of health insurance is a major concern for small and large businesses in Massachusetts.
• A UMass Donahue Institute survey found 63% of small business owners believe they pay higher health insurance premiums than larger companies.
• The Taunton Area Chamber of Commerce created its Government Affairs Council to help local businesses communicate with legislators.
• Business groups like the Retailers Association of Massachusetts are urging their members to directly contact state legislators about their concerns.

Elizabeth LaBrecque says the Taunton Area Chamber of Commerce created its Government Affairs Council for a very good reason.

“The idea is for legislators to help local businesses,” said LeBrecque, whose job description at the TACC is Director of Member Development.

LaBrecque, says the cost of health insurance continues to be a major concern among small and large businesses.

“Health insurance is always a major factor,” she said.

A survey of 635 small businesses in the Bay State, conducted in October 2024 by the UMass Donahue Institute in Amherst, found that 63% of respondent business owners – who offer employee health insurance and employ up to 50 full-time workers – strongly agreed with the statement that small businesses and employees in the commonwealth “have to pay higher health insurance premiums than big businesses and government.”