NEW: Governor Maura Healey said SNAP benefits in Mass are being fully paid out, and that people should “go out and buy the food you need” despite what President Trump says. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/10/m...

A former Healey aide was a pillar of Springfield — until 18 pounds of cocaine arrived at his state office. Our profile of LaMar Cook: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/10/m...

ICYMI: We have a new newsletter! Subscribe to Immigration Unmasked for weekly updates and deep dives on immigration news: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/07/m...

NEW: Republican candidate for governor Mike Minogue, who has already poured at least $1.5 million of his own money into his campaign, is preparing to run his second primetime television advertisement — a full year before the election. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/05/m...

LaMar Cook case: Former Healey aide ordered held without bail on drug trafficking charges after authorities said they seized nearly 18 pounds of cocaine slated to be delivered to a Springfield state building where he worked. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/31/m...

On Saturday in Springfield, Massachusetts State Police set up a sting in hopes of getting information on a person they believed was involved in shipping large amounts of cocaine to a hotel in Amherst. It wasn’t an average bust. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/31/m...

As SNAP cutoff looms, Mass. to double November funding for food banks www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/30/m...

Western Mass. Healey aide arrested; police say cocaine was sent to Springfield state office ✍️ @samanthajgross.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/29/m...

Lede of the day: "A Springfield-based aide to Governor Maura Healey was arrested after ... police seized eight kilograms of cocaine that were slated to be delivered over the weekend to a state building downtown, where he worked." by @samanthajgross.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/29/m...

NEW: Half of the Massachusetts State House staff plan to leave their jobs within two years, according to a new survey conducted by a group of staffers. The survey comes ahead of a hearing this week on legislation that would allow them to unionize. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/27/m...

In an exclusive interview — the first since she left her post last Thursday — former transportation secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt said she felt ready to leave the public eye: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/21/m...

Moulton’s Senate bid opens chance to move up political food chain. Here’s who is vying for his seat. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/16/m...

NEW: Citing ‘serious questions’ and ‘questionable spending,’ Mass. lawmakers move to hold back funding for sheriffs www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/14/m...

NEW: Governor Healey’s pick for state Superior Court judge works for her partner, Joanna Lydgate www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/08/m...

ICYMI: MA House members are back in session today to vote on overriding several spending items Gov. Healey snipped from the fiscal 2026 budget she signed in July, signaling a clash in views between the two branches on how to deal with Trump's budget cuts. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/08/m...

Opponents of aggressive ICE enforcement are using a Supreme Court-inspired term to describe cases of racial profiling. Today's Starting Point explains.

Some legal and military scholars say we are watching an unprecedented erosion of constitutional limits and checks designed to prevent the deployment of the US military against its own citizens.

NEW: After months of speculation, Republican mega-donor and medical device businessman Mike Minogue has entered the race for Massachusetts’ top office, promising to be “a new kind of governor” in a video announcing his run. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/01/m...

NEW: Budget writers on Beacon Hill gathered today to discuss a bleak reality: the state is confronting “a challenging fiscal road ahead" as the federal government is set to run out of funding at midnight. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/30/m...

ICYMI: Amid military escalation in Gaza, Massachusetts lawmakers traveled to Israel on trip funded by Israeli government www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/26/m...

You have questions about immigration enforcement in Massachusetts. We have answers. My latest, for @bostonglobe.com's Starting Point: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/25/n...

Agents surround the 5-year-old U.S. citizen and beckon her father to come out. “Don’t touch her!” Edwards Hip Mejia yells. “You’re more than welcome to come pick her up,” one agent responds. From the @bostonglobe.com’s Giulia McDonnell Neto del Rio and @samanthajgross.bsky.social bit.ly/480fUEq

NEW: Mass. lawmakers are participating in a biennial tradition of tweaking the midterm primary date. Experts say ultimately, it doesn't really matter. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/17/m...

NEW: Charlie Kirk shooting renews debate: do stricter gun laws in states like Mass. mean safer gun culture?http://bostonglobe.com/2025/09/12/metro/charlie-kirk-massachusetts-gun-law/

ICYMI: A Rhode Island judge just sided with a group of Democrat-led states who argued against a Trump administration directive excluding undocumented children from Head Start, a federal program that gives poor families access to free child care www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/10/m...

For many, summer camp is an annual escape. But camaraderie takes on a special meaning at Camp Jabberwocky, the oldest operating sleep-away camp for people with special needs in the country. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/26/m...

When Nantucket passed a bylaw allowing anyone to be topless on its beaches, there was consternation, pushback, and fears of what the tony island would become. Three years later, it’s hardly a topic of conversation. My little dispatch from the island: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/26/m...

NEW: After a 5-year legal battle, a Superior Court judge has ruled that BlueHub Capital violated predatory lending statutes and other lending laws. The ruling presents a difficult political question for Governor Healey, who has defended BlueHub. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/25/m...

NEW: Mass. secretary of veterans affairs and former state lawmaker to step down in fall www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/22/m... #mapoli

NEW: Healey administration officials said the state collected $2 billion more in tax revenue than officials originally projected in the fiscal year that ended last month, thanks to revenue from the so-called millionaires tax and a tax on capital gains. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/08/m...

NEW: A group of legislators attending a national conference for state lawmakers in Boston on Tuesday called on their colleagues across the country to pass laws prohibiting immigration agents from wearing masks during enforcement operations. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/05/m...

NEW: Governor Maura Healey stepped into a national, partisan debate Tuesday as Texas Democrats block their Republican colleagues from passing a new congressional map backed by President Trump. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/05/m...

When Texas Democrats boarded planes out of the state to block a vote on a redrawn congressional map that favors Republicans, Republican Governor Greg Abbott threatened to remove them from office. On Monday, those same Democrats were celebrated in Boston. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/04/m...

NEW: Governor Maura Healey has announced the closure of all hotel shelters and the end of a state of emergency she declared to address a housing crisis in August 2023. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/08/01/m...

NEW: In her latest effort to fill gaping holes caused by cuts in federal funding, Governor Healey introduced legislation that would inject $400M into R&D projects, including funds to sustain higher ed positions imperiled by federal actions. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/31/m...

NEW: To get court-appointed attorneys back to work, Beacon Hill unveiled a pay increase for bar advocates as well as structural changes aimed at heading off future crises like the one that has gripped the state court system for weeks. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/30/m...

NEW: Massachusetts lawmakers have been asking corporations and others with interests before the Legislature to fork over as much as $250,000 each to help fund a national gathering of state legislators next week. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/30/m...

NEW: Last year, Governor Maura Healey dismayed advocates when she signed into law protections for a Boston nonprofit battling accusations of predatory lending. Now her Democratic colleague is proposing regulatory changes that would clamp down on BlueHub. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/22/m...

NEW: Representative Seth Moulton draws a primary challenge after criticism over trans athlete remarks www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/m...

NEW: Despite plummeting shelter populations and ahead-of-schedule closing of hotel shelters, state officials extended a 2023 declaration asserting that the state still can’t keep up with the demand and that it must keep in place current limitations. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/m...

Citing fiscal uncertainty, Governor Maura Healey has delayed $125m in earmarks until at least October ✍️ @samanthajgross.bsky.social & Matt Stout www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/15/m...

NEW: With fiscal uncertainty bubbling up from DC, lawmakers here trimmed the state’s spending plan by hundreds of millions and cut into programs that help the state’s poorest. What they didn’t slash: money for their hand-picked projects. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/15/m...

Executives at Massachusetts’ powerful health care and insurance worlds led a cadre of donors who funneled money to the state’s most powerful Democrats last year, a Globe analysis found.

Want to know who’s funding Beacon Hill’s top Democrats? This interactive dashboard breaks down more than 9,000 campaign donations made in 2024. Explore contributions to see where the money came from — and who gave the most. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/08/m...

NEW: Health care can dominate debate on Beacon Hill, most notably in how taxpayer money gets spent. The Globe found that no one lobbies lawmakers more than the industry’s leaders and few, if any, cut more campaign checks. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/08/m...

NEW: Governor Maura Healey signed a $61B state budget plan today, slashing $130M from it and holding back tens of millions in earmarks for local projects. Healey also asked for power to cut across government if revenues go south. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/04/m...

NEW: Trump’s sweeping tax- and spending-cuts bill would chop money for safety net programs the state relies on to help feed its poorest residents. Less noticed, the state budget sitting on Governor Maura Healey's desk threatens to exacerbate those cuts. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/02/m...

No more broker’s fees, fare-free regional transit: Despite gloom in DC, Massachusetts lawmakers send Healey on-time budget: www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/30/m... #mapoli

Full budget agreement has been filed here: malegislature.gov/Bills/194/Ho...

NEW: Acknowledging a precarious financial moment, Mass. lawmakers released a $61B budget agreement they said slashes hundreds of millions of dollars in spending and outlows mandatory tenant-paid broker’s fees. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/29/m... #mapoli