Matt Murphy
WBUR
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Past articles by Matt:
Liss-Riordan launching bid for attorney general
Labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan will officially launch her campaign for attorney general on Tuesday, entering a potentially growing field of candidates on the Democratic side looking to succeed Attorney General Maura Healey as she makes her bid for governor. → Read More
Navient to forgive $41 million in Mass. student loans
It's part of a $1.85 billion settlement tied to allegations that the national student loan corporation mislead borrowers, Attorney General Maura Healey announced Thursday. → Read More
ARPA and surplus spending might have to wait until 2022
The House and Senate will go into their mid-session recess without finalizing a plan to spend close to $4 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funding and state surplus tax dollars, giving up on the prospects for a deal as Democrats in both branches remained too far apart to cement a compromise. → Read More
Baker Pitches A 2-Month Sales Tax Holiday
To take effect, the proposal would need to get through the Democrat-controlled Legislature where lawmakers in both the House and Senate were already questioning the governor's decision to prioritize tax relief over investments in things like student debt relief or public transit. → Read More
Lawmakers Set To Vote On Including Wealth Surtax On The 2022 Ballot
Opponents are challenging the assertions by Democratic leaders that it could raise $2 billion for education and transportation with new research suggesting the tax would cost jobs and produce significantly less new revenue. → Read More
Get Your Vaccine, And A $25 Gift Card, On Your Next Trip To Market Basket
The governor said vaccines would be available without an appointment Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week at pop-up clinics in the parking lots of Market Basket stores in Chelsea, Fall River, Lawrence, Lynn and Revere. → Read More
As Vaccines Roll Out, Baker Cautions Against Lowering Guard
Acknowledging that COVID-19 infections are again on the rise in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday warned against letting a "false sense of security" settle in as vaccine distribution ramps up and federal officials caution states not to relax pandemic restrictions. → Read More
Cities Shorted Under Fed Funding Formula Getting $100 Million
Chelsea, Everett, Methuen and Randolph will be able to use the additional aid to address a range of COVID-19 needs, such as replacing lost municipal revenue, investing in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure, and mitigating the pandemic's economic impact. → Read More
Poll: Baker’s Approval Rating Sinks To 52%
Gov. Charlie Baker's approval rating has tumbled since August, but the Republican would still be the favorite if he decided to run for a third term in 2022, according to a new UMass Amherst/WCVB poll. → Read More
Warren: Pandemic Underscores Need For Wealth Tax
The senator from Massachusetts wants to impose a 2% annual tax on net worth over $50 million, including assets like stocks and property. The plan calls for an additional 1% tax to be added on all net worth above $1 billion. → Read More
Trusted Companions To Seniors Will Gain Vaccine Access
In an effort to make the COVID-19 vaccine more accessible to residents 75 and older, the Baker administration plans to begin this week allowing anyone who accompanies an eligible senior to one of the state's mass vaccination sites to receive a shot themselves. Baker on Wednesday will also announce new mass vaccination sites planned for the Natick Mall and the former Circuit City in Dartmouth. → Read More
Former State Sen. Downing Launching Campaign for Governor
The Pittsfield native comes from a political family in the Berkshires. It is still unknown whether Gov. Charlie Baker will seek a third term, but Downing in recent weeks has amplified his criticism of the Republican on social media, blasting the administration for its choppy COVID-19 vaccination rollout. → Read More
People Aged 75+ Eligible For Vaccines Next Week
Residents aged 65 and older have been bumped up in priority, and will join people with two or more comorbidities in the second group to become eligible in phase two sometime in February. → Read More
House Speaker Says He'll Refile Climate Bill If Baker Vetoes
Ronald Mariano says he'll refile the climate bill in its entirety if the governor rejects it → Read More
DeLeo Announces Resignation; Mariano Appears To Have Votes To Succeed As New Mass. Speaker
Speaker Robert DeLeo's departure will allow the House to choose a new speaker before the next session begins. Majority Leader Ron Mariano, who entered the House the same year as DeLeo in 1991, appears to have the votes locked up to become the next speaker. → Read More
Baker Vetoes Bill Expanding Abortion Access In Mass.
The legislation would codify the right to an abortion in state law and make the procedure in Massachusetts more accessible by expanding access for women after 24 weeks of pregnancy. It would also lower the age of consent for an abortion to 16, which the Republican governor said he "cannot support." → Read More
With Veto Threat, Baker Seeks Several Changes To Landmark Police Reform Bill
Gov. Charlie Baker announced in a letter Thursday plans to return to the Legislature landmark legislation that would impose new accountability standards on police. The governor made clear he is not afraid to veto the bill if several amendments he is now proposing are not adopted. → Read More
'Testing Desert' Complicating Cape’s Virus Fight
Residents currently looking to get tested on the Cape either need medical authorization, or can go through Whole Health Pharmacy in Hyannis, which has limited hours and requires insurance, according to Cyr. The state does not have a "Stop the Spread" free testing site in the entire county. → Read More
With Unanimous Vote, Budd Makes History As SJC Chief
Kimberly Budd will become the next chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court after she was unanimously confirmed by the Governor's Council on Wednesday to succeed the late Chief Justice Ralph Gants and become the first Black woman to lead the state's highest court. → Read More
Virus Uptick Continues With More Than 4,000 Cases In Mass. Over Weekend
The week began Monday with the state tracking 22,023 active cases of COVID-19 after public health officials reported 4,009 new cases of the coronavirus over the weekend and 43 new confirmed deaths from the disease. → Read More