State House News

NEW: Massachusetts Teachers Association delegates voted over the weekend to commit $2 million of union dues to oppose a pair of ballot questions that would deliver income tax relief but cut state funding available for education and other public services. #mapoli

Which ballot questions could shake up Beacon Hill? What about the audit?@MattPrichardTV & I get into it on the @IssueNBCBoston midterm pod with @MASSterList @gintautasd. @maura_healey @JoeShortsleeve @MikeMinogueABMD @JohnEDeaton1 @EdMarkey @sethmoulton youtu.be/rv2tzSBM7cY

NEW: Senate redraft of House-approved PROTECT Act restricts civil arrests, including federal civil immigration arrests, in child care facilities, public schools, certain health care providers and state courts, per summary. #mapoli

NEW: Senate Democrats plan to pass their version of the PROTECT Act next Thursday. Amendments are due Monday. The House version passed 134-21 on March 25. #mapoli

NEW: Mass. House rejects amendment to study the impacts of data centers on energy, ratepayers and water use. Amendment sponsor Rep. Pease called it a "common sense thing." #mapoli

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is coming back to Boston to help Ayanna Pressley. Pressley’s reelection campaign is fundraising off a “fireside chat” with AOC, set for Friday. Access to the evening event costs $60 for general admission and $250 for a “meet and greet.” #MAPoli

NEW: Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly Budd will keynote the University of Massachusetts Amherst commencement on Friday, May 15 at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. #mapoli

NEW: Sen. Gómez and Rep. Donahue announce conference committee has agreed on reforms laying out a "more promising path forward for cannabis regulation" and plans to meet Monday in Springfield to formalize its report. They expect the accord to reach Gov. Healey this week. #mapoli

NEW: House plans vote Wednesday on bill that prohibits social media use for children under 14, requires platforms to obtain parental consent for users ages 14 and 15, and bans students from using cellphones in school, per Speaker Mariano announcement. #mapoli

NEW: Massachusetts House votes 134-21 to pass the PROTECT Act laying out new legal protections in the face of heightened federal immigration law enforcement. #mapoli

WINTER CLEANUP $$$: The state budgeted $35 million this year for snow and ice removal with permission to deficit spend another $50 million. The state has spent $160 million so far. #mapoli

I talked with @gintautasd of @MASSterList about @MassAGO's decision to leave Xitter: "The days when everybody could gather around the social media campfire are pretty much over." #mapoli massterlist.beehiiv.com/p/ag-campbell-…

NEW: Gov. Healey calls the Blizzard of 2026 "as bad as I've seen it." Healey was 7 years old during the Blizzard of '78. "I can't compare exactly because everything was big in my eyes," she recalled. "My birthday party got canceled." #mapoli

NEW: Citing abandoned and stuck vehicles, Gov. Healey signed an order placing an immediate ban on non-essential vehicle travel in Bristol, Plymouth, and Barnstable counties "due to the blizzard and dangerous road conditions." Order was announced at 2:45 p.m. Monday. #mapoli

BLIZZARD UPDATE: Gov. Healey plans 3 p.m. presser to provide updates on the Blizzard of 2026. Eversource says it had about 231,800 customers without power statewide as of 1 p.m. with 1,000 power restoration crews available. #mapoli

Join us for Keller @ Large LIVE in conversation with House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka on Wednesday (Feb 25) at the MCLE in Boston. More info/sign-up: events.humanitix.com/kellerlive #MAPoli

NEW: Gov. Healey signs executive order intended to ban new 287(g) agreements "unless there is a public safety need," prohibit ICE from making civil arrests in non-public areas of state facilities, and ban the use of state property for immigration enforcement staging. #mapoli

NEW: Massachusetts Gov. Healey plans 2:30 p.m. State House presser "to announce new actions to protect Massachusetts residents from the harmful actions by the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement." #mapoli

The case of Karen Read has stayed alive on social media thanks to upcoming “based on a true story” movies and a conspiracy-driven coterie of online cranks and kooks obsessed with her. The 2026 campaign trail appears primed to play its part, too. massterlist.beehiiv.com/p/read-and-her…