Beacon Hill In 5

Population growth is important for a thriving community. A recent UMass Donahue Wayfinders report projected population declines in all four WMass counties between 2020 and 2035.

A Legislative budget hearing focused on the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Executive Office of Transportation and the Registry of Motor Vehicles will be held this week.

Mass. lawmakers this week take up immigration enforcement. This comes as the Feds continue to sharply restrict legal immigration, and deport legal residents in mass deportation initiatives.

The so-called Bright Act, is a $3 billion bond bill aiming to put at least $2.5 billion of that back into campuses across Massachusetts.

Massachusetts lawmakers propose to move an energy measure forward amid high bills, winter chill and a looming budget.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s budget boosts spending 3.8% over last year, even as tax revenue growth slows to 2.9%, federal aid is uncertain, and reserves have already been tapped.

In her proposed budget released last week, the Mass. governor included a multi million-dollar "down payment" that will staff up and investing in infrastructure that could be used to kick thousands of residents off Medicaid programs like MassHealth, next year.

A proposal to tax recreation in the Franklin County town of Charlemont will be heard this week on Beacon Hill.