Lawmakers have had a busy few weeks on Beacon Hill tying up loose ends and dealing with the budget and marijuana policy issues -- all leading up to the Fourth of July holiday.
The session began slowly and quietly. That was underlined in a Boston Business Journal editoriallast week about how activists sometimes threaten to launch a ballot initiative as a way to motivate lawmakers into action.
One measure - to raise the minimum wage to fifteen dollars an hour - has yet to be taken up by the legislature.
As we do most Mondays we check in with the State House News Service in Boston. Matt Murphy is a reporter there. He tells us which pathway to an increased minimum wage - legislation or ballot box - is the most likely path that lawmakers will take.