LAW

A plot line that was developing a year ago, overshadowed 2025 by a long shot: President Donald Trump's return to the White House and its impact on Beacon Hill.

The number crunchers on Beacon Hill began the state budgeting process. The consensus revenue hearing determined cautious growth is ahead in Massachusetts.

Lawmakers will peer into the future and guess how much tax revenue Massachusetts can reliably count on to support state spending beginning six months from now and running through June 2027.

Today on The Rundown, panelists discuss legal social cannabis consumption coming to Mass., a lack in racial diversity in western Mass. public offices, and stalled development of Sublime Systems expansion in Holyoke following a grant rescission.

Campbell, in her first term in office, attended a fundraiser for her re-election campaign in Northampton, Mass., recently. She currently has no challengers from either party.

Last week Mass. Gov. Maura Healey signed the 104-page $2.3 billion supplemental budget. Her requested FIFA World Cup tournament funding for next year's games in Foxborough was halved.

The next deadline for state agencies to submit their report to MassDEP is March 1, 2026.

Beacon Hill moved several policy priorities forward in mid-November, but most bills weren’t finalized, leaving much of the work for next year.

Massachusetts Senate leaders say they’re nearing a deal on the supplemental budget and preparing to take up the House-passed cannabis reform bill before their holiday break begins Wednesday.

The Trump administration says it will fund SNAP food aid for November, but only partially and with delayed disbursement.