BOSTON – The Massachusetts House of Representatives unanimously passed a $39.6 billion fiscal 2017 budget bill Wednesday afternoon, shipping its spending plan to the Senate where a debate is planned in May to shape its vision of what state outlays should look like beginning July 1.
The budget bill was approved after two-plus days of deliberations marked by light and sporadic debate, with most of the decisions made in a House ante-room where lawmakers were instructed to go and talk to Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey about their hundreds of amendments.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — In need of momentum after a five-state shutout, Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz on Wednesday tapped former technology executive Carly Fiorina — a woman he said has repeatedly "shattered glass ceilings" — to serve as his prospective running mate.
The Texas senator announced his pick for vice president nearly three months before his party's national convention, an unusual move for an underdog candidate that reflects the increasing urgency for the fiery conservative to reverse his downward trajectory.
