STATE HOUSE — Responding to instability in the stock market that has shredded revenue estimates for next year, House and Senate leaders on Thursday will seek passage of a $39.15 billion budget accord for the fiscal year beginning Friday that slashes $750 million in projected revenue and $413 million in proposed spending from budget bills agreed to in April and May.
The (H 4450), reached on Wednesday by six House and Senate negotiators, preserves increases to local aid and school funding for cities and towns, as well as substance abuse programs, but leaves many agencies and programs receiving level funding or minimal increases as the page turns Thursday night from fiscal 2016 to fiscal 2017.
STATE HOUSE — After scrapping a requirement for companies to enable tipping and roughly matching the House and governor's two-tiered approach toward background checks for drivers, the Senate on Wednesday passed a bill creating a regulatory structure for the novel app-based ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft.
The bill passed the Senate on a 34-2 vote, with Democratic Sens. Thomas McGee and Marc Pacheco opposed, but not before a few changes were made. The Senate amended the bill to require a state background check for drivers in addition to a company-conducted vetting process.
