Lucas Willard

Massachusetts residents can now access the state's voter registration form by simply going online and printing it out at home.

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin announced Thursday that the mail-in voter registration form can be accessed on his agency's website. Also available in Spanish and Chinese, the form can be sent in by mail or handed in to the resident's town clerk or city election department.

Galvin's office said the online forms are similar to a national form already available on the web.

Last night the Massachusetts House of Representatives joined the State Senate in passing a resolution calling for a Constitutional amendment to eliminate Super PACs and corporate financing of elections.  WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard has more…

Just before the midnight deadline that would mark the end of the current legislative session, members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives took a voice vote with no objection to pass a resolution affirming the Commonwealth’s stance against corporate money in politics. 

A federal judge in Connecticut has ruled that part of a federal law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman and denies federal benefits to married gay couples is unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford ruled Tuesday that the provision in the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act violates the Fifth Amendment right to equal protection.

The ruling came in the case of six married same-sex couples and a widower who sued after being denied federal benefits. The plaintiffs are from Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Massachusetts lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill designed to save up to $200 billion in health care costs over the next 15 years.

Legislative leaders say the bill will also help guarantee the future of the state's landmark 2006 health care law and set Massachusetts on a path to being the first state to holding the future growth of health care costs close to the rate of inflation.

The Massachusetts Legislature has rejected Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed amendment to a bill barring parole for three-time violent felons, leaving the fate of the bill in doubt as the legislative session nears an end.

Patrick's so-called "safety valve" amendment would have given limited discretion to judges to grant parole to felons after serving two-thirds of their maximum prison sentence or after serving 25 years of a life sentence.

The House rejected the amendment on a 132-23 vote on Monday. The Senate defeated it on a voice vote.

The Massachusetts legislature is pushing to finalize a number of bills before the end of the formal session, including one that would strengthen the state’s prescription drug monitoring program. WAMC’s Lucas Willard reports…

The Governor of Massachusetts has signed an overhaul of the Community Preservation Act, which provides state funding to towns that have adopted the law for open spaces, historic preservation, and affordable housing. WAMC’s Lucas Willard has more…

The changes to the 12-year old Community Preservation Act signed by Governor Deval Patrick this month were included in the state’s fiscal year 2013 budget, signed on July 8th.

Divers have discovered a World War II-era German submarine nearly 70 years after it sank under withering U.S. attack in deep waters off the coast of Massachusetts.

The U-550 was found on Monday by a seven-man group, some of whom have been searching for the lost U-boat for several years.

This week the Massachusetts Senate passed a transportation bond bill designed to fund a slew of long-term , major transportation projects but time is running out before it can be approved by the Governor. WAMC’s Berkshire Bureau Chief Lucas Willard reports…

The bill titled An Act Financing Improvements to the Commonwealth’s Transportation System  was approved by the Senate this week to provide nearly 1.4 billion in state and federal aid to infrastructure projects across Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts  Department of Public Health confirmed Friday that they discovered evidence of more mosquitos carrying infectious disease in Pittsfield. 

State health officials announced that Equine Encephalitis virus was detected in a specimen sampled from the Williams Street area of Pittsfield. The city has announced that they will treat the area with insecticide.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is warning that those under 15 and over 50 are at the greatest risk for serious illness.