Last week, the 2013-2014 Massachusetts legislative
session came to a close amid a flurry of activity on Beacon Hill.
Lawmakers rushed to finalize and pass priority bills, working past
their deadline on Thursday, sending a number of proposals to the
Governor's desk after midnight. Now, Governor Deval Patrick has
10 days to review the legislation he received.
While disagreement between legislators and the
Governor over how to raise funds for public transportation services
marked the bulk of 2013, 2014 proved to be a fruitful year for
lawmaking. The legislature passed laws raising the minimum wage,
establishing rights for domestic workers to prevent exploitation,
regulating drug compounding pharmacies, and instituting new checks
and balances to stamp out avenues for welfare system fraud, just to
name a few. This advisory covers recent highlights from the
2013-2014 legislative session and analyzes issues that may
resurface in the 2014-2015 legislative session.
