Amid a lingering pandemic, a surprise merger proposal and strong efforts to make college free or debt-free, the 2021 legislative session in New England was one for the books.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of this year’s state legislative sessions ...
Sexual misconduct and assault
Lawmakers in Connecticut and Massachusetts passed legislation focused on college campus ...
Seven months into the 2019 session and three weeks into the new fiscal year, Massachusetts lawmakers completed work on the FY20 budget. The spending package of $43.1 billion represents a 3.3% increase over the prior year’s budget and contains no new taxes. Revenue collections at the end of FY19, totaled more than $29.6 billion, exceeding projections by $1.9 billion, which translated into more st...
Rhode Island lawmakers tackled education reform and OK'd a separate board of trustees for URI even as they erased a $200 million budget gap.
Gov. Gina Raimondo signed a $9.9 billion budget for FY20, which avoids new taxes, strengthens PreK-12, continues the phase-out of the car tax (auto excise tax) and closes a $200 million budget gap. She praised lawmakers for their hard work but criticized a...
Maine lawmakers adjourned the 2019 legislative session, passing a two-year budget of $8 billion for FY20 and FY21, absent the partisan rancor of previous years. The budget contains no tax increases or tax cuts. Senate Majority Leader Nate Libby (D-Lewiston) noted the budget committee cast more than 1,100 votes on budget line items with 99% being unanimous. The budget was the first for new Demo...
Connecticut lawmakers ended their session and sent a balanced budget of $43 billion for FY20 and FY21 to Gov. Ned Lamont. Democrats, who hold a majority in both legislative branches, said the budget erases a deficit without raising tax rates. Progressive Democrats in the General Assembly unsuccessfully pushed to tax the wealthiest Connecticut residents on investment income.
The effort to tax th...
The Vermont General Assembly adjourned the 2019 session in stages as the House and Senate, both with Democratic majorities, were unable to resolve their differences on two major proposals. At issue were proposals to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and a plan to provide paid family and medical leave to Vermonters. Despite broad agreement among Democrats to approve both measures, final agreeme...
Across New England, the days are starting to get longer, everyone is hoping spring weather is just around the corner, and each state’s legislative session is firmly underway.
While it’s still relatively early in the current sessions, at NEBHE we’re taking a first look at the major issues and trends we see emerging in the region’s legislatures related to higher education and workforce de...
State Capital Notes …
Vermont lawmakers passed a $5.5 billion budget along with $5.5 million in new taxes.
Property taxes were raised 5%. Spending overall increased by 4.1% over the prior year. The budget included a 1.6% increase in reimbursement rates for health care providers who accept Medicaid payments, which will cost $2.6 million. Lawmakers also increased the cigarette tax by 13 cen...
State Capital Notes …
In the second session of the biennium, Connecticut legislators approved a $19 billion budget for FY15 that increases spending by 2.5%.
Toward the end of the session, revised revenue forecasts forced lawmakers to scale back in a number of areas. Gov. Dannel Malloy’s promise to provide Connecticut taxpayers with a $55 rebate was put on hold as projections for dec...
Lawmakers passed a budget totaling $8.2 billion with no new fees or taxes and worked to address the state’s ailing business climate by providing structural changes and government reforms. Gov. Lincoln Chafee opposed the structural changes, but let the bill become law without his signature.
The budget provides for:
payment of $2.5 million related to the state-supported bonds of baseball st...
Amid a lingering pandemic, a surprise merger proposal and strong efforts to make college free or debt-free, the 2021 legislative session in New England was one for the books.
Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of this year’s state legislative sessions ...
Sexual misconduct and assault
Lawmakers in Connecticut and Massachusetts passed legislation focused on college campus ... 
Seven months into the 2019 session and three weeks into the new fiscal year, Massachusetts lawmakers completed work on the FY20 budget. The spending package of $43.1 billion represents a 3.3% increase over the prior year’s budget and contains no new taxes. Revenue collections at the end of FY19, totaled more than $29.6 billion, exceeding projections by $1.9 billion, which translated into more st... 
Rhode Island lawmakers tackled education reform and OK'd a separate board of trustees for URI even as they erased a $200 million budget gap.
Gov. Gina Raimondo signed a $9.9 billion budget for FY20, which avoids new taxes, strengthens PreK-12, continues the phase-out of the car tax (auto excise tax) and closes a $200 million budget gap. She praised lawmakers for their hard work but criticized a... 
Maine lawmakers adjourned the 2019 legislative session, passing a two-year budget of $8 billion for FY20 and FY21, absent the partisan rancor of previous years. The budget contains no tax increases or tax cuts. Senate Majority Leader Nate Libby (D-Lewiston) noted the budget committee cast more than 1,100 votes on budget line items with 99% being unanimous. The budget was the first for new Demo... 
Connecticut lawmakers ended their session and sent a balanced budget of $43 billion for FY20 and FY21 to Gov. Ned Lamont. Democrats, who hold a majority in both legislative branches, said the budget erases a deficit without raising tax rates. Progressive Democrats in the General Assembly unsuccessfully pushed to tax the wealthiest Connecticut residents on investment income.
The effort to tax th... 
The Vermont General Assembly adjourned the 2019 session in stages as the House and Senate, both with Democratic majorities, were unable to resolve their differences on two major proposals. At issue were proposals to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and a plan to provide paid family and medical leave to Vermonters. Despite broad agreement among Democrats to approve both measures, final agreeme... 
Across New England, the days are starting to get longer, everyone is hoping spring weather is just around the corner, and each state’s legislative session is firmly underway.
While it’s still relatively early in the current sessions, at NEBHE we’re taking a first look at the major issues and trends we see emerging in the region’s legislatures related to higher education and workforce de... 
State Capital Notes …
Vermont lawmakers passed a $5.5 billion budget along with $5.5 million in new taxes.
Property taxes were raised 5%. Spending overall increased by 4.1% over the prior year. The budget included a 1.6% increase in reimbursement rates for health care providers who accept Medicaid payments, which will cost $2.6 million. Lawmakers also increased the cigarette tax by 13 cen... 
Lawmakers passed a budget totaling $8.2 billion with no new fees or taxes and worked to address the state’s ailing business climate by providing structural changes and government reforms. Gov. Lincoln Chafee opposed the structural changes, but let the bill become law without his signature.
The budget provides for:
payment of $2.5 million related to the state-supported bonds of baseball st...