Beacon Hill News

DPU Opens Probe into Volatile Massachusetts Energy Bills

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By Michael P. Norton

Nine weeks after Gov. Maura Healey requested a review, the Department of Public Utilities on Monday opened an investigation of all delivery charges on electric and gas bills in Massachusetts. The department said its probe “will examine the causes of bill volatility and promote a greater understanding of rates for customers to take greater control over their energy bills.”

The DPU has so far in 2025 reduced the budget of the Mass Save three-year plan, required mitigation for last winter’s gas bills and implemented new electric rates to reduce winter costs for residents who use heat pumps. The new investigation will explore whether to establish limits on how much charges can increase from month to month, and whether certain charges should be eliminated, consolidated or “redesigned as a fixed charge.”

The efforts come as residents and businesses cope with rising utility and other bills that are contributing to a higher cost of living in Massachusetts. “Last winter, customers saw their bills spike, with some paying 50% more than they did the previous winter,” Healey wrote in an Oct. 14 letter to the DPU.

Beacon Hill News

Massachusetts Continues to Deliver Full SNAP Benefits Despite Fed Threats

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By Alison Kuznitz

All Massachusetts residents eligible so far this month for federal government food assistance have received their full SNAP, or food stamp, benefits. Gov. Maura Healey said Monday afternoon the state delivered on what is formally known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program despite Washington gridlock. “My message to every SNAP recipient out there is this: Forget the noise that you’re hearing from Donald Trump. Forget the noise about further appeals to the Supreme Court,” Healey said at a press conference in her office. “I want you to know, because of the actions that we took, SNAP benefits have been restored to your cards.

Region

Congressman Seth Moulton to Challenge Ed Markey for US Senate

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By Colin A. Young

For the second election cycle in a row, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey will face a challenge from a younger Democrat in the state’s Congressional delegation. Congressman Seth Moulton of Salem announced this morning he will run for U.S. Senate next year, arguing that Massachusetts cannot wait another six years to install someone from a younger generation in the Senate. The Democrat has not been shy about challenging members of his own party—he won his seat in the U.S. House in 2014 by defeating longtime Democratic Congressman John Tierney, briefly challenged U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi for the speaker’s gavel in 2018 and joined a crowded field for president in 2019. “Our party has clung to the status quo, insisted on using the same old playbook, and isn’t fighting hard enough. The next generation will keep paying the cost if we don’t change course.

Haverhill

State Appears Poised to Give $374 Million in Closeout Budget to Sustain Former Steward Hospitals

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By Michael P. Norton and Sam Drysdale

House Democrats are ready to act on a $2.25 billion spending bill that steers more than $2 billion to MassHealth and former Steward Health Care hospitals while withholding a $162 million request from county sheriffs pending an investigation into their spending practices. The House Ways and Means Committee voted Tuesday morning on the legislation, which appears headed for approval during a formal session planned for Wednesday. It was not immediately known how much of the aid would be allocated to former Steward Hospitals, now known as Merrimack Health, in Haverhill and Methuen. The legislation outlines $1.67 billion in spending for MassHealth and $374 million in payments to former Steward hospitals. It also sets aside $10 million to help cover Massachusetts’ hosting costs for the 2026 World Cup and creates a new $15 million Sports and Entertainment Fund to attract large-scale events to the state.

Beacon Hill News

O’Brien Flags Concerns Over Cannabis Control Votes Taken in Her Absence

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By Colin A. Young

The state Cannabis Control Commission is waiting for word from the attorney general’s office on whether commission votes taken during the two years that Chairwoman Shannon O’Brien was ousted are valid, including the approvals of licenses and two rounds of regulation refinement. The request for legal clarity stems from concerns O’Brien raised about the process by which other commissioners were named acting chair of the CCC after she was, as a judge ruled, unlawfully suspended and then fired by Treasurer Deborah Goldberg in September 2023. When O’Brien was first removed from the CCC, Commissioner Kimberly Roy chaired the next meeting and said she had been “designated as chair.” At subsequent meetings, commissioners voted to make others the acting chair. O’Brien contended that only the chair can designate an acting chair. “My concern is that because we have not, for two years, had an appropriately delegated acting chair, some of the votes that took place may not be valid,” she said.

Cannabis

O’Brien Returns to Cannabis Control Commission; Delays Social Consumption Rules

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Colin A. Young

Cannabis Control Commission Chairwoman Shannon O’Brien has returned to the agency and forced a delay in issuing long-awaited rules for social marijuana establishments. Stem of Haverhill is one of the cannabis retailers that has expressed interest in becoming one of the state’s first on-site consumption sites. It is unclear what impact, if any, a delay in issuing rules will have. The Cannabis Control Commission said Thursday morning that meetings it had on the books for the first half of next week, which were expected to feature the final review of the social consumption regulations and action on employee registration changes, are being pushed back until Oct. 23 and 24.

Region

Report: Federal SNAP Food Assistance Changes will Affect 40,000 in Greater Boston

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By Sam Drysdale

A new federal law could leave 7% of Boston-area SNAP recipients with reduced food assistance or new hurdles to qualify, according to a report released Tuesday. The One Big Beautiful Bill signed by President Donald Trump in July overhauls the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, with stricter work rules, new immigrant eligibility limits and higher state cost-sharing requirements. An analysis by Boston Indicators estimates about 40,000 adults in Greater Boston could face stricter work rules that now extend to age 65 and narrow exemptions for parents. As of July 2025, nearly 579,000 Greater Boston residents received SNAP, with the highest participation in cities such as Lawrence and Brockton. In Lawrence, an estimated 63% of residents are SNAP clients—the highest share of any ZIP Code in the region.

Beacon Hill News

Insurance Rebates Coming Soon For 350,000 People in Massachusetts

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By Michael P. Norton

More than 350,000 people in Massachusetts will begin receiving health insurance rebates in September. State insurance regulators said Tuesday the rebates total $75.6 million and benefit people covered by individual or small employer plans issued by five insurance carriers. In 2024, a similar round of rebates totaled $51.6 million. Rebates are required when an insurance carrier’s average medical loss ratio over a three-year period falls below the state threshold that requires insurers to spend at least 88% of premiums on health care services for individuals and small group policyholders. “These rebates are more than just numbers—they’re dollars back in the pockets of families and small business owners across the Commonwealth,” Insurance Commissioner Michael Caljouw said in a statement.