Business Bulletin

Haverhill Cannabis Retailer Says State’s Equity Fund Helps Her Compete as Market Changes

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By Sam Drysdale

A Haverhill cannabis store owner says the social equity grant she received this year from the state will help her compete as market forces favor larger retailers. Caroline Pineau, owner of Stem Haverhill, received her first social equity grant this year, at the maximum $500,000 level. As WHAV reported last March, she is using it to upgrade her 1876 building to prepare for a future social consumption license, adding an elevator, new stairwell and a rooftop lounge space. “With market compression and the instability of the cannabis market in Massachusetts, this grant will be instrumental in the future success of our single-entity, woman-owned small business,” Pineau said. “We’re seeing mom-and-pop businesses across the commonwealth going out of business every month.

Education

Feds Say ‘Vast Majority’ of Frozen Education Grant Funds to be Released Ahead of School Year

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(See local response.)

By Ella Adams

The U.S. Department of Education plans to release “the vast majority” of $6.8 billion in education grants it withheld from states in June, though the “chaos and confusion” the freeze caused in Massachusetts can’t be undone, according to Attorney General Andrea Campbell. Education Secretary Linda McMahon made the funding announcement Friday prior to a session about federal education priorities at the National Governors Association summer meeting in Colorado Springs, Colo. Grants, more than $107 million of which is expected to be funneled into Massachusetts schools, was initially expected to be released to districts on July 1. It is now expected to be released to states this week. The federal agency told state officials June 30 that expected grants were under review “to make sure they align with President Trump’s priorities.” Gov. Maura Healey’s administration said Massachusetts districts were counting on the funding for things like behavioral and mental health programs, summer and after-school programs, purchasing classroom materials and bullying prevention and intervention.

Beacon Hill News

State Senate School ‘Bell-to-Bell’ Cellphone Bill Leaves Key Details to Local Districts

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Chris Lisinski

The Senate is gearing up for the next step in a growing debate over the benefits or harms that come with cellphones in K-12 classrooms.

Senators on the Education Committee Tuesday advanced legislation that would largely prohibit cellphones in public schools from the first bell of the day to the last, with carveouts for certain groups or activities that could soften the policy. Committee co-chair Sen. Jason Lewis expects the full Senate to take up the bill, which already has the support of Senate President Karen E. Spilka, by the end of the month. If the measure finds support from the House and Gov. Maura T. Healey, Massachusetts would join roughly half of the states that have already cracked down on phones in classrooms.

“We just have reached the point where we have really compelling evidence that use of cellphones by young people causes a number of harms for them in terms of their ability to learn, their ability to collaborate and communicate with their peers, [and the impact] on their mental health,” Lewis said in an interview. “We think that’s particularly true when the devices are used while students are actually in school.”

All six senators on the Education Committee—Lewis, Patricia Jehlen of Somerville, Sal DiDomenico of Everett, Robyn Kennedy of Worcester, Pavel M. Payano of Lawrence, and Patrick O’Connor of Weymouth, the lone Republican—voted in favor of advancing the bill, according to an aide. Many Massachusetts districts have already acted to put new limits around devices including cellphones, according to Lewis.

Beacon Hill News

White House Holds Up $108M for Local After School Programs, Absenteeism Help, Other Ed Money

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Michael P. Norton

State officials said Monday that $108 million in federal education grants that were expected to arrive July 1 are now instead under review “to make sure they align with President Trump’s priorities.”

Gov. Maura Healey’s administration said local school districts were counting on the funding for summer and after-school programs, behavioral and mental health supports, bullying prevention and intervention, reducing chronic absenteeism and buying materials and supplies for classrooms.

“Every day that goes by without this education funding hurts children, educators, communities and our economy,” Healey said in a statement. “Without this funding, districts are going to be forced to lay off staff, delay or cancel programs and services, and disrupt learning. Our schools were promised this funding, and the Trump Administration needs to deliver it.”

The U.S. Department of Education notified states on June 30 that certain programs would not be issuing grant award notifications on July 1, Healey’s office said. The administration added that the department “also communicated that they are withholding funds for the Integrated English Language and Civics Education programs, as well as the Adult Basic Education Grants to States program.”

“Congress appropriated these funds, and they need to be issued to states,” Education Secretary Patrick Tutwiler said. “Intentionally withholding this funding is going to have detrimental impacts on every state and all communities, especially for some of our most vulnerable students.”

ABC News on July 2 reported that the Trump administration had “paused” more than $6 billion in education funding, writing that funding decisions concerning this academic year have “not yet been made.”

In statements released by the governor’s office, House Speaker Ron Mariano called the Trump administration actions “reckless and mean-spirited” and Senate President Karen Spilka said Trump “must respect the separation of powers and Congress’s Constitutional authority to appropriate funding.”

“I urge him to release these funds immediately—and I urge Congress to stop ceding their power to this President,” Spilka said.

Beacon Hill News

Healey Signs Public Employee Health Insurance Bill as System Nearly Runs Out of Money

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Editor’s note: Haverhill city employees are among those that rely on the state Group Insurance Commission for health insurance coverage. The prospect of the system running out of money alarmed employees who contacted WHAV. By Colin A. Young, State House News Service

Gov. Maura Healey gets 10 days to act on legislation that reaches her desk, but she used no more than four hours of that time to sign the Group Insurance Commission financing bill sent to her Thursday afternoon. Healey’s office said around 4:15 p.m. that she signed the bill, appropriating $240 million to cover claims for the rest of the fiscal year at the GIC, which oversees health insurance for 460,000 public employees. The House passed the bill Monday, the Senate followed suit Thursday and the two branches coordinated to get it to Healey’s desk shortly after noon Thursday.

Beacon Hill News

Reps. Vargas’ and Rogers’ Data Privacy Bill Takes Heat From Lawyer Representing Big Tech

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By Alison Kuznitz

Some Democratic lawmakers Wednesday clashed Wednesday with an attorney representing such tech companies as Amazon, Google, Netflix and Meta as Haverhill Rep. Andy X. Vargas and Rep. David Rogers pushed their bill for greater data privacy protections for Bay State residents. Vargas and Rogers pitched their proposal, dubbed the Massachusetts Data Privacy Act, as a top priority for the Legislature to safeguard residents’ sensitive information online, particularly as companies collect and sell data without consumers’ full knowledge or consent. The bill would create “data minimization” standards, which limit information companies can store and process based on “what is reasonably necessary and proportional to their lawful purpose,” according to a legislative summary. “Data minimization is just the notion that the company uses it only for the specific purpose the person’s there—they don’t gather all this other information and start selling it to other third parties,” Rogers told the Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity during its first hearing of the session. “I mean, it’s just common sense, it really is.

Beacon Hill News

Diggs and Payano Chair Public Hearing on Healey’s $62 billion Budget Plan; Receive Pleas for Aid

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By Chris Lisinski

The Joint Ways and Means Committee Tuesday heard please from the public as it wrapped up its review of Gov. Maura T. Healey’s $62 billion budget plan for the year that begins July 1. Rep. Kip A. Diggs and Sen. Pavel M. Payano, who represents Lawrence, Methuen and Haverhill, chaired the more than five hours of public comments, during which more than 150 people were signed up to testify, comes at a time budget writers are building a fiscal 2026 proposal that takes into account economic volatility, uncertainty about federal supports and funding demands from myriad special interest groups. Programs like the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program, which distributes produce to community food providers, are at risk of losing $3.5 million in federal funding for food purchasing, along with cuts to other federal nutrition programs that critics say will put “unprecedented strain” on people. With food pantry use up 80% between 2020 and 2023, Kate Adams, senior public policy manager at the Greater Boston Food Bank, requested $55.5 million in support for the food assistance program in the state budget, a roughly $10 million increase over last fiscal year. “We measured on a monthly basis how many individuals are coming to our network of 600 community food providers, and that number is 600,000 every month,” Adams said.

Beacon Hill News

Massachusetts Cabinet Secretary Warns of ‘Enormous’ MassHealth Cuts

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By Colin A. Young

Having spent her roughly 100-mile drive listening to the national news Monday morning and then hearing her colleagues at a budget hearing dig into the policy and finance specifics of crucial state programs, Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa got a sinking feeling. “I feel like we’re trying to budget on quicksand at the moment,” the Northampton Democrat said as she and the rest of the Joint Ways and Means Committee gathered to review Gov. Maura Healey’s fiscal year 2026 budget plan with the part of state government that could face the deepest and most immediate consequences of looming federal shifts, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. While Beacon Hill continues its usual budget process, President Donald Trump has been moving to reshape the federal government and its spending, with all signs pointing to disruptions in the relationship between D.C. and states like Massachusetts. Medicaid is in the crosshairs of a pursuit for trillions of dollars in tax cuts and federal spending reductions over the next decade, and that could have massive impacts on MassHealth. The state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program system affords health care coverage to about two million Bay Staters and brings about $15 billion of federal revenue to Massachusetts.