BOSTON (AP) - The Latest on a compromise bill that could remove three hotly contested questions from the November ballot (all times local):
7 p.m.
Massachusetts lawmakers have approved a compromise bill that could keep three hotly contested questions off the November ballot.
The House passed the measure on a 126-25 vote Wednesday. The Senate followed, approving the bill by a 30-8 tally. The votes are enough to override a gubernatorial veto, although Republican Gov. Charlie Baker has pushed for what he called a “grand bargain.”
The measure would allow up to 12 weeks of paid family leave for all workers and gradually increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
It would also require the state to hold a sales tax holiday every summer, but does not include a proposal by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts to reduce the tax from 6.25 percent to 5 percent that could cost the state $1.2 billion annually.
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3:10 p.m.
The Massachusetts House has given swift approval to a compromise bill that could keep three hotly contested questions off the Massachusetts ballot in November.
The measure would allow up to 12 weeks of paid family leave for all workers and gradually increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. It would also require the state to hold a sales tax holiday every summer, but does not include a proposal by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts to reduce the tax from 6.25 percent to 5 percent.
The Democratic-controlled House voted Wednesday to pass the bill. It now heads to Senate.
The head of the retailers association says his group will accept the compromise.
The Raise Up Massachusetts coalition which backed the minimum wage and paid leave proposals says it will poll its member organizations before deciding.
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1:10 p.m.
The Massachusetts House has given initial approval to a compromise bill that could keep three hotly-contested questions off the Massachusetts ballot in November.
The legislation would require paid family leave for all workers, a gradual increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. The measure does not include a proposal by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts to reduce the state sales tax from 6.25 percent to 5 percent, but it would require the state to hold a sales tax holiday every summer.
It would also
The measure was approved by the House on a full 106-37 vote Wednesday just hours after it emerged from secretive negotiations on Beacon Hill.
The bill requires a second vote in the House before moving to the Senate.
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10:42 a.m.
A compromise has emerged at the Statehouse that could keep three potential questions off the Massachusetts ballot in November.
A House panel is voting Wednesday on a bill that would require paid family leave for all workers, a gradual increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and a permanent summer sales tax holiday in Massachusetts.
The legislation could go before the full House and Senate later in the week.
The proposal does not include a proposal by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts to reduce the state sales tax from 6.25 percent to 5 percent. But it would phase out over five years the requirement that workers be paid time-and-a-half on Sundays.
The apparent compromise comes days after the state’s highest court rejected another proposed ballot question, the so-called “millionaire tax.”
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