Jason Shemenski

The Massachusetts House budget debate is on. It’s our last chance to highlight the importance of elder issues before the House budget is made final.

On Wednesday, the Massachusetts House of Representatives budget committee released its proposal for Fiscal Year 2014. There was some good news for AARP Massachusetts’ priority issues, but mostly we face another year of insufficient funding for programs important to the elder community in the commonwealth.

Every year, mid-January heralds ‘budget season’ on Beacon Hill. Until the end of the season in June, the majority of time is spent crafting, debating, and finalizing the operating budget for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The budget signifies the intent of lawmakers, and has a profound effect on the programs and services important to Bay State seniors and their families.

With the budget debate set to begin next week, we’re taking a look at another important program that helps the commonwealth’s most vulnerable seniors: Elder Protective Services.

This week, as part of our ongoing series on the state budget, we take a look at Councils on Aging, and the valuable services they provide for Bay State Seniors.

As spring begins to blossom around the Bay State, legislators under the Golden Dome are busy shaping what will become the budget for Fiscal Year 2014.

Are you ready for another election season? The dust has settled and the field for the special election to fill former Sen. John Kerry’s vacated Senate seat has finally taken shape.

Earlier this year, Governor Deval Patrick released his proposal for the state’s 2014 budget. Of note, his plan to overhaul the Massachusetts tax system, which he estimates would raise roughly $1.95 billion in additional revenue for the state annually.

Unless Congress intervenes at midnight tonight, the law known as ‘ sequestration’ will become a reality, leading to $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts to military and domestic programs. But what exactly is the sequester? What does it mean for you, and for Massachusetts?