Mass. gas prices hold steady
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts gas prices are holding steady.
AAA Southern New England reports Monday that the average cost of a gallon of self-serve regular remained the same as last week, $3.28.
That’s 7 cents higher than the national average for the same grade, but still a dime lower than the in-state price a month ago and 30 cents lower than a year ago.
AAA found self-serve regular selling as low as $3.13 per gallon and as high as $3.49.
Mass. backs stiff fines for corporate manslaughter
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts is close to changing a nearly 200-year-old law that limits to $1,000 the penalty for corporate manslaughter.
The House unanimously approved a bill on Monday that would allow for fines of up to $250,000 against companies convicted of criminally negligent behavior that results in death. The Senate also backed the measure in a unanimous vote in September.
Supporters of the bill, including Attorney General Martha Coakley, noted that the current maximum penalty of just $1,000 dates back to 1819.
State Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty, a Chelsea Democrat who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said the change would give the attorney general more discretion in seeking punishment in cases of “horrible” malfeasance by corporations.
He noted the collapse of ceiling panels inside a Big Dig tunnel in 2006 that killed a Boston woman.
House sets Sept. 9 for Mass. primary
BOSTON (AP) — The state House of Representatives has approved a bill setting Sept. 9, 2014, as the date for the next Massachusetts primary election.
The Senate must also vote to go along with that date.
Primaries for governor and other constitutional offices would be held on that day, as well as for the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate and the Legislature.
The general election is scheduled for Nov. 4.
Group backing minimum wage question cites success
BOSTON (AP) — A group backing proposed ballot questions that would increase the state’s minimum wage and require that all workers be given earned sick time says it has collected nearly 270,000 signatures from Massachusetts residents.
That would be nearly four times the number of signatures required to be submitted to city and town clerks by a deadline on Wednesday.
The Raise Up Massachusetts Coalition announced the results of its petition drive on Monday, one day before the scheduled debate in the state Senate on a bill to raise the minimum wage from the current $8 an hour to $11 an hour by 2016.
The bill is opposed by several business groups.
If the Legislature does not act on the minimum wage or earned sick time proposals, the questions could go before voters on the November 2014 state ballot.
