State House reporter
Chris Van Buskirk
Chris Van Buskirk joined The Boston Herald as a state politics reporter in May 2023 after working as politics reporter for MassLive and the State House News Service. He covers everything from regulations around emerging industries to the daily happenings of the governor.
All Stories
‘Old-fashioned power grab’: Hearing over DiZoglio ballot to audit legislature gets heated
A battle over an initiative to expand the powers of the state auditor to audit the Legislature boiled over Tuesday when State Auditor Diana DiZoglio defended her proposal from an...
Springfield catalytic converter thief gets five years in prison
A judge sentenced a Springfield man to five years in prison for participating in a ring of thieves focused on catalytic converters.
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Auditor Diana DiZoglio undeterred about audit ballot question’s chances on Beacon Hill
State Auditor Diana DiZoglio is clear-eyed about the chances that her proposal to open up the books of the Legislature has on Beacon Hill but said she is approaching a...
Massachusetts spending $75 million a month on shelters, cash could run out in April without infusion
Massachusetts is spending about $75 million a month on shelters, a massive jump that comes as Gov. Maura Healey’s administration is expected to run out of cash for emergency services...
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Gov. Maura Healey reverses course on her out-of-state travel disclosure policy
Gov. Maura Healey said Friday she plans to start disclosing her out-of-state travel again, but only upon request and after the fact at the end of each month, a decision...
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Senate approves up to $840M for state-run shelters, teeing up negotiations with House
Massachusetts senators voted Thursday to shuttle hundreds of millions of one-time use dollars to a state-run shelter system buckling under the weight of an influx of migrants from other countries...
Westfield Democrat fires back at Jim Jordan over inquiry into Haitian accused of rape
A Westfield Democrat fired back at U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, for an inquiry the congressman launched into a Haitian national accused...
Senate moves Mass. closer to banning revenge porn like 48 other states in the U.S.
Senate lawmakers moved Massachusetts one step closer to joining 48 other states in outlawing the act of circulating explicit photos of someone without their permission, a policy on so-called "Revenge...
Recent shootings place urgency on Beacon Hill pols looking for gun reform compromise
Beacon Hill lawmakers tasked with hashing out changes to firearm laws in Massachusetts said recent shootings across the state have placed an urgency on work to resolve differences between two...
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Mass. Senate prepares for another debate over contours of state-run shelter system
Senate Republicans are gearing up to make another push this week to put in place a residency requirement for the emergency shelter system, a policy change that has so far...