STATE HOUSE — Facing the pressure of a ballot question and without a guarantee that he can wrestle enough support for charter school expansion, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg said Wednesday that a new group of senators will try to write a charter school reform bill that could clear that branch later this year.
Charter school advocates and Gov. Charlie Baker, who has made expanding access to charter schools a top priority, have been waiting for the Senate to wrap up an internal debate over whether it made sense to try again to pass charter school legislation two years after a bill lifting the cap fell to defeat.
BOSTON – State Sen. Brian Joyce of Milton has made a $3,367 personal donation to charity to resolve the use of campaign funds to help cover the $5,200 cost of his son's graduation party at the senator's home, as well as a $1,250 donation to resolve other issues, including unreported spending and accounting errors.
The state Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) announced the resolution on Wednesday, saying Joyce, a Democrat, had initially covered about $1,800 of the party's total cost. Use of campaign funds to pay party costs "could constitute personal use within the meaning" of campaign finance laws, the agency wrote in a disposition agreement signed by the senator and OCPF officials and released on Wednesday.
