Look back at 2012: Beacon Hill

BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) - 2012 began and ended with election fever, featuring one of the most expensive U.S. Senate races in the country, and that’s where we start off.

The U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Scott Brown and eventual winner Elizabeth Warren was by far the most talked about race on Beacon Hill.

Though Massachusetts did have former Governor Mitt Romney running for president, the Senate race had more local impact. 

Sean Coughlin of East Longmeadow said “Scott’s focus is going to make sure that a lot of our small businesses are protected.”

Alexis Estrella, University of Massachusetts Amherst graduate student, told 22News “I think Elizabeth Warren would be particularly good for the economy because she fights for the middle class.”

Public health scandals dominated the headlines locally and nationally.  About 200 inmates have been released because of a state lab chemist accused of evidence tampering in tens of thousands of criminal cases.

Former Commissioner of Department of Public Health John Auerbach said, “Complete anger that the actions of a single person could cause so much damage, so much damage and harm.”

39 people are dead and more than 600 are also sickened across the country because of a meningitis outbreak linked to tainted medications manufactured by a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy. 

Secretary of Health and Human Services JudyAnn Bigby said “Frankly the million dollar question to me in the end is, what do we need to put in place to make sure that this never happens again.”

This was also the year the state began the process of licensing three resort-style casinos and one slots parlor.  The governor signed a law that reduces costs and overhauls the health care system; and residents voted to legalize medical marijuana.

Next year, lawmakers plan to tackle comprehensive tax reform, transportation funding, laws related to gun control and sex offenders, as well as a possible U.S. Senate special election.