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Marblehead, Massachusetts 01945
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“Every Tax is a Pay Cut ... A Tax Cut is a Pay Raise”
46 years as “The Voice of Massachusetts Taxpayers”
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their Institutional Memory — |
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CLT UPDATE
Sunday, May 24, 2020
"Phased and Confused"
Jump directly
to CLT's Commentary on the News
Most Relevant News Excerpts
(Full news reports follow
Commentary)
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House 149-7, approved and sent to the Senate a $1
billion-plus information technology bond titled “An Act
Financing the General Governmental Infrastructure of the
Commonwealth.” The state would borrow the funds to finance
the projects in the bill. The original version of the
package was filed by Gov. Charlie Baker more than a year ago
on April 11, 2019.The current version is the handiwork of
the House Ways and Means Committee.
Members filed 189 amendments to the bill and two of those
were withdrawn, The remaining 187 were rolled into a single
consolidated amendment that was approved....
And then there are hundreds of local projects successfully
sought by individual legislators for their districts
including $500,000 for New Bedford’s Buttonwood Park
Zoological Society’s infrastructure improvements for the
animal ambassador and nature connection education center
projects; $61,200 to update the town hall conference room’s
streaming technology for the local cable services in
Stoughton; $15,000 for Medfield for the implementation of an
electronic payroll program; and $1 million for Everett for
electronic learning devices for all Everett students and
virtual professional development, training and remote
learning support for their teachers....
“The House’s redraft of Gov. Baker’s bond bill (proposed
over a year ago) increased state borrowing by almost half a
billion more than his initial request, to fund lots of
add-ons,” said Chip Ford, Executive Director of Citizens for
Limited Taxation. “In this period of crisis — both societal
and financial, both personal and governmental, with record
high unemployment and historic low revenue collections both
anticipated and experienced — this is the wrong time to
borrow any more than unavoidable for absolutely essential
spending. For once, fiscal austerity needs and ought to be
considered in the Legislature.”
Beacon Hill Roll Call
Volume 45 - Report No. 21
May 18-22, 2020
By Bob Katzen
$1Billion-Plus Information Technology Bond (H-4708)
"Over the last several months, thousands of public employees
have been working from home," House Ways and Means Chairman
Aaron Michlewitz said, noting the bill hit the floor with a
$1.63 billion bottom line. "While this has certainly helped
us flatten the curve, it has also put tremendous pressure on
our IT infrastructure like the commonwealth has never seen
before. We can all share stories from the past couple of
months of the difficulties of conducting business in this
new environment. These funds will help ensure that employees
can continue to work remotely as needed while still
providing vital services to our constituents."
Operating under temporary emergency rules, legislators filed
amendments ahead of a Friday deadline and that allowed talks
over amendments to occur ahead of Wednesday's session, which
featured the quick adoption of a major consolidated
amendment with most members participating by phone.
State House News Service
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
House Session Summary - Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Work on IT Bond Amendments Hashed Out Prior to Session
Governor Charlie Baker on Monday released more specific
details of his four-phase reopening plan for Massachusetts.
Each phase will last a minimum of three weeks, and could
last longer depending on health trends. The state could also
backpedal to an earlier phase if health trends go south.
Here’s a look at what can open under each phase of the plan:
Reopening Massachusetts in phases
The Boston Globe
Monday, May 18, 2020
A look at what can reopen in each phase of Massachusetts’
opening plan
Soaring unemployment and the expectation among public health
experts that a second wave of the coronavirus could land in
the fall has prompted a leading Beacon Hill watchdog group
to revise its tax revenue forecast for next year, now
predicting the state could collect $6 billion less than
anticipated just five months ago.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation released its updated
economic outlook on Monday, the same day Gov. Charlie Baker
detailed his administration's plans to slowly allow the
economy to begin to reopen from its COVID-19 shutdown.
The nonpartisan, business-backed think tank said that even
if consumers go on a spending "spurt" as retail and
restaurants reopen later this summer, it's likely that
discretionary spending will be limited by people's
"confidence in their financial well-being – a task that
could take years depending on the length and severity of the
pandemic."
MTF President Eileen McAnneny testified before lawmakers and
the administration in April about the changing dynamics of
the state's budget picture, predicting a drop-off of $4.4
billion in estimated tax revenue collection in fiscal 2021
due to the pandemic.
McAnneny now says that prediction was "overly optimistic,"
and that revenues could miss targets set in January by more
than 19 percent as unemployment in the state swells to 22
percent by June. That level of job loss, the group said,
would cause withholding taxes to fall by $1.9 billion and
cost the state $2 billion in sales taxes....
The new fiscal year starts on July 1, but House and Senate
leaders have already floated the idea of using one-month
budget extenders to buy more time as the state lets the
pandemic play out and tries to gauge how quickly the economy
might rebound.
[House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz] said the
idea of month-to-month budgeting is "an option being
discussed," but added that it's "too early to predict how
that will play out." ...
The group now predicts that Massachusetts will lose 725,000
jobs from April through June, which would push the
unemployment rate to 22 percent and reduce annualized wages
by $42 billion.
While the tax and budget group predicted the state will
regain 323,000 of those lost jobs in fiscal 2021, MTF does
not see Massachusetts returning to pre-pandemic employment
levels until 2024....
MTF also predicted a tax revenue shortfall of between $700
and $800 million this fiscal year, and has already suggested
that Beacon Hill lawmakers consider delaying implementation
of the landmark $1.5 billion education funding reform bill
passed last year, or put off a planned increase in the
state's contributions to its pension fund.
State House News Service
Monday, May 18, 2020
'Deteriorating Economic Outlook' Dims State Budget Picture
With global emissions in decline due to the coronavirus
pandemic, the chair of the Senate's Global Warming and
Climate Change Committee rapped the decision made last week
by a coalition of East Coast states to postpone until the
fall its finalization of a plan to cap vehicle fuel
emissions.
Sen. Marc Pacheco, the longest-serving member of the state
Senate, suggested the COVID-19 pandemic should be seen an an
opportunity, not an obstacle to moving forward with the
Transportation Climate Initiative, which until the COVID-19
outbreak had been had been a centerpiece of the policy
agenda on Beacon Hill.
TCI was also a central component of Gov. Charlie Baker's
commitment to move Massachusetts toward net-zero emissions,
which was finalized during the pandemic....
"We all understand that COVID-19 presents immense challenges
that the Commonwealth’s healthcare system and health
officials are fighting day-and-night to overcome. We also
understand that the ongoing pandemic is a crisis with a
scope of disruption that extends far beyond the realm of
healthcare into our economy as a whole," Pacheco said in a
statement.
"I do not understand, however, how these challenges justify
abandoning our responsibility to prevent the worst effects
of climate change that will bring even more devastating,
more permanent catastrophe. If we fail to take urgent action
to reduce carbon emissions, we will realize that dealing
with COVID-19 was child's play compared to the worst effects
of the climate crisis," he said.
Pacheco, a Taunton Democrat who has pushed for legislation
to set a net-zero emissions requirement for Massachusetts,
likened the national scramble to respond to a viral pandemic
to what might happen if policymakers ignore the science of
climate change.
"For years now, we have heard from countless scientific
experts warning us about the worst effects of climate
change. With our own eyes, we have seen these effects begin
to take shape. We cannot let the current crisis of COVID-19
– no matter how severe – eclipse our efforts to prevent the
irreversible climate crisis while we still can," Pacheco
said. "The time to act is now. There is no time to waste."
State House News Service
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Chairman: Delaying Transpo Emissions Pact a Mistake
Pacheco: Climate Crisis Impacts Could be Catastrophic
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce had been particularly
active before the coronavirus outbreak in the debate over
transportation funding that led to the House passing a more
than $500 million revenue package that included hikes in the
gas tax and higher fees for Uber and Lyft rides.
The status of that bill may be hold as it waits for action
in the Senate, but DeLeo said transportation must not get
overlooked as policy leaders think about how to safely let
people return to public transit.
"If we're talking about our economy coming back fully, and I
always considered transportation to be a key to this, that's
not something we can put on the back burner, COVID-19 or
not," DeLeo said. The House has also passed an $18 billion
borrowing bill for transportation that was initially filed
by Gov. Baker, and awaits action in the Senate.
State House News Service
Thursday, May 21, 2020
DeLeo Flags Focus Areas: Child Care, Restaurants, Liability
As Americans plan for life after pandemic lockdowns, many
want to avoid public transport and use a car instead,
straining already underfunded transit systems and risking an
increase in road congestion and pollution.
Several opinion polls show Americans plan to avoid trains
and buses as stay-at-home orders ease, with some city
dwellers buying a car for the first time. A potential boon
to coronavirus-battered automakers, the shift poses a
challenge to city planners end environmental goals....
Transit ridership has plummeted by as much as 95% in large
U.S. cities during the pandemic and America's leading
transit agencies forecast massive budget drops and revenue
deficits well into 2022.
They call for $33 billion in federal support in addition to
the $25 billion they were granted as part of a March U.S.
coronavirus stimulus bill.
Transit agencies argue they are essential to a comprehensive
economic recovery that avoids gridlock, but surveys show
Americans plan to reduce their use of shared transportation.
In an April Ipsos poll among U.S. transit riders, 72% said
they would either reduce their use of public transportation
or wait until it was safe again. That compared with 68% of
U.S. consumers who said they will use their car as much or
more than before the pandemic....
Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York
Automobile Dealers Association, said his members in recent
weeks frequently heard from customers concerned about taking
transit to work.
In a survey by online vehicle sales platform TrueCar, 8% of
U.S. shoppers said avoiding public transportation was their
primary reason for leasing or buying a car....
"If officials fail to convince the public that public
transportation is safe, we could see a permanent shift away
from transit," said Dan Work, a professor at Vanderbilt
University's School of Engineering and one of the study's
co-authors.
Investing.com
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Empty trains, clogged roads: Americans get behind the wheel
to avoid transit
More than 2.4 million people applied for US unemployment
benefits last week in the latest wave of layoffs from the
viral outbreak that triggered widespread business shutdowns
two months ago and sent the economy into a deep recession.
Roughly 38.6 million people have filed for jobless aid since
the coronavirus forced millions of businesses to close their
doors and shrink their workforces, the Labor Department said
Thursday. In addition, newly eligible recipients, such as
gig workers and independent contractors, have filed 3.7
million claims under the federal Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance program that is part of the rescue package
approved by Congress in March.
Over the past nine weeks, 26 percent of people working
before the pandemic have filed for jobless pay.
In Massachusetts, 38,100 residents filed new claims, down
from 45,300 last week. Another 116,000 filings came from
workers covered by the new pandemic assistance program.
Since mid-March, the state has received 1.23 million new
claims, or one-third of the pre-COVID-19 workforce....
The continuing stream of heavy job cuts reflects an economy
that is sinking into the worst recession since the Great
Depression. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office
estimated this week that the economy is shrinking at a 38
percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. That would be
by far the worst quarterly contraction on record....
During April, US employers shed 20 million jobs, eliminating
a decade’s worth of job growth in a single month. The
unemployment rate reached 14.7 percent the highest since the
Depression. Millions of other people who were out of work
weren’t counted as unemployed because they didn’t look for a
new job.
Since then, 10 million more laid-off workers have applied
for jobless benefits. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
said in an interview Sunday that the unemployment rate could
peak in May or June at 20 percent to 25 percent.
The Boston Globe
Thursday, May 21, 2020
2.4 million more Americans file for unemployment claims
as pandemic’s economic toll persists
The statewide unemployment rate surged to 15.1 percent in
April as the COVID-19 pandemic and the public shutdowns it
prompted have inflicted what Gov. Charlie Baker described
Thursday as an "economic calamity."
Massachusetts labor officials announced Friday that the
state lost 623,000 jobs in April, the first full month
during which non-essential businesses were ordered to close
and most residents were urged to stay at home whenever
possible.
From March to April, the unemployment rate increased 12.3
percentage points to 15.1 percent, the highest level on
record since at least 1976. In fact, the increase alone
surpassed any month's overall rate over the past four and a
half decades.
The state appears to be harder hit than the country as a
whole. In April, the national unemployment rate rose to 14.7
percent.
Every private-sector industry in Massachusetts lost jobs
except information, with the largest declines occurring in
leisure and hospitality, other services, construction, and
trade, transportation, and utilities.
State House News Service
Friday, May 22, 2020
April Unemployment Eclipses 15 Percent
By Chris Lisinski
The unemployment rate in Massachusetts surged to 15.1
percent in April from 2.8 percent in the prior month, the
Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said
Friday, as hundreds of thousands of workers were laid off
after the state shut down nonessential businesses to stem
the spread of the coronavirus.
The state shed 623,000 jobs in April, according to a
preliminary estimate by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics,
or 17 percent of all nonfarm payrolls. That followed a
revised decline of 43,800 jobs in March.
The state’s April unemployment rate was 0.4 percentage point
above that national rate of 14.7 percent. The labor force
decreased by 364,700 from March to 3.41 million.
The labor force participation rate — the total number of
Massachusetts residents 16 or older who worked or were
unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks —
dropped to 60.3 percent from 67.5 percent a year earlier.
The Boston Globe
Friday, May 22, 2020
Massachusetts jobless rate hit 15.1% in April amid
coronavirus shutdowns
The state’s jobless rate was 2.8 percent in March
Memorial Day weekend is arriving with low gas prices, nice
weather and a stern warning from state leaders to stay home
and stay off the roads and the MBTA.
"Our message to people is, 'Don't rush out,' Don't travel if
you don’t have to," Transportation Secretary Stephanie
Pollack said in a statement Thursday night. " ... We don't
want travel - not on the roads, and not on the MBTA.” ...
Gas is averaging $1.92 per gallon, AAA Northeast reported on
Monday, compared to $2.80 per gallon at this time last year.
"Gas prices around Memorial Day have not been this cheap in
nearly 20 years," Mary Maguire of AAA Northeast said on
Monday. "However, as the country continues to practice
social distancing, this year’s unofficial kick-off to summer
is not going to drive the typical millions of Americans to
travel. Despite inexpensive gas prices, AAA anticipates this
year’s holiday will likely set a record low for travel
volume."
State House News Service
Friday, May 22, 2020
Pandemic Changes Narrative on Memorial Day Travel
Comrades, you are hereby ordered to keep piling up those
empty cans and bottles in the garage or the mudroom or
wherever, because the Reich is in no hurry to reopen the
vast majority of redemption centers.
It’s not as bad as Charlie Parker costing you your job
(38,000 more unemployed Thursday). Nor is it as exasperating
as the plague of officious Mask Police, or the kids
underfoot at home, or watching 24/7 panic porn about a virus
that has killed all of 78 people in the state under the age
of 50.
But watching those “redeemables” pile up unreturned in
overflowing bags and bins is just another little slap in the
face by these smug mandarins who are so gleefully bullying
us while they continue to collect their six-figure salaries.
No bottle redemptions – you’ll take it and you’ll like it!
Here’s the typical jive Thursday from our embarrassingly
corrupt, incompetent state administration, and stop me if
you’ve heard this kind of BS over and over and over again:
“As part of the Baker-Polito Administration‘s comprehensive
reopening strategy, the Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is finalizing a plan to
resume enforcement of the bottle and can redemption
regulations and ensure customers can redeem bottles and cans
at locations throughout the Commonwealth, and will include
guidelines to protect the safety of all retail employees and
the public.”
“Finalizing” — what a weasel word. The hacks shut down the
redemption centers March 18, more than two months ago. You
have to keep paying them the nickels, and they keep not
giving you your money back....
This represents a major source of money for the hacks — so
far this fiscal year, according to DOR numbers, they’ve
grabbed $50,017,152 in “abandoned deposits (bottles)”
including $5,117,997 last month alone … when the state was
under what amounted to martial law.
It’s the medieval principle of “escheatage” — the power of
the state to acquire title to property for which there is no
owner. That’s the dictionary definition.
How appropriate that the hackerama would be reaping untold
millions under a concept called escheatage, the derivative
of which must be “cheat.” ...
It’s the new normal. Heads they win, tails you lose. The
state is now run under Mafia rules: what’s theirs is theirs
and what’s yours is theirs.
Will the last non-hack leaving Massachusetts please turn off
the lights?
The Boston Herald
Friday, May 22, 2020
Bottle bill all bottled up in pandemic panic
By Howie Carr
Democrats claimed victory in two special elections Tuesday,
seizing Senate seats that had long been held by Republicans
in races that party chair Gus Bickford said reflected a
rejection of President Donald Trump's politics.
John Velis of Westfield prevailed to take the seat that Don
Humason gave up after he was elected mayor of that city, and
Susan Moran of Falmouth was elected to serve in a district
formerly represented by Plymouth Republican Vinny deMacedo.
The wins leave Republicans with just four seats in the
40-member Senate. The party, whose top officeholders in
Massachusetts are Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn
Polito, holds 31 seats in the 160-seat Massachusetts House,
where veteran GOP Reps. Randy Hunt and Elizabeth Poirier are
not seeking re-election....
On June 2, voters are scheduled to settle two House special
elections to fill seats held until recently by Jennifer
Benson of Lunenburg and Shaunna O'Connell of Taunton. Benson
left the House to work as president of the Alliance for
Business Leadership and O'Connell resigned after being
elected as mayor of her hometown last November.
Democrat Carol Doherty and Republican Kelly Dooner, both of
Taunton, are competing in the Third Bristol House district.
In the 37th Middlesex district, Democrat Danillo Sena of
Acton faces Republican Catherine Clark of Lunenburg.
The deadline for prospective candidates to turn in
nomination signatures to qualify for the 2020 ballot passed
in early May. Republican officials are still awaiting final
certifications, but expect they will be able to run
candidates in at about 55 House districts and eight Senate
districts.
State House News Service
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Democrats Grab Pair of Senate Seats from Republicans
Bickford: Special Election Results Foreshadow Dem Gains
Gov. Charlie Baker made it possible on Monday to resume some
of the activities taken for granted just a few months ago,
even if you must wear a mask to do so. But the rollout of
the four-phased plan to begin reopening the state's economy
from its COVID-19 shutdown was met with predicted pushback
from both sides of the debate.
Either the governor was charging ahead too fast, or still
holding too tight on the reins. That's what happens when
there's a lot on the line.
Baker's plan began with allowing construction, manufacturing
and socially-distanced church services to resume immediately
under strict safety rules, including six-foot berths for
workers and mandatory masks. At Symmons Industries in
Braintree, where Baker visited Wednesday, they pump 80s hits
into the room to ease the tension as employees line up for
temperature checks.
Starting Monday, even more activities will be permitted,
though restaurants don't come until Phase Two.
Beaches will be open, but sunbathers will have to stay apart
and keep their blankets 12 feet from other groups. Retailers
can sell products, but only to customers picking up
curbside. And salons can cut hair, but be prepared for a
more sterile experience than you might be used to.
This is all part of Phase One of four, which ends with a
vaccine or a viable treatment for COVID-19. The metrics for
advancing through the phases is a little less clear, but
each one, Baker said, will last a minimum of three weeks and
advancement will depend on making progress in reducing cases
and deaths and hitting key testing and hospital capacity
goals....
For many parents, returning to work remains a faint glimmer
in their eye as the state still has no concrete plans to
reopen child care.
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley was among the voices on the left
urging Baker to reconsider how fast he was moving, which for
retailers was not nearly fast enough. Repeatedly, Retailers
Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst asked why a
haircut had been deemed less dangerous than if a retail
store were to invite customers in by appointment. No
explanation was forthcoming.
MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons seemed to be on the side of the
retailers and critics of his own Republican governor who
wanted to see the administration set some basic health
parameters for businesses and get out of the way.
That message, however, didn't work at the ballot box, where
the Republican Party lost both special Senate elections on
Tuesday in districts it was defending. In the special
election for a seat in Plymouth and Barnstable counties, the
Republican nominee was conservative attorney Jay McMahon,
who had been a frequent passenger of the "Reopen Now" train,
rallying with fellow gun rights activists and MAGA
hat-wearing conservatives in the days leading up to Tuesday.
McMahon lost to Falmouth Selectwoman and now Senator-elect
Susan Moran in an outcome that at least one elected
Republican from the area, Rep. Randy Hunt of Sandwich, said
he predicted.
"I don't know how you could not think that the mood this
year in Massachusetts will be turning away from Trump
supporters," Hunt told the News Service in a postmortem on
the race.
The other special election took place in western
Massachusetts where Democratic state Rep. John Velis
defeated Southwick Republican John Cain, who at least had
the support of his party's popular governor, which could not
be said for McMahon. Though it didn't help him much.
So the MassGOP came out of Tuesday's special elections
officially down two seats in the 40-person Senate, leaving
Minority Leader Bruce Tarr with just three other members to
caucus with and push an alternate agenda to the one
Democratic leaders serve up....
But the start of the economic reopening comes as state
policymakers continue to struggle to understand how much
damage the shutdown has done to the economy. The Executive
Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported Friday
that unemployment was up to 15.1 percent in April after the
economy shed 623,000 jobs last month, and it hasn't gotten
better in May.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation updated its April
forecast to account for the duration of the pandemic, the
skyrocketing unemployment and the uncertainty surrounding
more federal financial relief. The group now predicts the
state could see tax revenue in fiscal 2021 plummet $6
billion from what had been projected in January.
All of that adds up to House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate
President Karen Spilka, and Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and Sen.
Michael Rodrigues, the two chairs of the Ways and Means
Committees, taking a wait-and-see approach to an annual
budget that should have passed the Senate this week and been
on its way to a conference committee.
DeLeo and Michlewitz both said that the situation is too
fluid at the moment to even think about developing a
year-long budget, lending credence to the idea that the
Legislature could be leaning toward a month-to-month
approach once the current fiscal year ends on July 1....
While that work begins, the House did vote this week on a
$1.73 billion borrowing bill for information technology
projects, including funding for remote learning, which may
be here to stay for longer than anyone thought.
State House News Service
Friday, May 22, 2020
Weekly Roundup - Phased and Confused
While now on the backside of the COVID-19 surge,
Massachusetts is adjusting to the shift away from
date-focused deadlines and toward a new guiding principle:
do it when the data says the time is right.
The devastating virus has left unemployment at 15 percent
and rising. Much of what's left of the traditional economy
is on hold, eagerly awaiting word that trends in deaths,
transmission, and health care infrastructure have reached a
point where more activity, and commerce, is considered safe
and prudent, or whether there will be renewed efforts to
lock things down again.
Similarly, state officials say their goal on the annual
budget is to get it right, rather than done by a certain
date. Normally, House and Senate leaders would be heading
into conference committee at this time of year to come up
with a compromise budget for the July 1 start of the new
fiscal year. This year, July 1 is the new deadline for the
House Ways and Means Committee to propose an annual budget.
State House News Service
Friday, May 22, 2020
Advances - Week of May 24, 2020
His voice rising, Gov. Charlie Baker delivered an
impassioned plea for Massachusetts residents to wear face
masks on the kickoff of the Memorial Day weekend, saying not
wearing them dishonors those who fought and died for their
country.
Think about that this Memorial Day when you take a walk on
the beach or fire up the barbecue.
“If you don’t want to wear a mask because you don’t like
wearing a mask, if you don’t want to social distance because
you don’t like to social distance, please think about those
families,” he said. “Those Moms and Dads, those brothers and
sisters, those sons and daughters of those who lost their
lives fighting for your freedom to put on that mask, and
just do it for them. Socially distance for them. Wash your
hands for them because if they were here they’d have done
the same thing.”
So, next time you see someone not wearing a face covering,
question their patriotism. That should defuse the situation.
I'm all for masks, don’t get me wrong. But comparing them to
some wartime sacrifice seems a little strong.
We don’t know what those who paid the ultimate sacrifice
feel, but it’s safe to say that they weren’t “fighting for
your freedom to put on that mask.”
Baker has come close to losing it several times during the
coronavirus pandemic, and has actually fought back tears a
few times.
On Friday, the Republican governor – yes he’s still a
Republican – seemed especially animated talking about the
mask issue, and in general was a downer, telling people not
to gather in crowds or enjoy things like beach volleyball
over the Memorial Day holiday weekend....
Some people are defying the mask order because they
genuinely believe the government has no business telling
them what to put on their face....
But to elevate the mask issue as some kind of test of
patriotism – and linking it to Memorial Day – seems
heavy-handed and unproductive.
Just give us the facts, governor. Spare us the theatrics.
The Boston Herald
Saturday, May 23, 3030
Charlie Baker’s over the top message —
veterans fought for our right to wear masks
By Joe Battenfeld
Newly framing the
measure as a public health priority, Congresswoman Ayanna
Pressley and Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan
are teaming with union officials to pressure state lawmakers
to pass a bill making up to 78,000 undocumented immigrants
in Massachusetts eligible to obtain a standard driver's
license over the next three years.
The phased
economic reopening underway in Massachusetts amidst the
COVID-19 pandemic has raised questions about people safely
returning to the MBTA as well as a possible sudden surge in
driving. The Transportation Committee in early February
voted 14-4 to endorse a bill (S 2641) to allow qualified
Massachusetts immigrants to obtain a standard state driver's
license, regardless of immigration status. The measure has
not moved any further and remains in the Senate Ways and
Means Committee, chaired by Michael Rodrigues, a Westport
Democrat.
"This bill – to
license all drivers, regardless of immigration status –
needs to be an essential piece of our public health and
economic recovery policy. Without driver's licenses, many of
our essential workers have to crowd onto buses or subway
cars to get to work. This puts their lives and our
community's health at risk," Natalicia Tracy, executive
director of the Brazilian Workers Center, said in a
statement Thursday morning....
Town hall
organizers say the latest data show there are about 185,000
undocumented immigrants living in Massachusetts, and an
estimated 41,000 to 78,000 drivers would likely obtain
licenses within the first three years of the bill's
implementation. The town hall will include live
interpretation in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Haitian
Creole.
Legislative
leaders have not made the bill a priority in recent years
and Gov. Charlie Baker opposes it.
State House News
Service
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Driver’s License Bill Reframed as Public Health Priority
|
Chip Ford's CLT
Commentary
State House News Service
— April 11, 2019 — Baker Files
$1.1B Borrowing Bill for Cybersecurity, Public Safety:
Gov. Charlie Baker
proposed $1.1 billion in new spending on information technology,
public safety equipment and cybersecurity Wednesday as part of a
multi-year capital investment that the administration said would
help Massachusetts defend against cyber attacks, build a new fire
training center and enable police to buy new cruisers. The borrowing
bill would authorize $600 million in spending on information
technology infrastructure that the administration said would "help
fortify the Commonwealth's defenses and against cyber attacks" and
improve residents' ability to interact digitally with government,
including with for health care, housing and other services. "It is
critically important that the Commonwealth make these capital
investments to strengthen defenses against cyber threats and
continue modernizing and securing our digital assets," Baker said in
a statement. Baker has pushed information technology to the
forefront of state government in recent years by creating a new
Cabinet level executive office of technology services and security
led by Secretary Kurt Wood. Among the proposed IT investments is
$135 million that would go toward setting up a new "Security
Operations Center."
For
over a year Baker's $1.15 Billion cybersecurity bill sat
ignored in the House, languishing in Beacon Hill
purgatory. Along came the Wuhan Chinese Pandemic a
year later and suddenly Baker's bill became a convenient
vehicle to load up with pork. "Never let a
crisis go to waste."
The House increased
the total cost to $1.73 Billion — an increase of $580 million
more than Baker requested. That's over half a billion dollars
more than requested, to be repaid with interest by
taxpayers.
When asked on Thursday evening by Beacon
Hill Roll Call for a comment on its remote passage in the House (149-7), based
on the last total I'd seen before the vote ($1.63 Billion) I responded:
“The House’s redraft of Gov. Baker’s bond bill (proposed
over a year ago) increased state borrowing by almost half a
billion more than his initial request, to fund lots of
add-ons. In this period of crisis — both societal
and financial, both personal and governmental, with record
high unemployment and historic low revenue collections both
anticipated and experienced — this is the wrong time to
borrow any more than unavoidable for absolutely essential
spending. For once, fiscal austerity needs and ought to be
considered in the Legislature.”
The total that was finally
passed in the House exceeded Bakers' proposal by
half a billion dollars.
State Rep. Brad Hill (R-Ipswich) added:
“[The bill] contains
critical funding for cyber-security and public safety
initiatives at all levels of government. However, I had strong concerns about the
levels of additional borrowing proposed in the consolidated
amendment and felt that many of the earmarks were not
needed. The state is facing a projected revenue shortfall of
$6 billion to $8 billion in next year’s budget, which
requires us to engage in a careful balancing act of
protecting the state’s bond rating from being downgraded
while making sure we can still deliver essential programs
and services to the residents of the commonwealth.”
Gov. Baker, the Legislature, and the
economic "experts" are putting off the state's next annual budget until
learning what can be expected in relief cash from the federal
government. They seem to be hoping the $3 Trillion HEROES Act
wish list passed by the Democrat-controlled U.S. House on May 15 might
become a reality. They are whistling past the graveyard.
1,800-page "HEROES Act" passed by the House
on May 15 was pronounced dead on arrival by the Republican-controlled
Senate and President Trump.
The International Business Times on May 15
reported:
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a massive
$3 trillion coronavirus relief bill Friday (May 15),
dubbed as most expensive in history, which would
provide another round of $1,200 stimulus checks and
other benefits to Americans.
But the bill was drafted by House Democrats, without
consultations with the Republicans, and will likely
get caught up in the partisan politics of the
Capitol and end up dead in the Republican-controlled
Senate.
Called the HEROES Act, this coronavirus relief bill,
passed by a narrow 208-199 vote — 14 Democrats voted
against it; one Republican voted for it. The
politics around the bill was starkly different from
the bipartisan support for the CARES Act passed in
late March....
Senate Republicans hinted that tackling this bill is
not going to be a priority, with many saying that it
will not get support, it won't be passed and it will
likely be "dead on arrival."
President Donald Trump said the same thing....
But Republicans are reportedly displeased by some
provisions in the bill that do not have anything to
do with the coronavirus pandemic. Some of these
include vote-by-mail and early voting options, tax
deductions that favor blue states, and allowing
legal cannabis enterprises to receive bank services.
"It's more like a liberal Christmas wish list," Rep.
Tom Cole, R-Okla., said. "It would make more sense
to just send it straight to Santa Claus than to send
it to the United States Senate. It would have a
better chance of becoming law that way."
There will likely be
another federal stimulus bill in the weeks ahead, but
high-tax-and-spend Blue States would be prudent not to
count on the bail-outs of their state pension systems and heavy
debt burdens incurred over decades. That dream is
more than unlikely.
"Those who fail to learn from the past are
doomed to repeat it."
Here's the quote of the week, reported by
the State House News Service on Tuesday ("Chairman: Delaying Transpo
Emissions Pact a Mistake - Pacheco: Climate Crisis Impacts Could be
Catastrophic"):
"For years now, we have
heard from countless scientific experts warning us about the worst
effects of climate change. With our own eyes, we have seen these
effects begin to take shape. We cannot let the current crisis of
COVID-19 – no matter how severe – eclipse our efforts to prevent the
irreversible climate crisis while we still can,"
state Sen. Marc Pacheco
said. "The time to act is now. There is no time to waste."
After the past three months
of "scientific experts" utterly bungling their "computer
models" and "projections," wiping out a national if not
the world's economy and driving businesses and employees
into abject poverty at the cost of our unalienable
rights, state Sen. Pacheco, the longest-serving member
of the state Senate, chairman of the Senate's Global
Warming and Climate Change Committee, demonstrated how
blind, tone-deaf and self-unaware an individual can be.
In his criticism of the
decision made last
week by the coalition of Northeast states to postpone the finalization
of its Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) decree until the fall to
cap vehicle fuel emissions by hiking gas taxes, it is apparent he still
holds inexplicable faith in "scientific" computer models predicting decades into the
future that couldn't get the next couple of months even close to
accurate.
And while on the topic of TCI, it's stated goal is
to force motorists into using public transportation in order to reduce
carbon emissions. That's not moving in their direction as fewer
will choose to subject themselves to disease-ridden cattle cars after
these months of relentless pandemic fear porn. It didn't take long
to figure this out. Reuters News Service reported on Wednesday
("Empty trains, clogged roads: Americans get behind the wheel to avoid
transit"):
As
Americans plan for life after pandemic lockdowns,
many want to avoid public transport and use a car
instead, straining already underfunded transit
systems and risking an increase in road congestion
and pollution.
Several opinion polls show Americans plan to avoid
trains and buses as stay-at-home orders ease, with
some city dwellers buying a car for the first time.
A potential boon to coronavirus-battered automakers,
the shift poses a challenge to city planners end
environmental goals.
Looks like TCI fanatics
will need to impose more draconian martial law to force
commuters into those cattle cars. Where did I hear
about something like that before. . .?
"Democrats claimed victory in two special
elections Tuesday, seizing Senate seats that had long been held by
Republicans in races that party chair Gus Bickford said reflected a
rejection of President Donald Trump's politics," the State House News
Service reported on Wednesday.
The wins leave Republicans with just four seats in
the 40-member Senate. The party, whose top
officeholders in Massachusetts are Gov. Charlie
Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, holds 31 seats in
the 160-seat Massachusetts House, where veteran GOP
Reps. Randy Hunt and Elizabeth Poirier are not
seeking re-election....
On
June 2, voters are scheduled to settle two House
special elections to fill seats held until recently
by Jennifer Benson of Lunenburg and Shaunna
O'Connell of Taunton. Benson left the House to work
as president of the Alliance for Business Leadership
and O'Connell resigned after being elected as mayor
of her hometown last November.
Just four Republicans now
cling to their seats in the 40-member state Senate, a
mere 31 Republicans in the 160-members House.
Thirty-five Republicans in all among 200 legislators on
Beacon Hill.
But you can't blame Republicans who run and
lose if voters can't be bothered to vote. Here's some intriguing
perspective from a report on Thursday by the New Boston Post, "GOP
adviser not happy that unusually high Falmouth turnout helped put Cape
Democrat over the top in state Senate election" by Tom Joyce:
State Senator-elect Susan Moran (D-Falmouth) lost
four of the six towns in the Plymouth & Barnstable
District special election this week, but she took
the town with the biggest turnout by a wide margin —
her own. . . .
Why the difference?
It’s at least partly because the special Senate
election was rescheduled to take place on the same
day as Falmouth’s annual town election, which
featured local races for selectmen and school
committee plus an operating budget override of
Proposition 2½ to add eight firefighters to the
town’s fire department. . . .
Falmouth’s total number of voters in the special
Senate election (6,609) was about 40 percent higher
than the total number of voters in Plymouth, which
has almost twice the population. . . .
The question is whether it would have been by so
many votes if the special Senate election hadn’t
coincided with the annual town election and if the
annual town election didn’t feature an operating
budget override of Proposition 2½, which often draws
interest. . . .
Outside of Falmouth, turnout varied in the Plymouth
& Barnstable Senate district race, but it was
substantially lower, according to data provided to
New Boston Post by Town Clerk offices in each
respective community.
Sandwich had 3,110 votes cast out of the 16,027
registered voters in town, a 19.4 percent
voter turnout.
Bourne, McMahon’s hometown, had 2,906 voters of
its approximately 14,400 come out to vote, a
20.2 percent rate.
The turnout rate was far lower off-Cape. Plymouth
had a 12.4 percent turnout (5,587 of 45,028
registered voters). Kingston was even lower:
12.3 percent (1,222 of 9,912 eligible voters).
And Pembroke had the lowest turnout of all:
8.6 percent (1,177 people out of 13,640
registered voters).
The four towns that McMahon won did not have annual
town elections on the same date.
Those who didn't bother to vote
deserve the government they get, good and hard.
I still haven't decided which is worse: Apathy or
ignorance.
On Friday the State House News Service
reported:
The statewide unemployment rate surged to 15.1
percent in April as the COVID-19 pandemic and the
public shutdowns it prompted have inflicted what
Gov. Charlie Baker described Thursday as an
"economic calamity."
Massachusetts labor officials announced Friday that
the state lost 623,000 jobs in April, the first full
month during which non-essential businesses were
ordered to close and most residents were urged to
stay at home whenever possible.
From March to April, the unemployment rate increased
12.3 percentage points to 15.1 percent, the highest
level on record since at least 1976. In fact, the
increase alone surpassed any month's overall rate
over the past four and a half decades.
The state appears to be harder hit than the country
as a whole. In April, the national unemployment rate
rose to 14.7 percent.
Every private-sector industry in Massachusetts lost
jobs except information, with the largest declines
occurring in leisure and hospitality, other
services, construction, and trade, transportation,
and utilities.
Note that "Leisure and hospitality" (e.g., restaurants
and hotels) lost 216,200 jobs, or 61 percent of that sector’s total
employment over
the month of April. During that same period, "Government"
— municipal government
employment that is, not state employees
— lost just 25,900 jobs, or 5.6 percent
of its workforce statewide.
On April 29 the State House News Service
reported ("Immigrant
Stimulus Check Bills Draw Support"):
State stimulus checks would flow to certain
immigrant taxpayers who are ineligible for similar
payments through a federal program, under bills
recently filed in the Massachusetts House and
Senate.
Filed by Sen. Jamie Eldridge and Rep. Christine
Barber, the bills would direct the state Department
of Revenue to issue stimulus checks -- $1,200 for an
individual, plus more for dependent children and
subject to reductions over set income thresholds --
to people who paid Massachusetts taxes in 2019 using
Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, and were
ineligible for similar federal rebates under the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security
relief package.
On Thursday the News
Service reported ("Driver’s License Bill Reframed as
Public Health Priority"):
Newly framing the measure as a public health
priority, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and
Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan are
teaming with union officials to pressure state
lawmakers to pass a bill making up to 78,000
undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts eligible to
obtain a standard driver's license over the next
three years. . . .
"This bill – to license all drivers, regardless of
immigration status – needs to be an essential piece
of our public health and economic recovery policy.
Without driver's licenses, many of our essential
workers have to crowd onto buses or subway cars to
get to work. This puts their lives and our
community's health at risk," Natalicia Tracy,
executive director of the Brazilian Workers Center,
said in a statement Thursday morning. . . .
"The urgency for this policy is greater than ever,"
Roxana Rivera, vice president of 32BJ SEIU, said.
"Before the pandemic, this policy was common sense.
Now, it is about protecting lives and helping
workers put food on the table. If undocumented
workers are better able to access good jobs safely,
they will help our economy bounce back more quickly
and help the state generate more revenue in the long
term."
This is pushing the Left's
audacious battle cry "Never let a crisis go to waste"
beyond absurdity.
What's with this term "New Normal"
that Charlie Baker and other Democrats are parroting? Where did it
come from?
On November 7, 2010 The Wall Street Journal
reported:
President Barack Obama warned in an interview on
CBS’s 60 Minutes about the danger of a “new normal”
taking hold of the economy – an environment in which
businesses become accustomed to fewer employees and
the U.S. job market never regains its footing.
“What is a danger is that we stay stuck in a new
normal where unemployment rates stay high. People
who have jobs see their incomes go up. Businesses
make big profits, but they’ve learned to do more
with less. And so they don’t hire. And, as a
consequence, we keep on seeing growth that is just
too slow to bring back the eight million jobs that
were lost. That is a danger. So, that’s something
that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about.”
President Obama considered
2 percent economic growth under his administration the
"new normal."
President Trump blew up that myth,
rapidly increasing growth at a rate of more than 4 percent by 2017, his first
year in his first term in office.
Eight million jobs were lost by that time
in 2010 during
"the great recession," compared to 42 million lost in just the
past couple of months as of April 2020.
The Wuhan Chinese Pandemic and the virtual
martial law lockdown response took only three months to cripple the
U.S. economy, bring the nation to its knees.
Obama's "new normal" was proven all too wrong
and so
too shall be these doomsayers once America is unleashed, if tyrannical
governors ever lift their boots off its throat.
That day is coming closer each day now
— with or without consent of petty
authoritarian governors reveling in their new-found and previously
unimaginable power — as had-enough citizens
begin taking back their lives, their jobs, and their freedom.
Screw this "new normal" claptrap,
again. We will bring back normal, period.
|
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|
Chip Ford
Executive Director |
|
|
Full News Reports Follow
(excerpted above)
|
Beacon Hill
Roll Call
Volume 45 - Report No. 21
May 18-22, 2020
By Bob Katzen
$1Billion-Plus Information Technology Bond (H-4708)
House 149-7, approved and sent to the Senate a $1
billion-plus information technology bond titled “An Act
Financing the General Governmental Infrastructure of the
Commonwealth.” The state would borrow the funds to finance
the projects in the bill. The original version of the
package was filed by Gov. Charlie Baker more than a year ago
on April 11, 2019.The current version is the handiwork of
the House Ways and Means Committee.
Members filed 189 amendments to the bill and two of those
were withdrawn, The remaining 187 were rolled into a single
consolidated amendment that was approved.
“This legislation provides authorizations for critical
public safety and information technology projects at the
state and municipal level,” said Baker in the message he
sent along with the original bill. “The projects in the bill
will improve the quality, consistency, efficiency and
delivery of state services to the residents of
Massachusetts, including digital services for healthcare,
housing, education, employment assistance, public safety and
emergency management, transportation, and energy and the
environment.”
Hundreds of provisions in the bill include massive state
projects including $165 million for state telecommunications
and data-security-related equipment; $140 million for the
purchase and implementation of information technology,
telecommunications and data-security-related items for
various state agencies; $1.25 million for information
technology upgrades for the House of Representatives; and
$100 million for the vague “infrastructure related to
governmental performance and efficiency.”
And then there are hundreds of local projects successfully
sought by individual legislators for their districts
including $500,000 for New Bedford’s Buttonwood Park
Zoological Society’s infrastructure improvements for the
animal ambassador and nature connection education center
projects; $61,200 to update the town hall conference room’s
streaming technology for the local cable services in
Stoughton; $15,000 for Medfield for the implementation of an
electronic payroll program; and $1 million for Everett for
electronic learning devices for all Everett students and
virtual professional development, training and remote
learning support for their teachers.
“Over the last several months, thousands of public employees
have been working from home,” said House Ways and Means
Chairman Aaron Michlewitz. “While this has certainly helped
us flatten the curve, it has also put tremendous pressure on
our information technology infrastructure like the
commonwealth has never seen before. We can all share stories
from the past couple of months of the difficulties of
conducting business in this new environment. These funds
will help ensure that employees can continue to work
remotely as needed while still providing vital services to
our constituents.”
“The House’s redraft of Gov. Baker’s bond bill (proposed
over a year ago) increased state borrowing by over half a
billion more than his initial request, to fund lots of
add-ons,” said Chip Ford, Executive Director of Citizens for
Limited Taxation. “In this period of crisis — both societal
and financial, both personal and governmental, with record
high unemployment and historic low revenue collections both
anticipated and experienced — this is the wrong time to
borrow any more than unavoidable for absolutely essential
spending. For once, fiscal austerity needs and ought to be
considered in the Legislature.”
One legislator had mixed feelings. “[The bill] contains
critical funding for cyber-security and public safety
initiatives at all levels of government,” said Rep. Brad
Hill (R-Ipswich). “However, I had strong concerns about the
levels of additional borrowing proposed in the consolidated
amendment and felt that many of the earmarks were not
needed. The state is facing a projected revenue shortfall of
$6 billion to $8 billion in next year’s budget, which
requires us to engage in a careful balancing act of
protecting the state’s bond rating from being downgraded
while making sure we can still deliver essential programs
and services to the residents of the commonwealth.”
“The worst depression in a generation didn’t stop the
Massachusetts General Court from borrowing over a billion
dollars today,” said Paul Craney, Executive Director of the
Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. “Despite over one million
workers on unemployment and countless shuttered small
businesses, they found a way to make sure their pet projects
were purchased in an election year.”
“Families are having a hard time paying their rent and
mortgages,” continued Craney. “Workers are on unemployment.
Countless brick and mortar retail shops, restaurants and
lodging destinations have been forced to keep their doors
shut. Instead of focusing on these worthy concerns, our
Statehouse leaders dug up something from last January’s
to-do pile and secured their own future during an election
year.”
State House
News Service
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
House Session Summary - Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Work on IT Bond Amendments Hashed Out Prior to Session
By Chris Van Buskirk and Michael P. Norton
With the pandemic highlighting the importance of functioning
technology, the Massachusetts House bulked up and passed an
information technology investment bill (H 4708) Wednesday
after adding more than $100 million in additional spending
authorizations.
"Over the last several months, thousands of public employees
have been working from home," House Ways and Means Chairman
Aaron Michlewitz said, noting the bill hit the floor with a
$1.63 billion bottom line. "While this has certainly helped
us flatten the curve, it has also put tremendous pressure on
our IT infrastructure like the commonwealth has never seen
before. We can all share stories from the past couple of
months of the difficulties of conducting business in this
new environment. These funds will help ensure that employees
can continue to work remotely as needed while still
providing vital services to our constituents."
Operating under temporary emergency rules, legislators filed
amendments ahead of a Friday deadline and that allowed talks
over amendments to occur ahead of Wednesday's session, which
featured the quick adoption of a major consolidated
amendment with most members participating by phone.
"It gave us time from the committee standpoint, to go
through the amendments individually and try to figure out
which ones we could and couldn't do," Michlewitz told the
News Service after the session. "And we didn't do them all
but I think we were able to get a significant amount into
the consolidated." The big amendment, in one form or
another, dealt with almost all of the 189 amendments filed.
The House meets next on Thursday in an informal session. . .
.
Rep. Michlewitz said:
"The bond bill we are voting on today was filed by the
governor last year and covers a variety of needs, like IT,
educational needs and public safety. Obviously a lot has
changed since last year and the needs of the commonwealth
today are very different from what they were just a few
months ago let alone last spring when this was originally
filed. The $1.63 billion bond authorization reflects some of
those needs and the challenging environment we will face.
The total amount in this bill is an increase in what was
filed last year.
"These funds will help ensure that employees can continue to
work remotely as needed while still providing vital services
to our constituents. These funds will also be also used for
data security and to meet long term planning needs. This
legislation also includes $25 million in bonding and
education grants for our public schools to enhance and
expand remote learning environments and services, $30
million in grants to municipalities to pay for proper safety
equipment for our first responders who have been hit so hard
throughout this crisis, $100 million for capital projects at
our health and human services facilities so that they can
better handle providing amenities throughout this pandemic,
and $36 million, in addition, for food infrastructure and
security needs to some of our most vulnerable populations."
Other highlights include grants to our cities and towns for
a number of needs, including expanded access to broadband,
library construction, ADA compliance and other generic
capital needs our municipalities might have going
forward....
BY A ROLL CALL VOTE OF 138-18 CONSOLIDATED AMENDMENT ADOPTED
Speaker DeLeo then called an engrossment roll call for H
4708 financing the general governmental infrastructure of
the Commonwealth to be open for eight minutes.
BY A ROLL CALL VOTE OF 149-7 BILL ENGROSSED
The Boston
Globe
Monday, May 18, 2020
A look at what can reopen in each phase of Massachusetts’
opening plan
By Jaclyn Reiss Globe Staff
Governor Charlie Baker on Monday released more specific
details of his four-phase reopening plan for Massachusetts.
Each phase will last a minimum of three weeks, and could
last longer depending on health trends. The state could also
backpedal to an earlier phase if health trends go south.
Here’s a look at what can open under each phase of the plan:
Reopening Massachusetts in phases
Phase One: “Start”
- On May 18, places of worship can open with guidelines.
Outdoor services are encouraged.
- On May 18, manufacturing and construction can restart.
Essential businesses will continue to stay open.
- On May 18, hospitals and community health centers can
provide high-priority preventative care, pediatric care, and
treatment for high-risk patients and conditions. (On May 25,
additional health care providers can provide those same
limited services.)
- On May 25, lab and office space can open — except in
Boston, where offices can open starting June 1. Those that
are allowed to open are still strongly encouraged to work
from home, and businesses should restrict their physical
workforce presence to under 25 percent maximum occupancy.
- On May 25, hair salons and barbers can open, by
appointment only. Pet grooming services can open with
appointments and curbside pet drop-off and pickup, and
exterior car washes can open.
- On May 25, recreational marijuana shops will be allowed to
reopen.
- On May 25, retail can execute remote fulfillment and
curbside pickup.
- On May 25, several different outdoor recreational spaces
can open with guidelines, including beaches, parks, drive-in
theaters, some athletic fields and courts, many “outdoor
adventure activities,” most fishing, hunting and boating,
and outdoor gardens, zoos, reserves, and public
installations.
- The state’s “stay-at-home” advisory becomes a
“safer-at-home” advisory, meaning residents are urged to
only leave the house for health care, worship, work,
shopping, and outdoor activities. Under the new advisory,
people should not play close-contact sports; they should
call or video-chat high-risk friends and family instead of
visiting; and parents should limit play dates for children.
Baker said during his press conference Monday that the new
advisory is “not a dramatic departure from where we were,
but it does reflect that we are pursuing a phased reopening
strategy.”
- All residents are still required to cover their face when
they cannot maintain six feet of social distance in public.
- Gathering limits of less than 10 people will still be in
place.
- People who are at risk should work from home if possible.
- All travelers to Massachusetts will still be urged to
self-quarantine for 14 days.
- Lodging (i.e.: hotels and short-term rentals) will
continue to be restricted to essential workers only.
- The MBTA will continue on adapted schedules that are
currently being used.
- Across all phases of reopening, residents should cover
their face, wash their hands, socially distance from others,
be vigilant for symptoms, and stay home if they’re feeling
sick.
Phase Two: “Cautious”
- Following the state’s three-week-minimum guideline, the
absolute earliest Phase Two could start is June 8. (Each
phase could last longer than three weeks, depending on
health trends, and the state could also decide to revert to
an earlier phase.)
- Retail, restaurants, and lodging (such as hotels), as well
as nail salons and day spas, can reopen with restrictions
and some capacity limitations. (A restaurant and hospitality
workgroup convened May 15 to develop procedures for opening
of those specific sectors.)
- Under this phase, potentially updated guidance could also
be issued for Phase One businesses.
- Places of worship can open with updated guidelines, with
outdoor services still encouraged.
- Hospitals and health centers can expand ambulatory
in-person routine care, to include less urgent preventative
services, procedures, and care (e.g., routine dental
cleanings, certain elective procedures), and day programs
(adult day health, day habilitation, etc.).
- Campgrounds, playgrounds, spray decks, public and
community pools, all athletic fields and courts, and limited
youth sports can reopen with guidelines.
- Recreational day camps for kids can reopen.
- Gathering sizes for this phase have yet to be determined
based on trends.
- Business and recreational travel is discouraged under this
phase.
- All travelers to Massachusetts are still encouraged to
self-quarantine for 14 days.
- People who are at risk should work from home if possible.
- For MBTA riders, additional service will be implemented
for high-demand bus routes, and increased service (shorter
time between trains) will be implemented for the T’s Red,
Orange, and Green Lines. The Blue Line will return to its
full schedule. Ferries will reopen with reduced service, and
additional trains will be added on the commuter lines.
- Across all phases of reopening, residents should cover
their face, wash their hands, socially distance from others,
be vigilant for symptoms, and stay home if they’re feeling
sick.
Phase Three: “Vigilant”
- Following the state’s three-week-minimum guideline, if all
goes well in the first two phases, the absolute earliest
Phase Three could start is June 29.
- Bars, casinos, gyms, fitness studios, and museums can
resume with restrictions and some capacity limitations.
- All other business activities can resume with limitations
— except for nightclubs and large venues.
- Under this phase, potentially updated guidance could also
be issued for Phase One and Two businesses.
- Places of worship can open with updated guidelines, with
outdoor services still encouraged.
- Additional recreation and outdoor activities and services
can open with guidelines.
- Youth sports with games and tournaments can resume, with
limited crowd sizes.
- Residential summer camps for kids can reopen.
- Gathering sizes for this phase have yet to be determined
based on trends.
- Travel advisories will be determined based on trends.
- People who are at risk should work from home if possible.
They should also receive priority consideration for
workplace accommodations.
- For MBTA riders, buses will resume their full schedules,
with added service to high-demand routes. All T lines —
Blue, Orange, Red, Green — will resume their full schedules
as well. Ferries will resume regular service, and the
commuter rail will adopt a modified full schedule to reflect
changed travel patterns due to the “new normal.”
- Across all phases of reopening, residents should cover
their face, wash their hands, socially distance from others,
be vigilant for symptoms, and stay home if they’re feeling
sick.
Phase Four: “New Normal”
- Following the state’s three-week-minimum guideline, if all
goes well in the first three phases, the absolute earliest
Phase Four could start is July 20.
- High-risk populations can resume public interactions with
physical distancing.
- Gathering sizes for this phase have yet to be determined
based on trends.
- Travel can resume, with everyone continuing to observe
social guidance.
- Houses of worship can resume full activity in the “new
normal.”
- All businesses, including large venues and nightclubs, can
resume.
- All health and human services can full resume under the
“new normal.”
- All outdoor recreation and activities can fully resume.
- MBTA service is largely similar to what has been outlined
in Phase 3.
- Across all phases of reopening, residents should cover
their face, wash their hands, socially distance from others,
be vigilant for symptoms, and stay home if they’re feeling
sick.
State House
News Service
Monday, May 18, 2020
'Deteriorating Economic Outlook' Dims State Budget Picture
Legislative Budget Writers Could Seek Updated Projections
By Matt Murphy
Soaring unemployment and the expectation among public health
experts that a second wave of the coronavirus could land in
the fall has prompted a leading Beacon Hill watchdog group
to revise its tax revenue forecast for next year, now
predicting the state could collect $6 billion less than
anticipated just five months ago.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation released its updated
economic outlook on Monday, the same day Gov. Charlie Baker
detailed his administration's plans to slowly allow the
economy to begin to reopen from its COVID-19 shutdown.
The nonpartisan, business-backed think tank said that even
if consumers go on a spending "spurt" as retail and
restaurants reopen later this summer, it's likely that
discretionary spending will be limited by people's
"confidence in their financial well-being – a task that
could take years depending on the length and severity of the
pandemic."
MTF President Eileen McAnneny testified before lawmakers and
the administration in April about the changing dynamics of
the state's budget picture, predicting a drop-off of $4.4
billion in estimated tax revenue collection in fiscal 2021
due to the pandemic.
McAnneny now says that prediction was "overly optimistic,"
and that revenues could miss targets set in January by more
than 19 percent as unemployment in the state swells to 22
percent by June. That level of job loss, the group said,
would cause withholding taxes to fall by $1.9 billion and
cost the state $2 billion in sales taxes.
"More current data indicate that the economy is unlikely to
ramp up quickly and the job loss will be far greater than
originally expected. As the size, scope, and duration of
this public health crisis grow, we have revised our forecast
to reflect the deteriorating economic outlook. With
rapidly-changing economic and fiscal conditions this may not
be the last time a revised forecast becomes necessary,"
McAnneny said.
The uncertainty and volatile nature of the state's economic
climate is why House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron
Michlewitz said it is becoming "less and less likely" that
the state will have a "full calendar budget" in place by the
start of the new fiscal on July 1.
"This shows you, that MTF is changing its number, the
uncertainty from an economy standpoint of what lies ahead,"
Michlewitz told the News Service. "One of the things I took
from the April 14 roundtable was that there were factors
that could change. I still think as we sit here today that
is still the case."
Michlewitz added, "We have a number of mitigating issues we
can't address right now, and one of them is what is going to
happen with the federal government with this new stimulus
package that the House passed on Friday."
Since inviting multiple economists and outside budget
analysts last month to offer predictions on the depth of the
fiscal crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, legislative
Democrats and the Baker administration have said little
about how they intend to update the revenue estimates that
they will use to build a budget for fiscal 2021.
The new fiscal year starts on July 1, but House and Senate
leaders have already floated the idea of using one-month
budget extenders to buy more time as the state lets the
pandemic play out and tries to gauge how quickly the economy
might rebound.
Michlewitz said the idea of month-to-month budgeting is "an
option being discussed," but added that it's "too early to
predict how that will play out."
"We'd rather be able to do something that has more concise
information and understanding before we do something that
heads us in the wrong direction. So we're trying to be
careful at this point in time," Michlewitz said. "The
reopening and the recovery will have a huge impact on our
FY21 prospects, so as we sit here May 18 there's obviously a
lot of uncertainty where we're headed and that is being
reflected in how we're handling the budget."
The new MTF analysis cites the loss of 20.5 million jobs
nationally through April, including close to 1 million in
Massachusetts, as one of the reasons for its more
pessimistic outlook. The new report says the national total
reflects about 5 million more jobs lost than MTF had
anticipated when it made its April prediction.
The organization also said the pandemic is "lasting longer"
in Massachusetts and around the country than anticipated,
and medical experts are increasingly pointing to the
likelihood of a resurgence of the virus in the fall that
could force more business closures.
The group now predicts that Massachusetts will lose 725,000
jobs from April through June, which would push the
unemployment rate to 22 percent and reduce annualized wages
by $42 billion.
While the tax and budget group predicted the state will
regain 323,000 of those lost jobs in fiscal 2021, MTF does
not see Massachusetts returning to pre-pandemic employment
levels until 2024.
The U.S. House last Friday passed a new $3 trillion relief
package that would send $500 billion in direct aid to states
like Massachusetts, but Senate Republicans have questioned
the scope of the spending and President Donald Trump called
the bill "dead on arrival."
MTF said the federal relief approved in early bills is not
enough to mitigate the virus's impacts, and is restricted in
how the state can spend it on coronavirus response efforts.
"Without further federal relief, states and municipalities
will be challenged to balance their budgets and recovery
will take longer than previous estimates," the MTF report
stated.
MTF also predicted a tax revenue shortfall of between $700
and $800 million this fiscal year, and has already suggested
that Beacon Hill lawmakers consider delaying implementation
of the landmark $1.5 billion education funding reform bill
passed last year, or put off a planned increase in the
state's contributions to its pension fund.
Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues's office
did not respond to a request for comment, and the governor's
budget office said it continues to monitor revenue
expectations.
Northeastern University professor Alan Clayton-Matthews, one
of the economists who presented to legislators last month,
said he has not yet updated his revenue projections as MTF
had, but Michlewitz said it was likely that lawmakers would
go back to people like Clayton-Matthews to have another
discussion.
"We haven't formally asked others to update, but we may want
to go back to having some follow up discussions," the
chairman said. "When that will be is not yet solidified, but
we may have to have further discussions."
State House
News Service
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Chairman: Delaying Transpo Emissions Pact a Mistake
Pacheco: Climate Crisis Impacts Could be Catastrophic
By Matt Murphy
With global emissions in decline due to the coronavirus
pandemic, the chair of the Senate's Global Warming and
Climate Change Committee rapped the decision made last week
by a coalition of East Coast states to postpone until the
fall its finalization of a plan to cap vehicle fuel
emissions.
Sen. Marc Pacheco, the longest-serving member of the state
Senate, suggested the COVID-19 pandemic should be seen an an
opportunity, not an obstacle to moving forward with the
Transportation Climate Initiative, which until the COVID-19
outbreak had been had been a centerpiece of the policy
agenda on Beacon Hill.
TCI was also a central component of Gov. Charlie Baker's
commitment to move Massachusetts toward net-zero emissions,
which was finalized during the pandemic.
The Transportation and Climate Initiative is a multi-state
coalition of East Coast states working to develop a
cap-and-trade program for fuel emissions. The group said
last week that it would postpone the release of a final
memorandum of understanding from the spring to the fall.
That MOU will lay out the rules of a cap-and-trade program
for states to agree to, and could seek to reduce car and
truck emissions by 25 percent.
The effort is being chaired by Massachusetts Energy and
Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides, and
the coalition said the delay was the result of the intense
focus governors have had to put into their own coronavirus
response planning.
"We all understand that COVID-19 presents immense challenges
that the Commonwealth’s healthcare system and health
officials are fighting day-and-night to overcome. We also
understand that the ongoing pandemic is a crisis with a
scope of disruption that extends far beyond the realm of
healthcare into our economy as a whole," Pacheco said in a
statement.
"I do not understand, however, how these challenges justify
abandoning our responsibility to prevent the worst effects
of climate change that will bring even more devastating,
more permanent catastrophe. If we fail to take urgent action
to reduce carbon emissions, we will realize that dealing
with COVID-19 was child's play compared to the worst effects
of the climate crisis," he said.
Pacheco, a Taunton Democrat who has pushed for legislation
to set a net-zero emissions requirement for Massachusetts,
likened the national scramble to respond to a viral pandemic
to what might happen if policymakers ignore the science of
climate change.
"For years now, we have heard from countless scientific
experts warning us about the worst effects of climate
change. With our own eyes, we have seen these effects begin
to take shape. We cannot let the current crisis of COVID-19
– no matter how severe – eclipse our efforts to prevent the
irreversible climate crisis while we still can," Pacheco
said. "The time to act is now. There is no time to waste."
A study published in the journal National Climate Change and
reported in the Washington Post found that global emissions
declined precipitously in March and April as nations
shutdown their economies and urged people to stay at home.
With fewer people driving and flying, the decline in daily
emissions peaked at 17 percent in early April, and the
scientists predict that global emissions will fall between 4
and 7 percent in 2020. That is still less, however, than the
7.6 percent annual reduction that the United Nations has
said will be necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate
change, the Post reported.
Chris Dempsey, director of Transportation for Massachusetts,
said it's "totally reasonable" given what governors have
been dealing with during the COVID-19 pandemic for TCI to
have been back-burnered, and he said he was actually
"encouraged by and hopeful" for its future because of the
cooperation he's seen between states during the crisis.
"We're not disappointed or dismayed by this," Dempsey said.
"We think this a reasonable step and we look forward to
seeing what the develop by the fall."
The Beacon Hill Institute, a conservative think tank,
recommended this week that Massachusetts abandon TCI because
of the financial strain it will put on businesses as they
try to emerge from their pandemic shutdowns.
Under the old timeline, the impact on fuel prices under TCI
would not be felt until 2022. The coalition estimated late
last year that a cap-and-trade program could add between 5
and 17 cents to the price per gallon of gasoline, depending
on how aggressively the states pursue emission reductions.
The response to the COVID-19 crisis, which has forced the
closure of businesses around the country and stymied
commerce, has driven the average price of gasoline in
Massachusetts to under $2 per gallon, a 31 percent decline
from this time last year, according to AAA Northeast data.
Diesel fuel is also down 16 percent.
The pandemic has also stalled, for now, a separate effort
within the state Legislature to increase the state gas tax
as a way of generating new revenue to invest in public
transportation.
State House
News Service
Thursday, May 21, 2020
DeLeo Flags Focus Areas: Child Care, Restaurants, Liability
Mariano to Lead House Recovery Committee
By Matt Murphy
With his agenda abruptly upended in March by the arrival of
the coronavirus, House Speaker Robert DeLeo on Thursday
outlined in a speech to business leaders steps the House
would take to refocus lawmakers on aiding the state's
economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The speaker's goals include finding ways to help child care
centers stay afloat and navigate the new health and safety
protocols when they eventually reopen, and coming to the aid
of restaurants who are requesting permission to sell alcohol
outdoors and get a break from interest on late meals tax
payments.
"None of this is easy. But it is necessary," DeLeo said
about the difficult decisions ahead.
DeLeo spoke remotely Thursday afternoon to the Greater
Boston Chamber of Commerce from a podium in his office.
Wearing a suit and tie, the speaker delivered an annual
speech that he typically makes in April and uses as an
opportunity to tease the House's initial budget proposal.
The House and Senate have yet to figure out how to tackle
the annual budget this year amid uncertainty over how to
gauge the full extent of the economic fallout from the
COVID-19 pandemic. Some experts have predicted a drop of up
to $6 billion in revenue, and DeLeo noted the possibility of
more direct federal aid.
"Without more concrete information, it's simply not possible
to immediately provide sound details about the budget or our
approach. It is so much more important to operate with
reliable information, than to do something for the sake of
making a quick announcement," DeLeo said.
Asked about tapping into the state's $3.5 billion "rainy
day" fund to cover spending, DeLeo said he was willing to
dip into reserves, but not so deeply that it might impact
the state's bond rating.
"This could go on for more than one year," DeLeo said. "We
have to make sure we keep that stabilization fund healthy,
not just for the coming year, but for the years ahead."
As legislators work through budgetary challenges, DeLeo said
it is the House's role to "foster, aid, and assist" the
economic recovery that began on Monday when Gov. Charlie
Baker rolled out a four-phased reopening plan and began to
ease back from some of the mandatory closure orders that
have ground the economy to a halt.
DeLeo said he's asked Majority Leader Ron Mariano, of
Quincy, to chair a new Commonwealth Resilience and Recovery
Special Committee. Mariano, along with Assistant Majority
Leader Joseph Wagner, will coordinate across existing
committees and with the administration to identify
legislative priorities.
The goal of the special committee, DeLeo said, will be to
find ways to "mitigate economic hardship, minimize
unemployment and job loss, and stabilize small business
ownership."
One area the committee might look at is liability for the
health care industry, as well as business, schools,
universities and other institutions as they begin to reopen
and search for ways to keep workers, students and patients
healthy until there is a vaccine. DeLeo said he's heard
concern about this topic from several lawyers.
"We will probably take a look at those on a case by case
basis, but like it or not this is going to be one of the
aftershocks in terms of what goes on hopefully as we get out
of the concern with COVID-19," DeLeo said.
No cluster of businesses has been hit harder during the
pandemic than restaurants. DeLeo said a group led by Rep.
Paul McMurtry of Dedham that had been focused on find ways
to promote the state's culinary culture had been ready to
release recommendations in March. Now it will repurposed as
the Restaurant Recovery Commission.
The commission, DeLeo said, will begin by working with local
authorities and the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission
to find a "solution" for restaurant owners requesting to
amend their licenses to sell alcohol outdoors for better
social distancing and safety.
The commission will also be looking into whether the state
should waive interest on late payments of meals taxes until
restaurants get back on their feet. "Just as we were
sensitive to the needs of tenants and homeowners amid the
pandemic-created downturn, it's important for us to work
with restaurants so that when this is over, we have healthy
businesses to provide jobs for our residents," DeLeo said.
The speaker also said he's asked Education Committee
Chairwoman Rep. Alice Peisch to spearhead a new Early
Education and Care Recovery Advisory Group focused on
helping child care centers navigate new health protocols and
find a financial model that will allow them to survive.
The state has still not released a plan for reopening day
care centers, which are currently closed through June 29 by
order of the governor. "We all understand a key component of
any recovery is access to safe child care," DeLeo said.
More than 500 business leaders from the Greater Boston area
registered for DeLeo's speech to the chamber on Thursday,
and DeLeo said legislators would need their help and their
ideas to bounce back from COVID-19.
The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce had been particularly
active before the coronavirus outbreak in the debate over
transportation funding that led to the House passing a more
than $500 million revenue package that included hikes in the
gas tax and higher fees for Uber and Lyft rides.
The status of that bill may be hold as it waits for action
in the Senate, but DeLeo said transportation must not get
overlooked as policy leaders think about how to safely let
people return to public transit.
"If we're talking about our economy coming back fully, and I
always considered transportation to be a key to this, that's
not something we can put on the back burner, COVID-19 or
not," DeLeo said. The House has also passed an $18 billion
borrowing bill for transportation that was initially filed
by Gov. Baker, and awaits action in the Senate.
DeLeo also said that despite the financial challenges the
state will have to navigate, he hopes to continue to support
the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, which
with $2 million has helped some Bay State manufacturers
transition to produce personal protective equipment during
the crisis.
"There's no question that challenges surround Massachusetts
right now as we fight two battles simultaneously -- a battle
against the COVID-19 pandemic and a battle to restore our
economy," DeLeo said. "We can't sugarcoat the position we
are in. But, at the same time, we can have faith in the
resilient spirit and innovative core of our state."
Investing.com
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Empty trains, clogged roads: Americans get behind the wheel
to avoid transit
By Tina Bellon
NEW YORK (Reuters) - As Americans plan for life after
pandemic lockdowns, many want to avoid public transport and
use a car instead, straining already underfunded transit
systems and risking an increase in road congestion and
pollution.
Several opinion polls show Americans plan to avoid trains
and buses as stay-at-home orders ease, with some city
dwellers buying a car for the first time. A potential boon
to coronavirus-battered automakers, the shift poses a
challenge to city planners end environmental goals.
Similar dynamics have played out in China, where transit
ridership in large cities remains down about 35% two months
after lockdown restrictions were lifted while car purchases
increase.
Ford Motor Co Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley said the
company has seen an uptick in Chinese demand for
higher-priced utility vehicles fueled by upscale office
workers who used to take public transport.
Volkswagen AG has also seen its sales in China rise above
prior-year levels in the final week of April, driven by the
desire to avoid public transport, according to Juergen
Stackmann, in charge of VW's passenger car sales and
marketing.
Sales of passenger cars jumped 12.3% between April 20 and
25, according to China's Passenger Car Association
Transit ridership has plummeted by as much as 95% in large
U.S. cities during the pandemic and America's leading
transit agencies forecast massive budget drops and revenue
deficits well into 2022.
They call for $33 billion in federal support in addition to
the $25 billion they were granted as part of a March U.S.
coronavirus stimulus bill.
Transit agencies argue they are essential to a comprehensive
economic recovery that avoids gridlock, but surveys show
Americans plan to reduce their use of shared transportation.
In an April Ipsos poll among U.S. transit riders, 72% said
they would either reduce their use of public transportation
or wait until it was safe again. That compared with 68% of
U.S. consumers who said they will use their car as much or
more than before the pandemic.
In New York City, where some 5.5 million people commuted
daily on subways and buses before the pandemic, residents
are mulling their future transportation needs.
Chana and Mordechai Lightstone, a couple living in Brooklyn
with their five children, never owned a car, but in early
April finally made a decision to buy a Honda Odyssey
minivan.
"We really prided ourselves on being subway people, but a
car simply is the safest way to go outside right now," Chana
Lightstone said.
Some businesses, like the New York Stock Exchange, have told
employees they are not allowed to take public transit to
work.
Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York
Automobile Dealers Association, said his members in recent
weeks frequently heard from customers concerned about taking
transit to work.
In a survey by online vehicle sales platform TrueCar, 8% of
U.S. shoppers said avoiding public transportation was their
primary reason for leasing or buying a car.
But as more people switch from transit to cars, the risk of
congestion increases, a team of U.S. researchers found.
Modeling commutes in U.S. metropolitan areas, they found
that individual commutes increase by as much as 20 minutes
if one in four transit riders switches to a private car.
"If officials fail to convince the public that public
transportation is safe, we could see a permanent shift away
from transit," said Dan Work, a professor at Vanderbilt
University's School of Engineering and one of the study's
co-authors.
Trying to rebuild trust, U.S. transit officials look to Asia
and Europe where cities instituted temperature checks,
mandatory face coverings and in some instances try to
enforce physical distancing by condoning off seats and
sections on platforms.
Cleaning and disinfection procedures for everything from
ticket machines to elevator buttons and handrails have been
implemented by all transit agencies. In New York City, those
additional cleaning measures will cost up to $500 million
per year.
https://www.investing.com/news/commodities-news/empty-trains-clogged-roads-americans-get-behind-the-wheel-to-avoid-transit-2178259
The Boston
Globe
Thursday, May 21, 2020
2.4 million more Americans file for unemployment claims
as pandemic’s economic toll persists
(AP) More than 2.4 million people applied for US
unemployment benefits last week in the latest wave of
layoffs from the viral outbreak that triggered widespread
business shutdowns two months ago and sent the economy into
a deep recession.
Roughly 38.6 million people have filed for jobless aid since
the coronavirus forced millions of businesses to close their
doors and shrink their workforces, the Labor Department said
Thursday. In addition, newly eligible recipients, such as
gig workers and independent contractors, have filed 3.7
million claims under the federal Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance program that is part of the rescue package
approved by Congress in March.
Over the past nine weeks, 26 percent of people working
before the pandemic have filed for jobless pay.
In Massachusetts, 38,100 residents filed new claims, down
from 45,300 last week. Another 116,000 filings came from
workers covered by the new pandemic assistance program.
Since mid-March, the state has received 1.23 million new
claims, or one-third of the pre-COVID-19 workforce.
The Baker administration said Thursday that workers laid off
due to the pandemic who have exhausted their regular
unemployment compensation may now receive an additional 13
weeks of benefits under the CARES Act. Payments will
automatically continue for individuals who have been
receiving regular standard unemployment benefits.
The continuing stream of heavy job cuts reflects an economy
that is sinking into the worst recession since the Great
Depression. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office
estimated this week that the economy is shrinking at a 38
percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. That would be
by far the worst quarterly contraction on record.
Nearly half of Americans say that either their incomes have
declined or they live with another adult who has lost pay
through a job loss or reduced hours, the Census Bureau said
in survey data released Wednesday More than one-fifth of
Americans said they had little or no confidence in their
ability to pay the next month’s rent or mortgage on time,
the survey found.
During April, US employers shed 20 million jobs, eliminating
a decade’s worth of job growth in a single month. The
unemployment rate reached 14.7 percent the highest since the
Depression. Millions of other people who were out of work
weren’t counted as unemployed because they didn’t look for a
new job.
Since then, 10 million more laid-off workers have applied
for jobless benefits. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
said in an interview Sunday that the unemployment rate could
peak in May or June at 20 percent to 25 percent.
Across industries, major employers continue to announce job
cuts. Uber said this week that it will lay off 3,000
employees, on top of 3,700 it has already cut, because
demand for its ride-hailing services has plummeted. Vice, a
TV and digital news organization tailored for younger
people, announced 155 layoffs globally last week.
Digital publishers Quartz and BuzzFeed, magazine giant Conde
Nast and the company that owns the business-focused The
Economist magazine also announced job cuts last week.
— Christina Prignano and
Larry Edelman of the Globe staff contributed.
The Boston
Globe
Friday, May 22, 2020
Massachusetts jobless rate hit 15.1% in April amid
coronavirus shutdowns
The state’s jobless rate was 2.8 percent in March.
By Larry Edelman
The unemployment rate in Massachusetts surged to 15.1
percent in April from 2.8 percent in the prior month, the
Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said
Friday, as hundreds of thousands of workers were laid off
after the state shut down nonessential businesses to stem
the spread of the coronavirus.
The state shed 623,000 jobs in April, according to a
preliminary estimate by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics,
or 17 percent of all nonfarm payrolls. That followed a
revised decline of 43,800 jobs in March.
The state’s April unemployment rate was 0.4 percentage point
above that national rate of 14.7 percent. The labor force
decreased by 364,700 from March to 3.41 million.
The labor force participation rate — the total number of
Massachusetts residents 16 or older who worked or were
unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks —
dropped to 60.3 percent from 67.5 percent a year earlier.
The state reported the following breakdown of industry
sector job losses in April from March.
Leisure and hospitality: a loss of 216,200 jobs, or 61
percent of the sector’s total over the month.
Trade, transportation, and utilities: a loss of 112,700
jobs, or 19.5 percent.
Education and health services: a loss of 85,900 jobs, or
10.6 percent.
Construction: a loss of 60,000 jobs, or 37.1 percent.
Other services: a loss of 48,100 jobs, or 35.7 percent.
Professional, scientific, and business services: a loss of
45,600 jobs, or 7.5 percent.
Manufacturing: a loss of 21,400 jobs, or 8.8 percent.
Financial activities: a loss of 6,700 jobs, or 3 percent.
Information: a loss of 400 jobs, or 0.4 percent.
Government: a loss of 25,900 jobs, or 5.6 percent.
State House
News Service
Friday, May 22, 2020
Pandemic Changes Narrative on Memorial Day Travel
By Michael P. Norton
Memorial Day weekend is arriving with low gas prices, nice
weather and a stern warning from state leaders to stay home
and stay off the roads and the MBTA.
"Our message to people is, 'Don't rush out,' Don't travel if
you don’t have to," Transportation Secretary Stephanie
Pollack said in a statement Thursday night. " ... We don't
want travel - not on the roads, and not on the MBTA.”
The Baker administration shifted Massachusetts this week to
a safer-at-home advisory that says all residents should
leave home only for health care, worship and permitted work,
shopping and outdoor activities. Under the advisory, the
state recommends thay people over the age of 65 and people
who have underlying health conditions continue to stay home
except for essential errands. Face coverings are still urged
when people cannot maintain six feet of social distance in
public and people should not gather in groups of more than
10, according to the current guidance aimed at slowing the
damaging spread of COVID-19.
With fewer cars on the roads, state officials recently
reported an increase in speeding and deadly crashes. Ahead
of the holiday, Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver
urged motorists to be mindful of people trying to enjoy the
outdoors. "If you do need to travel, drive responsibly by
not exceeding the speed limit, limit distractions, and be
mindful of other motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians," he
said.
Gas is averaging $1.92 per gallon, AAA Northeast reported on
Monday, compared to $2.80 per gallon at this time last year.
"Gas prices around Memorial Day have not been this cheap in
nearly 20 years," Mary Maguire of AAA Northeast said on
Monday. "However, as the country continues to practice
social distancing, this year’s unofficial kick-off to summer
is not going to drive the typical millions of Americans to
travel. Despite inexpensive gas prices, AAA anticipates this
year’s holiday will likely set a record low for travel
volume."
The Boston
Herald
Friday, May 22, 2020
Bottle bill all bottled up in pandemic panic
By Howie Carr
Comrades, you are hereby ordered to keep piling up those
empty cans and bottles in the garage or the mudroom or
wherever, because the Reich is in no hurry to reopen the
vast majority of redemption centers.
It’s not as bad as Charlie Parker costing you your job
(38,000 more unemployed Thursday). Nor is it as exasperating
as the plague of officious Mask Police, or the kids
underfoot at home, or watching 24/7 panic porn about a virus
that has killed all of 78 people in the state under the age
of 50.
But watching those “redeemables” pile up unreturned in
overflowing bags and bins is just another little slap in the
face by these smug mandarins who are so gleefully bullying
us while they continue to collect their six-figure salaries.
No bottle redemptions – you’ll take it and you’ll like it!
Here’s the typical jive Thursday from our embarrassingly
corrupt, incompetent state administration, and stop me if
you’ve heard this kind of BS over and over and over again:
“As part of the Baker-Polito Administration‘s comprehensive
reopening strategy, the Massachusetts Department of
Environmental Protection (MassDEP) is finalizing a plan to
resume enforcement of the bottle and can redemption
regulations and ensure customers can redeem bottles and cans
at locations throughout the Commonwealth, and will include
guidelines to protect the safety of all retail employees and
the public.”
“Finalizing” — what a weasel word. The hacks shut down the
redemption centers March 18, more than two months ago. You
have to keep paying them the nickels, and they keep not
giving you your money back.
But don’t worry, Charlie Parker and Pay to Play Polito are
“finalizing” their plans to “resume” something. It’s all
part of the “comprehensive reopening strategy,” probably
designed to ensure “hygiene protocols” in all “sectors.”
Imagine if a private company were leasing or selling a
product that required a deposit. And suddenly, they stopped
returning the deposits when the contract was completed and
in fact refused to accept returns.
And, oh yeah, if you had to buy any more of the product,
they’d make you pay another deposit.
And then they would refuse to return that additional money
too.
You’d be calling 911, and the local bunco squad would be all
over these grifters. The feds describe this sort of crime as
a “racketeering enterprise.”
How is this any different than, say, Bernie Madoff’s racket?
He took your money and promised something in return and you
didn’t get it and in the end you lost your original
investment too.
Pay to Play Polito calls this the “new normal.” They steal
your money and laugh in your face when you ask them to give
it back. It took me two days to pry that pointless statement
out of them. I wonder if the payroll patriots could keep a
straight face while they were composing it.
And by the way, if you complain about being robbed, you’re a
bad human being who doesn’t care about human life.
This represents a major source of money for the hacks — so
far this fiscal year, according to DOR numbers, they’ve
grabbed $50,017,152 in “abandoned deposits (bottles)”
including $5,117,997 last month alone … when the state was
under what amounted to martial law.
Would it really kill them to suspend collection of money
they obviously have no intention of ever returning? The
answer is, yes. It’s like keeping the restaurants shuttered
— it makes them feel virtuous to hurt people who work for a
living.
Here’s how the redemption scam works. You pay your nickels
to, say, Market Basket or Total Wine or whoever, and
eventually you get it back, when you return the cans or
bottles. But if you don’t bring back your bottles or cans,
the money reverts to the Commonwealth.
It’s the medieval principle of “escheatage” — the power of
the state to acquire title to property for which there is no
owner. That’s the dictionary definition.
How appropriate that the hackerama would be reaping untold
millions under a concept called escheatage, the derivative
of which must be “cheat.”
The bottle bill was always a con, a way for the state to
steal ever more money from its citizens. That’s why you see
periodic efforts to jack up the deposit to a dime — twice as
much escheatage! That’s why the hacks sometimes try to
expand it to bottled water.
Sure it was a scam, but until March 18, they at least gave
you the option of breaking even, if not beating the house.
No longer.
It’s the new normal. Heads they win, tails you lose. The
state is now run under Mafia rules: what’s theirs is theirs
and what’s yours is theirs.
Will the last non-hack leaving Massachusetts please turn off
the lights?
State House
News Service
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Democrats Grab Pair of Senate Seats from Republicans
Bickford: Special Election Results Foreshadow Dem Gains
By Michael P. Norton
Democrats claimed victory in two special elections Tuesday,
seizing Senate seats that had long been held by Republicans
in races that party chair Gus Bickford said reflected a
rejection of President Donald Trump's politics.
John Velis of Westfield prevailed to take the seat that Don
Humason gave up after he was elected mayor of that city, and
Susan Moran of Falmouth was elected to serve in a district
formerly represented by Plymouth Republican Vinny deMacedo.
The wins leave Republicans with just four seats in the
40-member Senate. The party, whose top officeholders in
Massachusetts are Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn
Polito, holds 31 seats in the 160-seat Massachusetts House,
where veteran GOP Reps. Randy Hunt and Elizabeth Poirier are
not seeking re-election.
Both special elections had been scheduled for March 31 but
were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were carried
out with both traditional in-person voting and the use of
mail-in voting, an option that lawmakers are weighing for
the Sept. 1 primary and Nov. 3 general election.
"Two areas that were strong for Donald Trump a few years ago
came back home and voted blue tonight," Democratic Party
Chair Gus Bickford said in a statement Tuesday night.
"Democrats and independents are united now more than ever,
and we will continue to work together through the fall.
These two flipped seats are a sign of things to come in a
few months."
Moran, an attorney and selectboard member, beat James
McMahon of Bourne, an attorney and supporter of President
Trump. McMahon made a bid for state Senate after running in
2018 as the GOP nominee for attorney general, losing that
race to Attorney General Maura Healey.
The Cape Cod Times reported that Moran took 55 percent of
the vote to 45 percent for McMahon, riding voting margins in
Falmouth and Sandwich to victory even though McMahon
prevailed in Bourne, Kingston, Pembroke and Plymouth.
Velis, a state representative, veteran and attorney from
Westfield, defeated John Cain of Southwick to give the
Democrats a seat that had been held for more than two
decades by Republicans. Humason had joined the Senate after
Republican Michael Knapik, who was elected to the Senate in
1994, gave up the seat.
Moran's win in the Plymouth and Barnstable Senate district
enabled the Democrats to take back a seat that was long held
by Therese Murray, the former Senate president. In 2014,
deMacedo, a longtime state representative, snagged that
Senate seat for the Republicans. Last year, deMacedo
resigned his Senate seat to take a job at Bridgewater State
University.
"Not only is this a great day for Senator-elect Moran, it's
a great day for her new constituents and their fellow Bay
Staters," said Rebecca Hart Holder, executive director of
NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts. "Her victory flipped a seat
that had been previously held by a staunch anti-choice
politician and prevented it from falling into the hands of
another."
On the Horizon
On June 2, voters are scheduled to settle two House special
elections to fill seats held until recently by Jennifer
Benson of Lunenburg and Shaunna O'Connell of Taunton. Benson
left the House to work as president of the Alliance for
Business Leadership and O'Connell resigned after being
elected as mayor of her hometown last November.
Democrat Carol Doherty and Republican Kelly Dooner, both of
Taunton, are competing in the Third Bristol House district.
In the 37th Middlesex district, Democrat Danillo Sena of
Acton faces Republican Catherine Clark of Lunenburg.
The deadline for prospective candidates to turn in
nomination signatures to qualify for the 2020 ballot passed
in early May. Republican officials are still awaiting final
certifications, but expect they will be able to run
candidates in at about 55 House districts and eight Senate
districts.
Republican Party Chairman James Lyons, who lost his House
seat to Democrat Tram Nguyen in 2018, told the News Service
this month that party officials have their eyes on the seat
that Democrat Rep. Theodore Speliotis of Danvers is giving
up, and the district covering Tewksbury and Wilmington that
is currently represented by Democrat Rep. David Robertson.
The MassGOP is also planning to compete in the 12th
Worcester District, where Democrat Rep. Harold Naughton of
Clinton is giving up his seat to join a law firm based in
New York. Republican State Committeewoman Susan Smiley is
running there.
The MassGOP also sees a chance to be competitive against
Rep. Jonathan Zlotnik of Gardner, Rep. Kathleen LaNatra of
Kingston and Rep. Josh Cutler of Pembroke. And Lyons said he
expects to have five or six candidates running in the
state's nine Congressional districts and two for U.S.
Senate.
Democrats are hoping the turnout surge that accompanies
presidential elections will help them build on
super-majorities in both branches and return an all-Democrat
delegation to Washington D.C.
State House
News Service
Friday, May 22, 2020
Weekly Roundup - Phased and Confused
Recap and analysis of the week in state government
By Matt Murphy
They are the forbidden fruit of summer: beaches, cookouts,
and eventually, maybe, patio lunches. Partake at your own
risk.
In any other year, all three might have been a big part of
people's Memorial Day plans. And they still might be. But as
the unofficial start of summer arrives this weekend, many
Massachusetts residents will probably be hesitant as they
begin to gingerly dip their toes back into the water, so to
speak.
Gov. Charlie Baker made it possible on Monday to resume some
of the activities taken for granted just a few months ago,
even if you must wear a mask to do so. But the rollout of
the four-phased plan to begin reopening the state's economy
from its COVID-19 shutdown was met with predicted pushback
from both sides of the debate.
Either the governor was charging ahead too fast, or still
holding too tight on the reins. That's what happens when
there's a lot on the line.
Baker's plan began with allowing construction, manufacturing
and socially-distanced church services to resume immediately
under strict safety rules, including six-foot berths for
workers and mandatory masks. At Symmons Industries in
Braintree, where Baker visited Wednesday, they pump 80s hits
into the room to ease the tension as employees line up for
temperature checks.
Starting Monday, even more activities will be permitted,
though restaurants don't come until Phase Two.
Beaches will be open, but sunbathers will have to stay apart
and keep their blankets 12 feet from other groups. Retailers
can sell products, but only to customers picking up
curbside. And salons can cut hair, but be prepared for a
more sterile experience than you might be used to.
This is all part of Phase One of four, which ends with a
vaccine or a viable treatment for COVID-19. The metrics for
advancing through the phases is a little less clear, but
each one, Baker said, will last a minimum of three weeks and
advancement will depend on making progress in reducing cases
and deaths and hitting key testing and hospital capacity
goals.
By week's end, Massachusetts had counted 90,899 total cases
and recorded 6,228 deaths from the coronavirus, and its
rolling seven-day average positive test rate was 9.2
percent, still above the World Health Organization's
recommended 5 percent.
"People need to understand that we're playing this game, and
it's a real one, with the virus and the economy at the same
time," Baker said Monday. "And it's really important for
people to step up and recognize and understand that this
game is not over."
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh told his mother not to go Sunday
Mass, even if the church was open. And Transportation
Secretary Stephanie Pollack said don't travel or ride the T
if you don't have to. In other words, Massachusetts is
opening, but best to give it a little time to work through
the kinks.
Walsh also took issue with the plan to let offices reopen in
Boston at 25 percent capacity as soon as June 1. For the
rest of the state, the starting gun at offices goes off
Monday. But the mayor said for the capital city, and the
engine of the state's economy, 25 percent of employees
returning to work would be "too much" to begin with, as he
eyes a lower starting point.
For many parents, returning to work remains a faint glimmer
in their eye as the state still has no concrete plans to
reopen child care.
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley was among the voices on the left
urging Baker to reconsider how fast he was moving, which for
retailers was not nearly fast enough. Repeatedly, Retailers
Association of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst asked why a
haircut had been deemed less dangerous than if a retail
store were to invite customers in by appointment. No
explanation was forthcoming.
MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons seemed to be on the side of the
retailers and critics of his own Republican governor who
wanted to see the administration set some basic health
parameters for businesses and get out of the way.
That message, however, didn't work at the ballot box, where
the Republican Party lost both special Senate elections on
Tuesday in districts it was defending. In the special
election for a seat in Plymouth and Barnstable counties, the
Republican nominee was conservative attorney Jay McMahon,
who had been a frequent passenger of the "Reopen Now" train,
rallying with fellow gun rights activists and MAGA
hat-wearing conservatives in the days leading up to Tuesday.
McMahon lost to Falmouth Selectwoman and now Senator-elect
Susan Moran in an outcome that at least one elected
Republican from the area, Rep. Randy Hunt of Sandwich, said
he predicted.
"I don't know how you could not think that the mood this
year in Massachusetts will be turning away from Trump
supporters," Hunt told the News Service in a postmortem on
the race.
The other special election took place in western
Massachusetts where Democratic state Rep. John Velis
defeated Southwick Republican John Cain, who at least had
the support of his party's popular governor, which could not
be said for McMahon. Though it didn't help him much.
So the MassGOP came out of Tuesday's special elections
officially down two seats in the 40-person Senate, leaving
Minority Leader Bruce Tarr with just three other members to
caucus with and push an alternate agenda to the one
Democratic leaders serve up.
Legislators will probably begin to look at both contests now
for clues as to how effective voting by mail turned out to
be. Secretary of State William Galvin said at least 30
percent of the ballots cast were returned by mail, and he's
looking for a decision soon from the Legislature about what
will be allowed for the late summer and fall elections.
Gov. Baker could probably help nudge this issue toward
resolution if he were to take a position on voting by mail,
but he continues to suggest that it's not something that
needs to be worried about now. "People think this is
something that needs to happen soon?" he said in an
interview with WBGH radio Thursday. "The elections are a
long way away."
Exactly two months before the Sept. 1 primary election, the
new fiscal year will begin.
But the start of the economic reopening comes as state
policymakers continue to struggle to understand how much
damage the shutdown has done to the economy. The Executive
Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported Friday
that unemployment was up to 15.1 percent in April after the
economy shed 623,000 jobs last month, and it hasn't gotten
better in May.
The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation updated its April
forecast to account for the duration of the pandemic, the
skyrocketing unemployment and the uncertainty surrounding
more federal financial relief. The group now predicts the
state could see tax revenue in fiscal 2021 plummet $6
billion from what had been projected in January.
All of that adds up to House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate
President Karen Spilka, and Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and Sen.
Michael Rodrigues, the two chairs of the Ways and Means
Committees, taking a wait-and-see approach to an annual
budget that should have passed the Senate this week and been
on its way to a conference committee.
DeLeo and Michlewitz both said that the situation is too
fluid at the moment to even think about developing a
year-long budget, lending credence to the idea that the
Legislature could be leaning toward a month-to-month
approach once the current fiscal year ends on July 1.
DeLeo spoke to the uncertainty in remarks Thursday to the
Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, via Zoom of course.
The speaker said that while it's the administration's
responsibility for managing through the pandemic, it's the
House's role to find ways to support an economic recovery.
With that goal in mind, DeLeo tapped Majority Leader Ron
Mariano and Assistant Majority Leader Joseph Wagner to lead
a new special committee focused on coordinating a
legislative response across subjects and committees.
He's also asked Wellesley Rep. Alice Peisch, the chair of
the Education Committee, to explore needs in the child care
industry, and tapped Rep. Paul McMurtry, a Dedham movie
theater operator, to find ways to help restaurants bounce
back, including possibly amending their licenses to allow
for outdoor liquor sales.
While that work begins, the House did vote this week on a
$1.73 billion borrowing bill for information technology
projects, including funding for remote learning, which may
be here to stay for longer than anyone thought.
The University of Massachusetts is among the schools still
considering whether to welcome students back to campus in
the fall or continue with online learning, but regardless of
what it decides UMass President Marty Meehan said he will
ask the board of trustees to freeze tuition next year.
And for many high school seniors, there is no next year with
their classmates. But the state said Friday that beginning
July 19, outdoor graduation ceremonies, with restrictions,
would be allowed, as long as health data trends in the right
direction. So at least they can say goodbye.
STORY OF THE WEEK: You can open and you can open and you
can open. But not you.
State House
News Service
Friday, May 22, 2020
Advances - Week of May 24, 2020
While now on the backside of the COVID-19 surge,
Massachusetts is adjusting to the shift away from
date-focused deadlines and toward a new guiding principle:
do it when the data says the time is right.
The devastating virus has left unemployment at 15 percent
and rising. Much of what's left of the traditional economy
is on hold, eagerly awaiting word that trends in deaths,
transmission, and health care infrastructure have reached a
point where more activity, and commerce, is considered safe
and prudent, or whether there will be renewed efforts to
lock things down again.
Similarly, state officials say their goal on the annual
budget is to get it right, rather than done by a certain
date. Normally, House and Senate leaders would be heading
into conference committee at this time of year to come up
with a compromise budget for the July 1 start of the new
fiscal year. This year, July 1 is the new deadline for the
House Ways and Means Committee to propose an annual budget.
It could be months before the Legislature is able to agree
on a final budget, with interim spending bills likely to be
used to keep services running and bills paid in the
meantime.
Memorial Day arrives Monday with state officials urging
people to stay home and off the roads and the MBTA, but also
allowing more businesses to reopen after being shuttered for
weeks.
-- REOPENING PHASE ONE: After weeks of waiting,
Massachusetts could see its first significant shift toward
reopening the economy and resuming some business and social
activity on Monday when the bulk of the businesses in the
first wave of reopening will be cleared to relaunch while
adhering to mandatory safety standards and industry-specific
guidelines.
Construction, manufacturing and religious services were
allowed to resume this week -- some had not been put on hold
by the pandemic -- but Monday's go-ahead represents the
first major step in the direction of easing the economic
shutdown put in place in March to try to control the spread
of the highly contagious coronavirus. Some retail and
offices may restart, as well as salons and barbershops, labs
and car washes.
The state's reopening plan unveiled in detail this week set
the stage for a plodding return to normalcy and outlined how
residents might return to their daily lives while the risk
of picking up a dangerous pathogen remains a fact of life.
"People need to understand that we're playing this game, and
it's a real one, with the virus and the economy at the same
time," the governor said Monday. "And it's really important
for people to step up and recognize and understand that this
game is not over."
The governor and his administration plan to wait at least
three weeks between each phase of the reopening to allow
them time to see how the increase in activity affects public
health data and COVID-19 infections. Baker stressed this
week that no business has to open just because they are
categorized as part of Phase One. "I think we want people to
do whatever they're most comfortable doing here," he said.
-- Colin A. Young
-- TESTING PLANS: The Baker administration plans to submit
its medium-term and long-term testing strategy to the
federal government in the coming days, a step Baker has said
is necessary to access funds allocated in relief legislation
Congress passed in April.
Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders on
Monday indicated the plan would be filed by May 24, and
Baker on Friday said it "will obviously be available when we
file it next week." The governor has said the plan will call
for stepping up testing capacity to hit 45,000 daily tests
by the end of July and 75,000 daily by the end of December,
with the goal of bringing the positive rate below 5 percent.
Baker said Friday that the positive rate had been "below 10
percent for a little over a week now." Currently, the state
has lab capacity for 30,000 tests, but the highest
single-day total so far is the 14,342 performed on May 1,
according to Department of Public Health data. In a Thursday
WGBH radio interview, Baker said that specimen collection
and transportation capacity does not yet match lab
processing capacity.
Baker has said that the state's testing plan calls for
faster turnaround times on test results and "will focus
particularly on communities with low testing availability,
hotspots where we're seeing high positive rates, and high
density areas." It also includes randomized testing for
disease surveillance purposes and an increase in lab
processing capacity, to prepare for a potential surge in
testing this fall. - Katie Lannan
-- THE LEGISLATURE: Under temporary emergency rules, House
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Aaron Michlewitz of Boston
has until July 1, the first day of fiscal 2021, to propose a
fiscal 2021 budget. It's becoming clear that state
government leaders plan to start the fiscal new year with
the state operating on interim budgets, which are usually
initiated by the governor.
The question here is at what level would government
agencies, programs and services be funded under an interim
budget, and how long such a budget would be in place. State
tax collections have collapsed due to forced business
shutdowns that are just beginning to ease.
The state has $3.5 billion socked away in its reserves, new
federal aid is available and more may be on the way, but no
one knows when the long-term solutions -- steady economic
growth and a COVID-19 vaccine -- will come. The high level
of uncertainty, including a lack of knowledge about the
recovery everyone is hoping for, has legislative leaders
hunched in a wait-and-see mode, assembling information and
mulling next steps.
In the near term, Gov. Baker has on his desk a bill
extending the maximum length of jobless benefits and easing
premium impacts on businesses forced to lay off workers (S
2618). With COVID-19 activity slowing, House and Senate
Democrats continue to wrestle over the specifics of COVID-19
data reporting bills (H 4672, H 4667) even as the Department
of Public Health continues to revise and add to its daily
reporting offerings.
Supporters of mail-in and early voting reforms continue to
press their case for immediate action, warning that planning
realities and ballot-printing deadlines underscore the need
to act now if Beacon Hill intends to embrace changes aimed
at giving people more voting options amid the global
pandemic.
The Senate is newly in receipt of a $1.73 billion
information technology bond bill (H 4708) that supporters
say is critical to upgrading the infrastructure needed
during the pandemic. The House has not yet taken up a $1
billion supplemental budget (H 4707) to cover spending
incurred during the crisis, with the expectation of the
administration that it will be funded by federal monies.
Legislative leaders also have yet to decide about extending
formal sessions beyond July 31. The pandemic's impacts could
be used as a rationale for legislating during what is
usually campaign season, although blending lawmaking while
politicking can lead to complications.
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, while serving as a state
representative during her 2010 campaign for state treasurer,
came out for the idea of extended sessions. During the
pandemic, the House and Senate have been postponing scores
of committee decisions on bills, pushing deadlines closer to
July 31 through extension orders, and making it clear that
the shrinking non-coronavirus agenda may require more time
to tackle, perhaps later this year.
The pillars of the pre-pandemic agenda included addressing
climate change, bulking up transportation funding, and
boosting housing production. - Michael P. Norton
The Boston
Herald
Saturday, May 23, 3030
Charlie Baker’s over the top message —
veterans fought for our right to wear masks
By Joe Battenfeld
His voice rising, Gov. Charlie Baker delivered an
impassioned plea for Massachusetts residents to wear face
masks on the kickoff of the Memorial Day weekend, saying not
wearing them dishonors those who fought and died for their
country.
Think about that this Memorial Day when you take a walk on
the beach or fire up the barbecue.
“If you don’t want to wear a mask because you don’t like
wearing a mask, if you don’t want to social distance because
you don’t like to social distance, please think about those
families,” he said. “Those Moms and Dads, those brothers and
sisters, those sons and daughters of those who lost their
lives fighting for your freedom to put on that mask, and
just do it for them. Socially distance for them. Wash your
hands for them because if they were here they’d have done
the same thing.”
So, next time you see someone not wearing a face covering,
question their patriotism. That should defuse the situation.
I'm all for masks, don’t get me wrong. But comparing them to
some wartime sacrifice seems a little strong.
We don’t know what those who paid the ultimate sacrifice
feel, but it’s safe to say that they weren’t “fighting for
your freedom to put on that mask.”
Baker has come close to losing it several times during the
coronavirus pandemic, and has actually fought back tears a
few times.
On Friday, the Republican governor – yes he’s still a
Republican – seemed especially animated talking about the
mask issue, and in general was a downer, telling people not
to gather in crowds or enjoy things like beach volleyball
over the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Apparently state
officials are worried everyone is suddenly going to start
partying because the beaches are open. Be smart and be safe.
That’s Baker’s message.
“Don’t let a few nice days step on that,” Baker said.
At one point Baker questioned whether people weren’t wearing
masks because it made them look bad?
“This is not about vanity, folks,” the governor said.
No, actually it has nothing to do with vanity, so why even
mention it?
I have yet to run into anyone who refuses to wear a mask
because they couldn’t find one that highlights their eyes.
Some people are defying the mask order because they
genuinely believe the government has no business telling
them what to put on their face.
And some cannot wear a mask for health reasons.
The best way to get people to wear masks is through
scientific evidence. If there is strong evidence that
wearing a mask significantly reduces the risk of getting
coronavirus, let them know. And if they still refuse, just
avoid them.
But to elevate the mask issue as some kind of test of
patriotism – and linking it to Memorial Day – seems
heavy-handed and unproductive.
Just give us the facts, governor. Spare us the theatrics.
State House
News Service
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Driver’s License Bill Reframed as Public Health Priority
By Michael P. Norton
Newly framing the measure as a public health priority,
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Northwestern District
Attorney David Sullivan are teaming with union officials to
pressure state lawmakers to pass a bill making up to 78,000
undocumented immigrants in Massachusetts eligible to obtain
a standard driver's license over the next three years.
The phased economic reopening underway in Massachusetts
amidst the COVID-19 pandemic has raised questions about
people safely returning to the MBTA as well as a possible
sudden surge in driving. The Transportation Committee in
early February voted 14-4 to endorse a bill (S 2641) to
allow qualified Massachusetts immigrants to obtain a
standard state driver's license, regardless of immigration
status. The measure has not moved any further and remains in
the Senate Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Michael
Rodrigues, a Westport Democrat.
"This bill – to license all drivers, regardless of
immigration status – needs to be an essential piece of our
public health and economic recovery policy. Without driver's
licenses, many of our essential workers have to crowd onto
buses or subway cars to get to work. This puts their lives
and our community's health at risk," Natalicia Tracy,
executive director of the Brazilian Workers Center, said in
a statement Thursday morning.
At 6 p.m., Pressley, Sullivan, Mass. AFL-CIO President
Steven Tolman and others plan to host a virtual town hall to
promote the bill and hear from people "sharing their
experiences on the barriers they face when they are unable
to obtain driver's licenses."
"The urgency for this policy is greater than ever," Roxana
Rivera, vice president of 32BJ SEIU, said. "Before the
pandemic, this policy was common sense. Now, it is about
protecting lives and helping workers put food on the table.
If undocumented workers are better able to access good jobs
safely, they will help our economy bounce back more quickly
and help the state generate more revenue in the long term."
Town hall organizers say the latest data show there are
about 185,000 undocumented immigrants living in
Massachusetts, and an estimated 41,000 to 78,000 drivers
would likely obtain licenses within the first three years of
the bill's implementation. The town hall will include live
interpretation in Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Haitian
Creole.
Legislative leaders have not made the bill a priority in
recent years and Gov. Charlie Baker opposes it.
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