Article Source: State House News Service

Author: Matt Murphy

Nine Congressional seats. Nine thousand four hundred seats for fans at Fenway Park. Two hundred seats at an indoor wedding. Zero masks when alone outdoors.

The last week of April, which also happened to be House budget debate week, was all about counting. Whether it was to add up the spending on a priority line-item, calculate capacity limits under Gov. Charlie Baker’s new reopening schedule or just plain count people, it seemed everyone had their abacus out.

The U.S. Census Bureau said it had counted 7,029,917 people living in Massachusetts last year, amounting to a growth rate of 7.4 percent over the last decade that mirrored the national average and eclipsed even the rosiest of projections for the Bay State.

The total ensured that unlike 10 years ago the state would keep its full slate of representation in Congress, and the Senate’s top redistricting Democrat said it should also mean no incumbent-against-incumbent “drama” this time around.

Of course, the extent of the drama to come with the decennial redrawing of the state and national political boundaries won’t be fully understood until later this summer when the Census shares actual town-by-town and precinct-by-precinct data.

But for now it’s fun to speculate. Like will U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s 7th Congressional District shed the neighborhoods of Allston and Brighton to meet the new size requirement and stay majority-minority? Will Fall River stay divided between the 9th Congressional District and the 4th Congressional District?

There was less guess work involved in following the House budget debate, which showcased lawmakers engaging in the methodical, if at times boring, process of sifting through over 1,150 amendments to add close to $60 million in spending to what became a $47.7 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2022.

There was very, very little drama involved in this week’s deliberation as the House used seven bulk amendments to categorize and dispense with hundreds of amendments at a time, mostly with unanimous agreement. At least publicly.

Earmarks made a big comeback after being curtailed in the fiscal 2021 pandemic budget, with the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation counting 590 spending earmarks that accounted for the bulk of the added spending. There was money added for UMass Boston to study anti-Asian racism and for colleges and high schools to let students get a jump start on earning university credits. There were pay raises for sheriffs and the House moved to protect the controversial film tax credit by eliminating its 2022 sunset clause.

The film tax credit is one new House Speaker Ron Mariano has defended at every turn over the years, and creates an element of conflict to watch between the House and the Senate, where Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues is on record as not being the biggest fan of the program that he views as too expensive.

Rodrigues, it turns out, is also not a champion for project labor agreements on public construction projects, which require union and non-union contracts to have collectively bargained labor agreements in place for all workers.

The Westport Democrat said he believes the contract clauses, known as PLAs, stifle competition, but he was overruled by his Senate colleagues who put a PLA back into the $400 million bond bill to finance the construction of a new Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. To address other critics worried a PLA would freeze out minority- and women-owned construction and design firms that may not be unionized, the Senate’s bill would create a committee to enforce diversity goals on the project.

The bill now goes back to the House and the Legislature is on the clock to get the financing in place so that the state can complete design work and meet the application deadline for federal funding of Aug. 1, which also happens to be the date Baker has circled on the calendar for the full reopening of the economy.

Baker on Tuesday laid out his full timeline to lift all remaining business restrictions, starting May 10 when he said large venues like Fenway and the TD Garden can increase their capacity from 12 percent to 25 percent. In keeping with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control, he also said masks will no longer be required outdoors beginning Friday, today, unless you are in a crowd or can’t social distance from others.

Memorial Day will bring more relaxed rules when gathering limits will increase to 200 people indoors and 250 outdoors, street festivals, parades and agricultural festivals will be allowed at half capacity and bars, beer gardens and wineries can reopen under restaurant rules.

Adhering to the schedule will require the continued reduction of new cases and hospitalizations, and more people getting vaccinated, Baker said. And the state on Friday surpassed 6 million doses administered and 2.5 million people fully vaccinated.

Baker said he did not envision requiring state employees to be vaccinated to return to work and would leave it to individual businesses to decide how to approach vaccinations with their own employees, but many colleges, including the University of Massachusetts, are making a shot mandatory to return to campus in the fall.

The timeline was welcome news for many eager to put pandemic life behind them, but it was still not fast enough for some in the business lobby, who have watched neighbors like Rhode Island, Connecticut and even New York City set more aggressive reopening schedules based on the positive infection trends.

“The real-world impact of waiting until the end of the summer for a full reopening will mean job loss and a slower recovery for many small businesses,” said NFIB State Director Christopher Carlozzi.

Baker said there’s a possibility he will move faster to lift restrictions if the public health data allows, but some Democrats like Rep. William Driscoll, the co-chair of the COVID-19 oversight committee, expressed frustration that Baker won’t be more clear about the data points he uses to make decisions like that.

All-in-all, however, Democrats on Beacon Hill were willing to give Baker’s late-stage reopening plan a chance.

“I can say that we are at a point now where I want to be cautiously optimistic — but at the same time we must continue to remain diligent, and we must take further action to address all the systemic issues that made the pandemic so bad in the first place,” Rep. Mike Connolly, of Cambridge, said.

The reopening plan was paired on Tuesday with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s decision to require all high schools to return to full-time, in-person learning by May 17.

And then Baker went to get his second vaccine dose.

The shot left Baker feeling “crummy” the next day, as he experienced some of the side effects many have had with their second dose, but he returned to action Thursday and Friday with two public appearances and a plan to spend $70 million on summer school to help students catch up on learning they missed during pandemic.

“By the end of the day, I felt better, and now, two weeks from now, I will be part of the fully vaccinated part of the commonwealth and I urge everybody in Massachusetts to go get vaccinated,” Baker said.

Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced that Massachusetts will reopen some outdoor Phase 4, Step 2 industries effective May 10^th and put plans in place for further reopening on May 29^th and August 1^st. The Administration continues to take steps to reopen the Commonwealth’s economy with public health metrics continuing to trend in a positive direction. This includes drops in average daily COVID cases and hospitalizations. Massachusetts remains first in the nation for first vaccine doses and total doses administered per capita, among states with more than 5 million people. The Administration will also relax the Face Coverings Order for some outdoor settings, effective April 30^th.

Face Coverings Order: 

Effective April 30^th, the Face Coverings Order will be relaxed for some outdoor settings.

Face coverings will only be required outside in public when it is not possible to socially distance, and at other times required by sector-specific guidance.

Face coverings will still be required at all times in indoor public places. Face coverings will also continue to be required at all times at events, whether held indoors or outdoors and whether held in a public space or private home, except for when eating or drinking.

At smaller gatherings in private homes, face coverings are recommended but not required. The $300 fine as an enforcement mechanism will be eliminated.

Phase IV, Step 2 Industries and Gathering Changes:

Effective Monday, May 10^th:

Article Source: State House News Service

Author: Matt Murphy

A quiet settled over Beacon Hill and the State House this week. And for a change, it was supposed to be that way.

The rhythms of the State House, and the bars, restaurants and lunch counters that cater to the capitol crowd, have been off beat for more than a year. The building itself is still closed to the public.

But as another Patriots’ Day came and went without marathon runners to cheer up Heartbreak Hill and to cheer to the Boylston Street finish line, at least the school-vacation lull felt familiar.

The House on Thursday literally gaveled into session, recited the Pledge of Allegiance and adjourned, the branch’s leaders busy preparing, as they would have been prior to the pandemic, for their annual budget debate.

More than 1,150 amendments have been proposed to the $47.6 billion spending plan that will hit the floor Monday, and aside from encouraging remote participation, House Speaker Ron Mariano’s office is preparing for a typical multi-day affair.

With the Legislature abiding by the school calendar, Gov. Charlie Baker hit the road toward the end of the week after welcoming the national champion UMass Amherst men’s hockey team to the State House on Tuesday for an outdoor celebration of their first title.

There would be more celebrating in some corners later in the day, but it could have easily gone in a different direction. A jury in Minnesota delivered a verdict of guilty on all charges against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd. With people on edge over the case from coast to coast, Baker called on the National Guard to be ready should unrest follow. But not one city or town wound up asking for their help.

As Boston Mayor Kim Janey addressed the historic verdict that night, she also found herself becoming a target for her handling of a police scandal involving the former head of the police union, Patrick Rose. Rose had climbed the union ranks during his career despite being investigated for the alleged sexual abuse of a child.

Hours before Chauvin’s fate was decided, Janey released 13 pages of Rose’s redacted internal affairs file concerning his case. While it was a step further than the previous administration was willing to go, some at City Hall, including councilor and mayoral candidate Andrea Campbell, said Janey did not go far enough and should hand the investigation over to the U.S. Attorney.

Policing promises to be a major issue in the Boston mayoral race in the months to come, just as climate change figures to factor heavily into next year’s gubernatorial race.

Baker spent Earth Day burning fuel to the western part of the state where he visited MGM Springfield to recognize the casino’s green building certificate, and then it was on to Pittsfield to tour one of the Berkshire Regional Collaborative vaccination sites.

Last weekend, Massachusetts passed the milestone of 2 million residents fully vaccinated, and unlike some other states that have begun to show signs of hitting a wall, Baker said demand for shots continues to greatly outpace supply.

The imbalance is so much that Baker said he has asked the Biden administration and will talk with the Massachusetts congressional delegation next week about convincing the federal government to begin diverting vaccine supply away from states that can’t use their full allotment to states like Massachusetts.

Baker said a recent Centers for Disease Control analysis showed Massachusetts to have the lowest rate of vaccine hesitancy in the country, and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito demonstrated she is not one of those people. Not that there was any doubt.

The Shrewsbury Republican on Friday became one of the more than 1.24 million people who have received the first of a two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccine when she got her shot in Worcester. Massachusetts is one of eight states with at least 60 percent of its adult population single dosed, and has begun to see a tapering of cases and, perhaps more importantly, hospitalizations.

White House senior advisor Andy Slavitt called attention on Friday to the list, which includes every New England state except Rhode Island, along with New Jersey, New Mexico and Hawaii.

“All of them have turned the corner on the number of cases & hospitalizations. Well done. Let’s all get there,” Slavitt tweeted.

Incidentally, it was Rhode Island that was also getting picked on a day earlier by the conservative Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance as part of the group’s efforts to urge Baker to lift all remaining COVID-19 restrictions on businesses, such as capacity limits.

New Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee had just announced that, like some other states in the region, the Ocean State would gradually remove all capacity limits on businesses by Memorial Day and eliminate the outdoor mask mandate.

“Even Rhode Island gets it. Their state is just a beach with two US Senators,” said Mass Fiscal spokesman Paul Craney.

Baker hinted that he would have more to say next week about the next steps in the state’s reopening strategy, but said he wanted to be careful that whatever he orders next doesn’t “create a bounce in the wrong direction.”

“I expect we’ll have some stuff to say before the end of April, but at this point in time … People need to continue to follow the rules and the guidance,” Baker said.

By his own admission, Baker said he and his COVID-19 team usually wait about two or three weeks after taking a step forward with reopening to see what the impact might be before considering the next move. The last opening up of the economy and relaxation of gathering limits came in March (large venues opened March 22) in the midst of what some worried might be a new surge.

The seven-day average of daily new cases had climbed to over 2,000 on April 1, and some legislative Democrats said at the time that Baker had made a huge mistake in pushing forward. But hospitalizations and new cases have been brought under control according to some metrics. Daily new cases are back around 1,000, hospitalizations have flattened, confirmed daily deaths from COVID-19 are way down and tens of thousands of people are getting vaccinated every day.

“You have to wait and see,” Baker teased.

As for new rules the governor was ready to lay out, Baker commemorated Earth Day by signing an executive order requiring, among other things, that all state fleets buy zero-emission vehicles beginning next year and pledging to double the number of electric vehicle charging stations at state facilities by 2030.

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education also approved a graduation rule change that will allow the current crop of high school juniors to graduate in 2022 without passing the MCAS exam if they show core competency in English and math by completing a relevant course instead.

The change didn’t go as far as some may have wanted. The Massachusetts Teachers Association and others have been clamoring for the MCAS to be canceled altogether this year. But some on the board hope it ends the debate.

“I think we’re as far as we need to go, and I hope this is the end of the modifications to MCAS,” said Matt Hills, a member of the education board.

It may be the end for now, but a Senate committee focused on how Massachusetts will emerge from this pandemic heard this week from education advocates at all levels of the system that Beacon Hill may have a short and closing window to reform schooling from pre-school to post-graduate.

The committee led by Sen. Adam Hinds was told it will require quick and decisive action in the next few years to take advantage of opportunities created by COVID-19, and should include major new investments in school buildings and teaching, changed funding models for child care, and expanded online learning.

More immediately, the Boston City Council was told by city election officials they should act now to change the state of the city’s preliminary election in September and bump it up a week earlier to ensure enough time to process mail-in ballots, should the Legislature permanently adopt voting by mail this year.

The last change to the election process the City Council adopted – to cancel a special election – proved to be unnecessary because Labor Secretary Marty Walsh ended up resigning after March 5, taking the special election off the table.

This could also wind up being for naught if the Legislature doesn’t take up an election reform bill in the next few months, but it’s unclear if the council wants to take that chance.

Why did you open the doors to your business? Today’s business owners often say it’s because they want to make a difference, fill a need, solve a problem, or support their community. There’s little doubt that business ownership isn’t just about making money; it’s about making a difference. What role will your business play in supporting, molding, and developing our community? That’s left up to your goals.

Our Members Make a Difference Daily

Our members make a difference in many ways. There are countless ways and opportunities to support our community, give back, or open doors for those living here. We’ve seen members take on incredible challenges or offer simply support.

Creating Important Jobs

Your business is already doing so. For example, you’re creating jobs for the community, which ensures that people can find a way to support their families and to work towards reaching their financial goals. Sometimes, the jobs our members offer can provide new opportunities not otherwise present in the community.

Empowering Employees

Our members also empower their employees. Imagine the opportunities to learn, grow, and expand. Some help to support the educational goals of their employees by supporting flexible scheduling, tuition reimbursement, or continuing education access. This can change the future path of an individual, allowing that individual to achieve his or her goals. Many times, they come back to the community to use those new skills to better it as well. It’s comprehensively worth the investment from all sides.

Contributing to the Positive Culture of the Community

Our members also contribute to the positive culture of the community in many ways. As an independent local association, we help facilitate opportunities to do this by communicating needs. However, many of our members find ways to contribute on their own. They may help to support a sports team by contributing financially or purchasing uniforms. They may help to sponsor an event taking place to raise money for a charity. Though some do so through well-recognized events, festivals, and programs, others do so behind the scenes. They contribute because they believe in supporting the efforts of the organization, residents, employees, or just the community as a whole.

Are You Building a Legacy?

Some entrepreneurs build their businesses themselves as their legacy. They work hard to grow and scale. Others view their greatest impact as what they leave behind within the community. It is the steps they take to make the community better than they found it. Do you hope to leave an imprint? Do you plan to achieve incredible goals?

Many of our members look to find the good and praise it. They volunteer, give away their time, providing discounts on products or services, or simply give their knowledge. They work to support charities, children’s activities, and seniors. They listen, learn, and act to help others in our community to achieve their goals or meet their needs.

As the Chamber of Commerce, we’re proud of the business’s efforts to take these steps. We encourage every member to take another look inside to find out they can build a legacy.