COVID-19 Massachusetts State house Update 5-19-20
- As of Monday night, DPH reported a total of 87,052 cases of COVID-19. The state has now confirmed a total of 5,862 deaths from the virus.
- Governor Baker released his economic re-opening plan at a Monday press conference and DPH issued an updated “Safer at Home” advisory.
- The new Safer at Home Advisory instructs everyone to stay home unless they are headed to a newly opened facility or activity.
- It also advises those over the age of 65 and those with underlying health conditions to stay home with the exception of trips required for health care, groceries, or that are otherwise absolutely necessary.
- All residents must continue to wear a face covering in public when social distancing is not possible, and individuals are advised to wash their hands frequently and be vigilant in monitoring for symptoms.
- Restrictions on gatherings of more than 10 people remain in effect.
- Full details of the re-opening plan are available on our website and there is a link included above.
- The administration plan calls for a phased re-opening with a goal of full operations in a “new normal”.
- Key public health metrics will determine if and when it is appropriate to proceed through reopening phases. They include:
- COVID-19 positive test rate
- Number of individuals who died from COVID-19
- Number of patients with COVID-19 in hospitals
- Health care system readiness
- Testing capacity
- Contact tracing capabilities
- Manufacturing, construction and houses of worship are able to open immediately, provided they meet health and safety criteria.
- Hospitals and community health centers that attest to specific public health and safety standards can also begin to provide high priority preventative care, pediatric care and treatment for high risk patients.
- A number of other industries can open in Phase 1, next Monday, May 25th, including limited retail, office and lab space, recreational marijuana, barber shops, salons and pet groomers.
- The plan did not address childcare, K-12 or higher education.
- Restaurants are slated to re-open in phase 2, meaning a minimum of 3 more weeks, but possibly longer based on health and safety criteria.
- The House on Monday referred a number of newly filed COVID-19 response bills to committees for review and to take up a handful of local bills ahead of a Wednesday formal session where legislators are expected to vote on a more than $1 billion information technology bond bill.
- During Monday’s session, lawmakers referred to committee two bills dealing specifically with elections, including one that would have absentee ballots mailed to all voters for this year’s state elections.
- The House meets Wednesday in a formal session.
- The Senate on Monday adopted a new draft of the Covid -19 data collection legislation explicitly including the Holyoke and Chelsea soldiers’ homes and intermediate care facilities under the umbrella of sites that would be subject to ramped-up data reporting.
- The draft approved by the Senate also includes privately-owned elder housing, authorizing DPH to work with an academic institution to collect the data.
- The Senate will meet again on Thursday in informal session.
- Voters on Tuesday will decide the fate of a pair of Senate seats that have been vacant for months.
- The races are to fill seats based in Westfield and Plymouth.
- In Westfield, the candidates are Democratic state Rep. John Velis and Republican John Cain, both of Westfield.
- In Plymouth, the candidates are Democratic Falmouth Selectwoman Susan Moran, and Bourne Republican Jay McMahon.
- Democrats will retain a supermajority in the Senate regardless of the races’ outcomes, Republicans currently hold four seats out of 40 and Democrats have 34.
- House Speaker Robert DeLeo will address the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce virtually this Thursday afternoon.
- Soaring unemployment and the expectation among public health experts that a second wave of the coronavirus could hit this 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 nonpartisan, business-backed think tank said 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.
- 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, her group said, would cause withholding taxes to fall by $1.9 billion and cost the state $2 billion in sales taxes.
- House Ways & 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 NAACP National Convention, scheduled to be held in Boston in July, has been recast as a virtual event.
