COVID-19 Massachusetts State House Update 5-6-20
- As of Monday night, DPH reported a total of 70,271 cases of COVID-19.
- The state has now confirmed a total of 4,212 deaths from the virus.
- Governor Baker on Monday gave florists, as well as many other “non-essential” businesses, a green thumbs up to bring back a limited number of employees to fulfill online and phone orders for delivery, as long as they follow proper safety measures and keep the doors locked to customers.
- The updated guidance comes just ahead of Mother’s Day, which is a major event on the calendar for many garden and flower businesses.
- The administration quietly updated its essential services guidance to allow a limited number of employees of florist shops and other businesses to reenter closed stores and warehouses to fulfill and ship orders taken over the phone and online.
- The new guidelines require these stores to remain closed to the public and limit operating hours to allow for sufficient off-hour cleaning.
- Employees must wear face coverings and stay at least six feet apart from one another, and all deliveries must be “no-contact” deliveries to consumers.
- The guidelines also limit the number of employees that can work at a given time, starting with three in a business smaller than 10,000 square feet and growing to seven in a facility with more than 30,000 square feet.
- Employers must also require workers to self-administer temperature checks before their shifts, and not report to work if they have a fever over 100 degrees.
- The updated essential business guidelines also made new allowances for car dealerships, allowing for sales to resume over the phone or online and for dealerships to follow the same remote fulfillment rules as other retailers.
- Test drives of vehicles are not permitted, and all processing of documents should be done electronically, if possible, the rules said.
- Dealerships must remain closed to walk-in customers, but transfer, delivery and return of new and leased vehicles or trade-ins can be conducted in person by appointment.
- Governor Baker hinted last Thursday that a change like this could be coming, but did not mention the actual change during his press briefing Monday.
- Neither did LG Polito when she provided an update on her group’s activities.
- The guidance document is attached.
- The House will hold its first virtual formal session today where they will take up H. 4593
- Roll call votes begin at 1 p.m.
- Senators would have a couple of options to vote from outside the Senate Chamber, or from outside the State House, on the governor’s short-term borrowing bill under proposed temporary rules filed Monday.
- The rules would only apply to a final passage vote on the borrowing bill (H 4677), which Governor Baker filed to bridge the gap in state revenues created by extension of the income tax filing deadline due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- This short-term, bill-specific rules package differs from the approach in the House, which developed a comprehensive emergency rules package, adopted Monday after a week of internal negotiations, applying to all future formal sessions during the state of emergency.
- The proposed Senate rules (S 2688) would allow for members either to designate another senator as a proxy to vote on their behalf or to communicate their vote directly to a court officer in the chamber. Senators using the proxy option would be able to stay home during the session, according to a Senate official.
- Members would also be allowed to enter the chamber one at a time while wearing masks to cast votes.
- Senate leadership is working on a longer-term rules package, targeted for implementation in early June, to conduct emergency-era formal sessions beyond the governor’s borrowing bill.
- The Senate meets again tomorrow at 11am in an informal session.
- State tax collections tumbled in April by more than $2.3 billion compared to last April.
- Revenue Commissioner Geoffrey Snyder late Tuesday announced that collections last month totaled $1.981 billion, down 54 percent, or $2.34 billion, when compared to April 2019.
- Some of the decline stems from the state’s decision in late March to push the April 15 income tax filing deadline to July 15.
- April is typically the biggest month of the year for collections.
- The decline in revenue comes 10 months into fiscal 2020, a budget year where the state had been on track to possibly produce a surplus, before the pandemic struck.
- Workers will put up signs across the MBTA network informing riders that face coverings will be required on board trains and buses starting Wednesday, but the agency plans to be flexible with those who do not comply.
- The 104th Fighter Wing, the Barnstormers, a unit based at Barnes Air National Guard Base has added a more stops to its Wednesday, May 6, flyovers in tribute to frontline healthcare works and others fighting coronavirus.
- Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III is launching a $1.2 million statewide advertising blitz later this week, the first major ad buy of his race against incumbent Senator Edward J. Markey.
- The costs tied to a vote-by-mail system for the November general election alone range anywhere from $12 million to $30 million, according to estimates from the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University.
- The Baker administration has hit more than 60 businesses with cease-and-desist orders in recent weeks for allegedly violating restrictions related to Covid-19, including big-name retailers like Hobby Lobby Stores Inc., Nordstrom Inc. and Williams-Sonoma Inc.
- Both the Gaming Commission and the Cannabis Control Commission meet remotely on Thursday. Agendas to be announced.
