COVID-19 Massachusetts State House Update 5-8-20
- As of Thursday night, DPH reported a total of 73,721 cases of COVID-19. The state has now confirmed a total of 4,552 deaths from the virus.
- The Senate on Thursday passed a short-term borrowing bill to bridge the impending gap in state revenues, and also approved a remote voting system to facilitate a final vote on the bill, which may come next week.
- As amended during Thursday’s session, the temporary remote voting rules will allow senators to submit a letter expressing how they wish to vote on enactment of the borrowing bill, and their votes would be announced in the chamber by the presiding officer.
- 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 House on Thursday did adopt a clause to Governor Baker’s short-term borrowing bill that would set it into effect immediately after the governor signs it into law.
- The House also advanced a bill that would change certain membership requirements for the Pension Investment Management Board.
- The House plans to meet again on Monday at 11am for informal session.
- The Gaming Commission voted Thursday to postpone the start of live harness racing at Plainridge Racecourse “until further notice.”
- The 110-day racing season was initially set to start April 6, but the commission had already pushed that back to June 1.
- Between March 15 and May 2, state labor officials received nearly 780,000 applications for standard unemployment insurance.
- Another 185,000 claimants have sought aid through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, created by Congress to extend eligibility to gig workers, self-employed workers and others who do not qualify for traditional unemployment insurance, since it launched in Massachusetts on April 20.
- Cumulative standard and expanded claims together total about 960,000 in Massachusetts since March 15, based on the latest figures unveiled Thursday, representing more than one-quarter of the state’s entire labor force.
- More details will emerge about the overall job losses stemming from the pandemic on Friday, when federal officials release national unemployment rate figures for the month of April.
- Massachusetts will publish similar state-level data on May 22.
- A federal judge will temporarily lift a Governor Baker executive order requiring firearm retailers to close their physical businesses during the COVID-19 state of emergency.
- U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock issued a preliminary injunction Thursday in a case that Massachusetts residents, gun shop owners and gun rights groups brought against the Baker administration.
- The online case docket indicated the order will take effect at 12 p.m. Saturday.
- State defendants in the case will have until May 28 to file their rebuttal seeking dismissal of the lawsuit.
- Plaintiffs argued the administration’s decision to include gun retailers in the list of non-essential businesses that must shutter their stores amid the pandemic, but allowing other locations such as liquor stores to stay open, was unconstitutional.
- While adult-use marijuana shops remain closed as non-essential businesses, the Cannabis Control Commission has seen a steady increase in the number of people registering as medical marijuana patients.
- The CCC’s medical marijuana program had 72,502 certified and active patients in April, up almost 14 percent from the 63,720 patients active in the program in March, Executive Director Shawn Collins said Thursday during a CCC virtual meeting.
- Since the pandemic began, the CCC has eased some of the requirements for becoming a medical marijuana patient, allowing new patients to become registered through a telehealth visit with a certifying physician rather than an in-person visit.
- That, combined with limited availability of legal marijuana, has contributed to a surge in patient registrations.
- From March 23 through April 1, the CCC received more than 1,300 new patient registrations.
- In the 10 days prior, it received 500 patient registrations.
- Before being allowed to renew their medical marijuana card, any patient who initially becomes registered via telehealth will have to visit their certifying clinician in person.
- To respond to the increased demand in the medical market, the CCC has told certain non-medical growers that they can now transfer their crops to the medical supply chain.
- Though the product is largely identical, the medical program offers benefits not available in the recreational market.
- Medical marijuana is not taxed, patients can get marijuana delivered to their homes, and patients can buy edibles with higher THC levels than are allowed in the non-medical market.
- Top officials at the CCC also say they’re confident they can safely reopen recreational pot stores if Governor Baker reverses his emergency order forcing the businesses to close amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- CCC chairman Steve Hoffman told reporters after the agency’s monthly meeting Thursday that he believes Massachusetts marijuana shops can operate safely by employing curbside pickup, appointment-only shopping, and other similar measures adopted by retailers that have remained open, including medical marijuana dispensaries overseen by the commission.
- Hoffman said he “wants it known” that the commission is prepared to monitor the facilities and enforce state rules, including around social distancing, should they reopen.
- Massachusetts is the only state where marijuana is legal to have completely closed its recreational industry.
- Marijuana firms are ineligible for federal bailouts, because the drug remains illegal under US law.
- In the ninth week of the COVID-19 state of emergency, more than 50 Massachusetts communities, including many cities, have caseloads of above 1,000 per 100,000 residents, according to state data released on Wednesday.
- The latest numbers show Chelsea, at 5,958 cases per 100,000 residents, and Brockton (3,256 cases per 100,000 residents) have the highest rates of confirmed cases. Lynn (2,513) Lawrence (2,240) Randolph (2,148) and Revere (2,146) also have elevated case levels, as does Everett (2,497), home to one of the state’s two casinos, which both remain closed. Boston, the state’s largest city, has recorded 1,544 cases per 100,000 residents.
- A new UMass Lowell poll released yesterday shows a close race between Senator Ed Markey and Rep Joe Kennedy III, with the September 1st primary less than four months away.
- The survey of likely Democratic primary voters found Kennedy at 44% and Markey at 42%.
