COVID-19 Massachusetts State House Update
- As of Wednesday night, DPH reported a total of 60,265 cases of COVID-19.
- The state has now confirmed a total of 3,405 deaths from the virus.
- Wednesday’s daily coronavirus update from the Department of Public Health reported more new COVID-19 deaths, 252, than have been reported on any single day to this point of the pandemic.
- The state’s COVID-19 Command Center is once again adding more information to its daily updates.
- Starting Wednesday, the Department of Public Health will make its full data files available each afternoon.
- EOHHS Secretary Marylou Sudders, said that the data will be made available as a zip file and that the information will be “de-identified.”
- After saying earlier this week that the city could not safely reopen by May 4, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh on Wednesday praised the Baker administration’s decision to extend public closures until at least May 18.
- Mayor Walsh said during his daily press conference that he matched the governor’s announcement by extending an advisory curfew for city residents until May 18, and the Boston Public Health Commission’s public health emergency will remain in effect “until further notice.”
- Though public officials have repeatedly told people to avoid congregating in groups and playing sports like basketball in public parks, golfers have become more vocal about the ability to play a round while maintaining a safe distance from other people.
- In other states, golf courses have been among the first facilities to re-open after the pandemic’s surge passes.
- Asked about the possibility of re-opening golf courses in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday said he would leave the decision to Lt. Governor Polito and the re-opening task force she is leading.
- Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday that he generally agrees with federal officials who suggested COVID-19 deaths are probably being undercounted in the hardest hit states, including Massachusetts, and he said the state is making an effort to get a more precise count.
- Governor Baker on Wednesday said it’s up to city and town leaders whether they want to fine people hundreds of dollars for not wearing a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- The House and Senate plan to meet next on Thursday at 11 a.m. in informal sessions.
- An attempt on Wednesday by House Democrats to push through emergency rules allowing for remote formal sessions stalled out after Republican action ended Wednesday’s House session, a move that drew a strong rebuke from the House speaker and an equally strong rebuttal from the House GOP leader.
- House Minority Leader Brad Jones’ move derailed House Speaker Robert DeLeo’s plans to hold a remote formal session on Thursday to advance a Gov. Charlie Baker borrowing bill to tide the state through pandemic-related revenue shortfalls.
- After disagreements reached a tipping point, Jones objected and ended the session for the day by doubting the presence of a quorum, which was not present in the House.
- The bill House leaders wanted to take up on Thursday is a House Ways and Means report on legislation (H 4593) that allows the Treasury to borrow an unspecified amount this fiscal year and pay it back by the end of the next fiscal year.
- Weekly Massachusetts Lottery sales were down about 33 percent in mid-April compared to the beginning of March and the Lottery is trailing last year’s estimated profit pace by more than $73 million.
- Lottery Executive Director Mike Sweeney walked the Lottery Commission through the agency’s latest sales and revenue report during a meeting Tuesday.
- The monthly report showed that sales of all Lottery products totaled $74,945,802 for the week that ended April 18.
- That’s down from $111,613,814 in total sales the first week of March.
- More complete data on April will not be available until May’s Lottery Commission meeting, but Sweeney told commissioners that overall sales were down $59.5 million or 13.3 percent compared to March 2019.
- Through three-quarters of the fiscal year, the Lottery’s sales are running $66.9 million or 1.6 percent behind last fiscal year’s pace.
- The lottery has, so far this fiscal year, generated $766.8 million in profit, lagging last year’s profit generation pace by $73.3 million.
- 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.
- The Internal Revenue Service assigns Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN) to people who are required to pay taxes but are not eligible for Social Security numbers, including some who do not have lawful immigration status in the U.S.
- The fate of a lawsuit that ballot question campaigns filed against Secretary of State William Galvin over signature-gathering requirements amid the public health emergency will become clearer with the arrival of a court deadline.
- Supporters of the four initiative petitions are working with the secretary’s office in an attempt to find consensus that would allow them to collect electronic signatures rather than the traditional pen-on-paper version.
- Under an interim order Supreme Judicial Court Justice Barbara Lenk issued Monday, parties must inform the court by close of business Wednesday if they have reached an agreement on all or partial terms.
- If campaigns and Galvin’s office cannot find a complete resolution, they must outline the points on which they agree and disagree and the secretary must formally respond to the original petition for emergency relief by Friday.
- The timetable for any additional hearings would be determined by the full court after that point, Lenk ordered.
- U.S. gross domestic product contracted by 4.8 percent in the first quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Wednesday morning, shedding more light on the economic ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Massachusetts’ real gross domestic product declined at an annualized rate of 6.1% in the first quarter of 2020, a steeper drop-off than the country as a whole. Wednesday’s estimate from the BEA marks the first quarterly drop in GDP since 2014.
