Beacon Hill Update from Mass Access – August 5, 2020
August 5, 2020David Gauthier
WINCAM
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
As of Tuesday night, DPH reported a total of 111,033 cases of COVID-19.
The state has now confirmed a total of 8,436 deaths from the virus.
Governor Baker threatened Tuesday that he may cut the allowable gathering size below its current limit or revive restrictions on businesses if a slight jump in new COVID-19 cases accelerates into more substantial spread.
The governor did not outline a clear set of criteria that would prompt new orders from his administration, but after hinting last week that he was reviewing state guidance on how many people could safely gather at a single event, Governor Baker said his administration is “not taking any options off the table.”
The Baker administration implemented new travel restrictions into Massachusetts as of Saturday, August 1st.
Since the provisions took effect Saturday, Governor Baker said “literally thousands and thousands” of people have submitted electronic forms describing their travel and providing contact information for tracing.
The new restrictions carry fines of up to $500 per day for violations, though Governor Baker previously said it would largely work on an “honor system.”
States where the average positive test rate is lower than 5 percent and the daily new case rate is less than six people per 100,000 are exempt from the requirement, as are people traveling across state lines for a regular work commute.
Most travelers entering Massachusetts from Rhode Island will soon be ordered to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival unless they recently tested negative for COVID-19, the Baker administration announced Tuesday.
The state Department of Public Health tweeted Tuesday evening that, starting on Friday, Aug. 7, Rhode Island will be removed from a list of eight low-risk states exempt from the travel order, citing “increases in both RI’s positive test rate and cases per 100,000.
Massachusetts is among seven states that are entering formal talks with manufacturers with the goal of facilitating rapid point-of-care antigen tests that could more quickly detect COVID-19 outbreaks in workplaces, schools and congregate care settings.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, who announced the interstate testing compact Tuesday, negotiated the agreement with the Rockefeller Foundation in his final days as chairman of the National Governors Association.
Plans call for each state to purchase 500,000 tests.
The governors of Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia are also in the compact, and North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper announced his intent to join Tuesday after the compact was initially announced with the release of a formal but nonbinding letter of intent.
The states are in talks with Becton Dickinson and Quidel, the U.S. manufacturers of the antigen tests, to purchase more than 3 million total tests, which Hogan’s office says can deliver results in 15 to 20 minutes.
Governor Baker signed a $16.53 billion interim budget on Tuesday that will keep state government operating through at least the end of October, but he rejected a firm deadline of Oct. 31 for the funding to expire and said the Legislature’s attempt to impose minimum spending requirements would “unduly” limit his authority to manage state spending over the next three months.
The governor’s signature on the bulk of the spending bill ensures that the Legislature will not have to return until at least the fall to either debate and pass a fiscal 2021 spending bill, or approve another extension that would push decisions on new taxes, spending cuts or the use of reserves until after the elections.
The Baker administration rolled out the final regulations Tuesday for a first-in-the-nation financial incentive program that aims to promote clean energy generation to supply power when demand on the grid is at its highest, and officials said it will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save ratepayers money.
The clean peak energy standard would require every retail electric supplier with a contract signed or extended since the start of 2019 to provide a minimum percentage of its kilowatt-hour sales to end-use customers in Massachusetts from “clean peak” resources, renewables, energy storage systems or “clean energy technologies that can supply electricity or reduce demand during seasonal peak demand periods.”
The idea is to address periods of the greatest demand on the electric grid, when power generators sometimes turn to dirtier fossil fuels.
Jury trials in Massachusetts would restart on a limited basis, using small juries to consider cases involving civil disputes or minor criminal charges for at least two months before more serious cases resume, according to recommendations outlined last week by a judicial panel.
The Jury Management Advisory Committee, a group of justices from several levels of Massachusetts courts, suggested a phased-in resumption of jury trials, acknowledging that the already-sizable backlog of cases will continue to expand even as the process resumes.
In a July 31 report to the Supreme Judicial Court, the committee said the judicial system should embrace a clear and transparent risk-reduction plan to help jurors perform their duties with minimal concerns about health risks and without impacts on the fairness of the trial process.
During the first phase of their plan, juries would be capped at six people or up to eight with alternates.
Events would be held in a small list of locations according to the report, those best able to accommodate social distancing.
The panel acknowledged that, by limiting the size of the jury, less serious cases such as minor criminal charges and civil matters will likely be prioritized over more substantial cases.
State education officials are reviewing school districts’ initial reopening plans and expect to issue guidance on athletics and extracurricular activities next week, Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley said Tuesday.
Speaking during a Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce panel on school reopenings, Riley said his department will return feedback to districts on their plans this week so school committees can vote on reopening plans.
The Baker administration’s school reopening guidance calls for districts to prepare for three models of instruction, entirely in-person, entirely remote, and a hybrid, and to submit preliminary plans to the Department of Elementary and Secondary by last Friday.
Final plans are due by August 10.
A new law will require public schools with large populations of low-income students to provide breakfast after the school day begins in an effort to address childhood hunger and give all students a chance to succeed in school.
The so-called “Breakfast After the Bell” bill was signed Tuesday by Governor Baker.
The governor also signed a resolve to erect a memorial in the House chamber containing the text of the speech Martin Luther King Jr. delivered on April 22, 1965 to a joint assembly of the House and Senate.
A July report from the Health Policy Commission concluded that drug coupons increase use of and spending on certain drugs where lower-cost generic alternatives would be appropriate for many patients.
It also found that coupons can provide financial relief and help boost adherence for patients who cannot afford medications because of high drug prices and substantial cost-sharing in their health insurance.
The commission’s report, which HPC executive director David Seltz was scheduled to present Tuesday to the Massachusetts Health Council, was required under a 2018 law that extended authorization for certain prescription drug coupons.
The report says that manufacturers offer coupons almost exclusively on branded drugs, which account for 10 percent of all prescriptions dispensed in the U.S. but 79 percent of total drug spending.
There are no House or Senate sessions scheduled today.
