Beacon Hill Update: February 8th, 2021
February 8, 2021“Monday, February 8, 2021:
- As of Sunday night, DPH reported a total of 516,530cases of COVID-19.
- The state reported 3,004 new confirmed cases.
- The state has now confirmed a total of 14,698 deaths from the virus.
- The House and Senate both meet Monday in informal session at 11am.
- Governor Baker still is not on board with the climate policy bill overwhelmingly passed by the Legislature twice in about a month, but this time he has sent it back with proposed amendments he says would make the legislation more palatable.
- The bill is designed to push Massachusetts toward net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, establish interim emissions goals, adopt appliance energy efficiency standards, and address needs in environmental justice communities.
- And while Governor Baker has said he supports those aims, his administration and key lawmakers have not seen eye-to-eye on many of the finer details of the legislation.
- The amendments Governor Baker sent back cover many of the same topics he cited as concerns last month when he vetoed the same bill sent to him in the waning days of the previous legislative session, the creation of an opt-in municipal stretch energy code, the 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target, and the sector-specific emission reduction sub-limits proposed by the Legislature.
- But they also show some flexibility around many of the details, continuing negotiations informed by about three weeks of “robust dialogue” between the administration, lawmakers and outside stakeholders, according to a letter to be filed with the governor’s proposed changes.
- The governor returning the climate bill with amendments paves the way for a back-and-forth similar to the process lawmakers and the governor engaged in around recent abortion access and policing reform laws.
- It is most likely to end with lawmakers either agreeing to some of the changes Baker has suggested and him signing the bill or rejecting his proposed changes and overriding another gubernatorial veto.
- On the 2030 emissions reduction target, the governor proposes that the executive branch be allowed to set a range of between a 45 percent reduction from 1990 emissions levels (his administration’s preferred target) and 50 percent (which lawmakers wrote into the bill).
- For the 2040 target, Governor Baker similarly proposes that the executive be allowed to set it between 65 percent and 75 percent.
- The administration had previously said the difference between 45 percent and 50 percent could be as much as $6 billion in extra costs to the state and residents, but Governor Baker said in his letter that the flexibility “will also help the Commonwealth avoid the costs that are expected to result from imposing a higher limit, particularly on those who can least afford it.”
- Another provision of the bill that Governor Baker previously flagged as an issue but said he is willing to engage on is the requirement that the Department of Energy Resources “develop and adopt, as an appendix to the state building code, in consultation with the board of building regulations and standards, a municipal opt-in specialized stretch energy code that includes, but is not limited to, a definition of net-zero building.”
- Some in the commercial real estate industry feared that sentence could give cities and towns the authority to ban natural gas hookups for newly-constructed buildings and require that they meet a net-zero emissions threshold.
- EOEEA Secretary Theoharides said Sunday that the amendments should provide some clarity around how the code would focus things like having a tight building envelope “without necessarily doing some of the things folks were worried about with a net zero code, which might include prescribing solar panels on all buildings or requiring buildings not be connected to gas.”
- In his amendment letter Sunday, Governor Baker said he is on board with the Legislature’s requirement that the executive branch direct Massachusetts utilities to buy an additional 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind power and looks forward to “working with the Legislature on opportunities to regionally procure additional offshore wind and other clean energy resources during this session.”
- Secretary Theoharides said the administration fully supports the procurements called for in the bill and, after talking the issue over with lawmakers, looks forward to developing a regional opportunity to procure clean energy during the new two-year legislative session.
- If the Legislature rejects the amendments and the governor ends up vetoing the bill again, the House and Senate both appear to have the votes needed to clear the two-thirds threshold required for an override.
- The House passed the bill on a 144-14 vote and the Senate passed it on a voice vote, meaning individual senators’ positions were not recorded, though the bill passed last session with 38 senators in support and there are only two new senators who did not cast votes last year.
- Treasurer Deborah Goldberg has tested positive for COVID-19 and is quarantining at her home, her office announced early Sunday afternoon.
- The treasurer’s office said that Goldberg “recently learned of potential exposure and was tested” for the coronavirus. The test came back positive and Goldberg is monitoring her symptoms, the office said.
- Effective Monday at 5 a.m., business capacity limits will increase from 25 percent to 40 percent.
- For establishments without an official maximum occupancy level, the maximum will rise from five to eight people per 1,000 feet.
- Affected businesses include restaurants, close contact personal services, arcades, driving and flight schools, gyms and health clubs, libraries, museums, retail shops, offices and places of worship.
- The 40 percent capacity limit also applies to common areas of lodging establishments, the indoor areas of golf facilities, and movie theaters, which also must adhere to a cap of no more than 50 people per theater.
- Workers and staff will not count toward the occupancy cap for restaurants and personal services.
- The limit on gatherings, which is separate from business capacity restrictions, will not change, remaining at 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.
- Tom Brady needed just 11 months to turn the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the NFL’s worst franchise (.393 winning percentage), into Super Bowl champions, with their 31-9 pummeling of the Kansas City Chiefs.
- Brady, 43, has more Super Bowl wins than any NFL team:
- Brady: 7
- Patriots: 6
- Steelers: 6
- Cowboys: 5
- 49ers: 5
- Brady’s 19-year span between championships (2001-2020) is a North American major sports record, not far off Jack Nicklaus’ golf record of 24 years between majors (1962-1986).
- Brady’s fifth Super Bowl MVP extends his own record, and breaks a tie with LeBron James for second-most championship-round MVPs in NFL/NBA/MLB/NHL history.
- He trails only Michael Jordan (6).
- Brady is the first NFL player to win championships in three different decades. Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Jim Palmer did this in baseball, Henri Richard in hockey and Pelé in soccer (World Cups).”
by David Gauthier