Beacon Hill Update provided by MassAccess May 22, 2022
May 24, 2022Update provided by David Gauthier, MassAccess
Tuesday, May 22, 2022:
• As of Monday night, DPH reported a total of 1,698,587 cases of COVID-19.
• The state reported 7,626 new confirmed cases and 8 new deaths.
• The state now has 19,330 deaths from the virus.
• The House enacted legislation that would create an educational trail connecting Massachusetts sites important to the historical fight for women’s rights. After agreeing last week to changes the Senate made that would launch the path at the State House and include female veterans among those honored by the trail.
• Representatives also approved an extension order that pushes the deadline for nearly every bill in the Revenue Committee – including Baker’s $700 million tax relief push – into July and advanced several local bills
• The House did not tee anything up for representatives to tackle in a formal session scheduled for Thursday. A conference committee report, filed last week, would allow undocumented immigrants to acquire Massachusetts driver’s licenses and could emerge on Thursday.
• Additional plans could become clearer when the House returns in another informal session at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
• Before devoting its attention to the fiscal 2023 budget for the rest of the week, the Senate on Monday sent Gov. Charlie Baker bills establishing a women’s rights history trail program and renaming Westborough’s Board of Selectmen as a select board.
• The Senate also agreed to give a pair of committees until next Friday, June 3, to report on a dozen bills mostly involving municipal matters and veterans benefits.
• The Senate on Tuesday is set to begin its consideration of a nearly $50 billion budget bill for the fiscal year that begins on July 1, and senators have filed 1,178 amendments. According to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, the pile of amendments have a total fiscal impact of $3.5 billion and 60 percent of the proposals would earmark funds for local projects.
• While Senate Democrats, who had a private caucus scheduled Monday, stayed away from tax policy changes in their budget proposal and President Karen Spilka has said she wants to pursue some sort of tax relief after the budget debate, Senate Republicans have filed several tax-break amendments.
• The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday that a lower court should look more closely at the “highly unusual character of the commission’s actions” related to the award of a casino license to Wynn Resorts and the casino company’s purchase of land in Everett.
• FBT Everett Realty agreed in 2012 to sell the land on which Encore Boston Harbor now sits to Wynn Resorts for $75 million if the casino company secured a state casino license. Wynn got the lucrative Boston-area casino license, but the Everett property ultimately sold for $35 million.
• FBT alleges that the Gaming Commission, concerned about the possibility that someone with ties to organized crime stood to benefit from FBT’s sale, improperly coerced Wynn Resorts into reducing the purchase price of FBT’s Everett land by threatening to otherwise disadvantage Wynn’s license application.
• For years, the Gaming Commission has been hounded by various legal issues around the Everett land, the Boston-area licensing process and Wynn Resorts.
• While it is unclear how the case may ultimately be resolved, the SJC justices and a lawyer representing the Gaming Commission discussed during the case’s oral arguments in February the possibility that the case leads to a $40 million judgment against the commission.
• If that were to happen, the Gaming Commission’s attorney and the attorney for FBT both said, it would most likely be up to Encore, MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park Casino to pay it.
• Boston Public Schools continues to fall short of an “acceptable minimum standard” in several critical areas, including transportation and special education, state education officials concluded in a withering new report.
• The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on Monday published a 188-page report detailing its assessment of how well BPS has transformed itself in the two-plus years since the state first highlighted major deficiencies in the district.
• While DESE praised Boston school officials for some of the steps they have taken, the follow-up review makes clear that the Baker administration believes significant failures across BPS have persisted or, in some cases, gotten worse since the state’s last probe.
• Mayor Wu earlier this month rolled out a $2 billion plan to accelerate renovations and construction in the school system, which her office said would address a central issue in DESE’s report.
• For nearly three weeks, an extension order has been pending that would give the Revenue Committee until July 31 to decide the fate of more than 90 bills, including Baker’s lame-duck, $700 million push to change the estate and capital gains taxes and offer breaks for renters, seniors and low-income earners.
• Before stamping approval on the punt, however, the House adopted an amendment from Revenue Committee Co-chair Rep. Mark Cusack that instead imposes a July 1 deadline for the governor’s tax relief bill (H 4361) and a complementary Baker bill (H 4362) while keeping the later date.
• Sen. Adam Hinds, said the panel spliced out Baker’s bills for an earlier deadline to factor in the time needed for legislation to clear both branches, head to the governor’s desk and then back to the floor for a potential veto override.
• He did not offer specifics when asked what unanswered questions about the governor’s package the committee still needs to address.
• Democratic attorney general hopefuls Quentin Palfrey and Shannon Liss-Riordan on Monday signed a pledge aimed at keeping outside super PAC money out of their race, saying they hoped the move would encourage fellow candidate Andrea Campbell to do the same.
• People’s Pledge” agreements to discourage third-party spending in political races originated with the 2012 U.S. Senate contest between then-Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican, and his Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren. Since then, it’s become a regular feature in Massachusetts campaign cycles for one candidate to challenge an opponent to commit to some version of the pledge.
• There has been no independent spending so far to support of any of the three Democratic candidates vying to succeed outgoing Attorney General Maura Healey or the Republican contender, Jay McMahon. Candidates cannot coordinate directly with super PACs that spend on their behalf.
• The Health Policy Commission in March received notice of a proposed clinical affiliation between Atrius Health and Emerson Hospital. The commission said in a brief email Monday that it has elected not to proceed with a cost and market impact review based on its preliminary review of the transaction.
• Atrius Health and Emerson Hospital plan to enter into a contract under which Emerson will be designated by Atrius as a preferred hospital provider for Atrius patients.
• Emerson is a nonprofit acute care hospital that serves Concord, Acton, Lincoln, Sudbury and several other surrounding towns.
