Recap and analysis of the week in state government
For several days last week while in California with his family, Gov. Charlie Baker did what most people, let alone the chief executive of a state, can’t seem to accomplish for more than five minutes at a time.
He put his cell phone away.
“I had a really nice time with my family,” Baker told the Roundup this week. “We spent several days with no phones and we talked about a lot of stuff, but the no phone thing…that part of it was pretty blissful.”
The governor was mum on whether those talks moved him any closer to a decision on reelection in 2022, but by Monday after Baker had been home for a few days it was clear the tranquility he savored on the West Coast had been left behind.
With COVID-19 back on the march, Tropical Storm Henri roaring up the coast and the start of the new school year creeping closer, the Republican spent the week under building pressure to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance and implement a mask mandate in K-12 schools.
Massachusetts Medical Society President Dr. Carole Allen and Massachusetts Academy of Family Pediatricians President Dr. Julie Johnston were among those calling for universal masking in schools as the governors of Connecticut and Rhode Island this week took similar steps.
On Friday, Baker relented.
Education Commission Jeff Riley plans to ask the Board of Education next week to give him the authority to implement a mask mandate in public schools grades K-12. The mandate will run through Oct. 1, at which point middle and high schools with at least 80 percent vaccination rates will be allowed to relax the rules.
The announcement came mere days after Baker said mandates were “not the right way to play this game,” and that it was important for local officials to “own the decisions they make” related to masks and COVID-19.
The governor’s case that Massachusetts was in a better position than most other states still holds. The state has among the highest vaccination and lowest hospitalization rates in the county, and that’s why, he said, he is still not considering a new mask mandate for public indoor spaces, which Boston Mayor Kim Janey decided to impose in her city Friday.
But he is prepared to require all 42,000 state employees under his purview to get vaccinated by Oct. 17 or risk disciplinary action.
Baker on Thursday rolled out one of the strictest return-to-work policies in the country for state employees, requiring proof of vaccination regardless of whether someone is working in the office or remotely. Baker said he opted against giving workers the option of regular testing instead of a vaccine because he said such exceptions have been shown to reduce vaccine uptake rates, which he regards as the only true way out of the pandemic.
Some unions aren’t on board. While SEIU 509 supported Baker’s action, the union representing prison guards threatened to take the governor to court, if necessary.
“The (Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union) Executive Board has begun the process of pursuing all legal and legislative remedies at our disposal, up to and including an injunction in court,” union leaders wrote in a memo to members.
However, the correction officers — and other public employees opposed to being told they must be vaccinated — may find the Legislature to be a dead end. Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano both voiced their support for Baker’s approach.
In fact, the two Democratic leaders issued a joint statement Thursday evening expressing their intention to extend COVID-19 paid leave provisions beyond Sept. 30 to ensure workers have the time they need to get vaccinated.
Spilka and Mariano had far less (as in nothing) to say about Baker’s plan to spend $1.57 billion of surplus tax revenue from fiscal year 2021 to help employers on their unemployment insurance costs, boost the number of shelter beds in the state, and increase rates for human service providers.
Baker filed a “close-out” budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30, proposing to use $1 billion of the surplus to replenish the UI trust fund and reduce the amount employers will have to repay through assessments over the next 20 years.
Business groups called it a good first step, but they still want to see the Legislature and administration direct additional federal relief dollars to the same cause. Baker also asked the Legislature to reconsider its decision to postpone for another year the implementation of a tax deduction on donations to charity, arguing that it’s worth another try after Democrats overrode his budget veto last month to delay the tax break.
The more than $5 billion in unbudgeted tax revenue collected in fiscal year 2021 means the state can cancel its planned $1.1 billion draw from reserves and instead make an additional $1.1 billion deposit, pushing the “rainy day” fund balance to a new record high of more than $4.63 billion, under Baker’s plan.
While the war against COVID-19 raged at home, the evacuation of Afghanistan after two decades of fighting devolved into chaos as Americans and Afghan allies struggled to escape the country now under Taliban control.
Sen. John Velis, who served in Afghanistan, circulated a letter signed by at least 70 legislators imploring Congress and federal officials to do all they can to protect Afghans who risked their lives to support the United State’s mission in that country over the years.
Gov. Baker said Massachusetts “is ready to assist Afghan refugees seeking safety and peace in America,” but for now the Massachusetts Port Authority said it has not been contacted about accepting Afghan refugees through local ports of entry.
Former Rep. Geoff Diehl, who is running for governor as a Republican, agreed with Baker’s sentiment to help Afghan allies, but knocked Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito for not supporting Donald Trump in 2020 after the former president “projected strength in that region and … was able to reduce our military footprint while at the same time maintaining peace.”
Diehl also accused Baker this week of not doing enough to explain to voters why, in his opinion, an income surtax on millionaires is a bad idea.
Rep. Brad Hill, an Ipswich Republican and the second-ranking member of the House GOP caucus, is about to join Diehl — not as a candidate for governor, but as a former member of the House.
Hill was appointed jointly to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission by Baker, Attorney General Maura Healey and Treasurer Deb Goldberg. He plans to resign Sept. 15, which would make him the first legislator to leave this session unless Sen. Joe Boncore beats him to the punch.
Boncore is in negotiations with MassBIO to become the trade and lobbying group’s next CEO, but when those talks might wrap up is anybody’s guess. Assuming Boncore does leave, Boston City Councilor Lydia Edwards said this week she will run for his Senate seat, icing talk that the East Boston resident might be gearing up for a run for attorney general.
On the Gaming Commission, Hill will find himself overseeing an industry that is rebounding well from the pandemic, posting record returns in July as MGM Springfield looks to bring poker tables back to its gaming floor before the end of the year.
STORY OF THE WEEK: No vax, no mask, no service (or job or learning).
SONG OF THE WEEK: Every time Baker said he wasn’t considering an updated mask policy, he concluded his thought with “at this time.” By Friday, he was asking, “Can I change my mind?”