Recap and analysis of the week in state government
Almost like a business, the Legislature every 10 years goes through a corporate reorganization and the employees, in this case 200 legislators, are forced to wonder what their fate holds.
Who are the new bosses? Will they like me? Is my job redundant? Some will look for new opportunities rather than try to hang on. Others will make the most of the changes, or even embrace them.
But before finalizing the new business model, the C-Suite on Beacon Hill tried to make one thing clear this week to shareholders: they’re committed to diversity in hiring.
House and Senate leaders released draft maps of new legislative districts that put a premium, especially on the House side, on maximizing opportunities across the state by drawing up more districts where Black, Hispanic and Asian residents, or some combination of the three, account for over half a district’s population.
Despite the U.S. Census revealing an increasingly diverse state where 67.5 percent of the population is white, on Beacon Hill the House is still 86.25 percent white, with just 22 Black, Hispanic or Asian members. In the 40-member Senate, there are just two senators of color.
That’s why Assistant House Majority Leader Michael Moran proudly announced that the proposed House map exceeded the requests of advocates by drawing 33 majority-minority districts, 13 more than existed after the 2011 redistricting process and four more than the Drawing Democracy Coalition proposed.
On the Senate side, Senate President Pro Tempore William Brownsberger proposed to add two new majority-minority districts to the three that currently exist, including one major change in the Merrimack Valley where Lawrence would break away from Andover and anchor a new incumbent-free district. The new district would include parts of Methuen and Haverhill in the hopes of seeing a candidate of color elected to represent one of the state’s most diverse cities.
The new Lawrence district checked a box for voting rights groups, but advocates felt the Senate left some opportunities on the table, including in Brockton where the possibility existed to group Stoughton and Randolph with the city represented by Sen. Michael Brady and create another new majority-minority district.
Unlike 10 years ago when Moran and then-Sen. Stanley Rosenberg oversaw over a mostly controversy-free redistricting effort, this year’s effort will not be as clean. But it did shake loose a few apples.
With parts of her district proposed to be combined with those of Rep. Nika Elugardo, Rep. Elizabeth Malia confirmed this week that she would be retiring after 12 terms in the House, while Rep. Paul Mark is expected to announce that he will look to trade a desk in the House for one in the Senate rather than run against colleague Rep. John Barrett.
Mark’s move, should he make it, will have been made possible, or at least easier, by Sen. Adam Hinds decision to officially jump into next year’s race for lieutenant governor, while Sen. Marc Pacheco said his work in the Legislature made the timing for him for a run for state auditor untenable.
But while there are many tweaks and permutations to analyze in the new redistricting plan, state legislators were not the only group seeing their job descriptions recast this week.
Used to being called upon for security or during natural disasters, members of the Massachusetts National Guard are already driving buses, so maybe it was just a matter of time before Gov. Charlie Baker asked them to administer COVID-19 tests in schools as well.
Baker said he was calling up 200 Guard members to support testing in the more than 2,200 public schools signed up to take part in test-and-stay, symptomatic testing, and pooled testing programs. Another 250 National Guard members will be called upon to offset potential staffing shortages at the Department of Correction.
With Baker’s vaccine mandate kicking in next week and correction officers among the most resistant, the administration is preparing for staff shortages at jails and prisons, and 250 could be on the low end.
The union representing 3,300 correction officers and Department of Correction employees have sued the Baker administration in federal court to block the vaccine mandate, but as they wait for the judge’s ruling it’s possible that more than 1,400 prison guards will be non-compliant come Monday.
Executive branch employees have until Sunday to show proof of vaccination or face suspension and possible termination if they refuse to get the shot. James Lamond, the attorney representing the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union, filed a letter with the court Friday informing Judge Timothy Hillman that as of Wednesday 40 percent of MCOFU members had not yet shown proof of vaccination.
“As we continue to navigate an unprecedented public health crisis, well-being and safety remain our priority, and we appreciate the large number of staff who have submitted their vaccination attestation forms ahead of the deadline,” said DOC Commissioner Carol Mici, in a statement about using the Guard.
The administration said the Guard will not interact directly with inmates, and DOC said it may also need to bring back retired correction officers to augment the remaining staff.
While the Baker administration will be scrambling next week to fill some of the jobs it has, the governor on Wednesday went to an offshore wind conference to talk about the jobs he wants.
Baker stopped by the American Clean Power Association’s Offshore WINDPOWER Conference & Exhibition at the Omni Boston Seaport Hotel to announce that he would be filing a $750 million bill to invest in technology, research, development and job training to support the offshore wind industry in Massachusetts.
That legislation, he said, would also propose to scrap the requirement that the price of wind power in each state procurement be cheaper than the last, signaling a greater prioritization of job creation and economic development over pure consumer pocketbook protection.
The wind objectives seem to jibe with the priorities outlined by House Speaker Ron Mariano for the sector this session, but there could be bumpy waters in the Senate where one key legislator, Sen. Michael Barrett, has questioned the all-or-nothing approach to price caps.
When he wasn’t fighting the correction officers in court, Baker started a brawl with Republican nemesis Jim Lyons over the MassGOP leader’s unrepentant support for a failed Boston city council candidate who made racist comments on social media.
Following reports that Lyons knew before the preliminary election about Donnie Palmer’s anti-Asian remarks, Baker on Friday told the Dorchester Reporter that Lyons should resign as head of the party – his party.
Lyons’s response?
“Perhaps it is time for Gov. Baker to reconsider his party affiliation.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: Once a decade, everyone becomes a map expert.
SONG OF THE WEEK: To help lawmakers adjust to the idea of a new kind of neighborhood.
