One Year Later...

February 1, 2021 Pace LaVia

We’ve had one heck of a lap around the sun since the first confirmed coronavirus infections in Massachusetts on the first of February, 2020. Things didn’t get real for residents, however, until March 15 when Gov. Charlie Baker ordered all Massachusetts schools to close. Restaurants were limited to take-out and delivery service, and gatherings of groups larger than 25 were prohibited. At this point, there were still fewer than 200 confirmed cases in the state. Today there are more than 20 times as many cases reported on a daily basis.

The emergency rules were initially set to end on April 7. However, just a little over a week later, with the number of coronavirus cases in the state having more than tripled, all non-essential businesses were ordered to close and Bay State residents were asked to shelter at home. After a brief bending of the curve over the summer, COVID came roaring back post-holiday season.

Since the beginning, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, about half a million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Massachusetts. More than 14,000 people have died. Now, according to the DPH interactive coronavirus dashboard, having peaked in the second week of January, the curve is again bending downward. The number of estimated active cases dropped from about 81,000 last Wednesday to 78,000 on Thursday, and the percentage of positive coronavirus tests decreased to 4.44% from 4.67%.

But the Bay State isn’t out of the woods yet. Last week, for the first time, a more contagious COVID-19 variant from the United Kingdom was reported in Massachusetts.

In other news, Governor Baker delivered his annual State of the Commonwealth Address; the state legislature re-passed the vetoed climate bill; Mass. transportation got another shot in the arm; and Mass. General said it’s setting aside $2 billion for expansion.

Meanwhile in Washington, newly anointed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is talking about shuffling together numerous marijuana bills into one big one in order to make some major headway on ending the federal prohibition of cannabis and finally putting Reefer Madness behind us.

Politics

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker delivered his State of the Commonwealth address last week, and in light of the pandemic, the address was streamed live from his office at the State House. In his remarks, the governor reminded us that “2020 was a year like no other… It came with economic calamity. Severe job loss. Business closures. Anxiety. Fear. Civil unrest. Riots. Racial injustice. Isolation. Death. And Loss.”

Pointing out that the state is in much better shape economically now than it was last spring, Baker made the caveat that “far too many people still can’t find a job. Our downtowns are hurting. And many of our small businesses have been crushed by the pandemic.”

One of the centerpieces of the governor’s presentation was the state’s Small Business Relief Program which Baker boasted was “the largest of its kind in the country.” The program draws from a fund of over $700 million to assist thousands of struggling small companies across the state.

Also highlighted were major advances in transportation infrastructure:

“On transportation, the new law accelerates bridge reconstruction, so we can move faster to modernize every bridge that needs major repairs. It also provides the funding we need to complete the South Coast Rail expansion. Fall River and New Bedford have been waiting for over 30 years for this to get done. Now it will be available in 2023. This law also funds the final piece of the long-promised Green Line Extension into Somerville. These are big promises made and kept.”

And clean, renewable energy:

“On climate change, Massachusetts continues to be a national leader. “In the last several weeks alone, we put forth a science based roadmap to reach net zero emissions by 2050. And we’ve spearheaded a first of its kind, multi-state program to reduce carbon emissions in the transportation sector. We’ve invested over $935 million in climate change mitigation and adaptation since we took office. And we’re on track to meet our commitment to invest $1 billion in climate action by 2022. Partnering with the Legislature, we secured historic clean energy procurements at the lowest price for rate payers. This set the table for an explosion in offshore wind development up and down the East Coast of this country.”

A complete transcript of the governor’s 2021 State of the State address can be found here: Governor Baker Delivers 2021 State of the Commonwealth Address

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Business

As Gov. Baker pointed out in his State Of the State address, Massachusetts’ Covid relief program for small businesses is the largest program of its kind in the U.S. It’s a good thing the state is leading in economic relief, as the Bay State is lagging behind the country in vaccinations.

The program provides financial relief for businesses hit hard by emergency restrictions and shutdowns, particularly in the hospitality and entertainment sectors. Since the emergency cash began flowing in December, $277 million in grants have been awarded from a $688 million relief fund and a separate $50.8 million economic recovery package.

Baker said. “This is a $720 million program, so we obviously have a long way to go and a lot of opportunity to continue to support small businesses as they work their way through the second surge.”

According to Baker, additional grant announcements will continue “pretty much every week.” Unfortunately, so will the hanging of “out of business” signs.

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Energy

Over the last few weeks, we have reported on Gov. Baker's unexpected veto of the state’s sweeping climate bill and the new legislature’s mission to quickly send the measures back to Baker’s desk — which is exactly what they’ve done.

In scenes from last week’s episode, because the previous legislative session ran out the clock, Baker vetoed the bill too late for lawmakers to override or amend it. Nonetheless, Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ronald Mariano brought the monstrous bill back to life shortly into the new legislative session. The measure was quickly re-approved in both chambers and sent back to Gov. Charlie Baker.

The legislation outlines steps to reaching the state’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Baker supports most of the bill but worries that as written it could possibly prevent the construction of affordable housing.

Baker is expected to again send the measure back to the legislature with recommended changes. However, the bill was passed by a veto-killing margin in both chambers and is but guaranteed to become the law of the land.

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Transportation

At the recent Massachusetts Municipal Association’s Annual Meeting, the Baker administration announced that it has filed “An Act Financing Improvements to Municipal Roads and Bridges,” in an effort to raise $200 million in funding to help all 351 cities and towns in that state improve transportation infrastructure. The funds will add to the $39.5 million increase in local aid already included in the Administration’s proposed Fiscal Year 2022 budget.

Governor Baker’s statement included this:

“Investing in local roads and bridges helps connect residents with jobs and opportunities across the Commonwealth, and promotes economic growth and development. We are pleased to continue providing support and resources to cities and towns throughout Massachusetts and ensuring municipalities have the flexibility and resources to address their unique needs.”

The municipal funds are made available under the “Chapter 90” program administered by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. If approved by the legislature, it will bring the total funds released since Baker took office in 2015 to a healthy $1.56 billion.

Massachusetts governor files for $200M in Chapter 90 funding for transportation

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Real Estate

Massachusetts’s largest hospital owner, Mass General Brigham, has announced that the company will move forward on planned $2 billion in construction projects. That is according to the Boston Business Journal which claims:

“Based on public filings with the state Department of Public Health, the planned developments will include a $1 billion building at Massachusetts General Hospital in the West End, a $400 million project to open four outpatient sites in communities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and a $250 million addition at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. The total projects’ cost could be closer to $2 billion when including ancillary expenses… The projects are part of $6.1 billion in work that Mass General Brigham, formerly known as Partners HealthCare, has planned in capital spending over the next five years. The pandemic delayed half of the planned spending in fiscal 2020, however, sidelining $550 million of work in the face of hundreds of millions of dollars in expected revenue shortfalls.”

Anne Klibanski, president and CEO of Mass General Brigham, was quoted in the report:

“These projects will enable us to meet the needs of our patients by bringing lower-cost care options to their home and community, making community-hospital investments to accommodate more routine care, and improving access for the most complex cases at one of our flagship hospitals. While the pandemic temporarily postponed our long-standing plans, it also reinforced the need to provide more health care options for our patients.”

Read all about it at Boston Real Estate Times.

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Cannabis

According to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), lawmakers are working to merge various pieces of marijuana legislation into one bill to be debated in the early days of the 117th Congress.

During an interview with former NBA player Al Harrington, Schumer talked about his plan to deschedule marijuana, reinvest tax revenue into communities impacted by the drug war, and to fund efforts to expunge prior cannabis records. (Harrington markets a line of cannabis products under the name Viola Brands.)

Schumer filed legislation in both of the two previous congressional sessions including the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act. Also on the table is the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act which passed the House last year but was not taken up by the Republican-controlled Senate.

In another interview with Rachel Madow, Schumer stated:

“I’m a big fighter for racial justice, and the marijuana laws have been one of the biggest examples of racial injustice, and so to change them makes sense. And that fits in with all of the movement now to bring equality in the policing, in economics and in everything else. Our bill is, in a certain sense, at the nexus of racial justice, individual freedom and states’ rights.”

Prior to Democrats reclaiming the Senate majority, Schumer pledged that he would “put his cannabis legislation on the floor” should he become Senate majority leader.

Now with Democrats in control, advocates and lawmakers are expecting a tsunami of federal cannabis policy reforms. However, the extent to which marijuana will be un-prohibited remains to be seen as President Biden’s support for legalization is seedy. Although Biden backs the idea of modest reforms, he’s not in favor of full legalization. That doesn’t mean that he’ll veto sweeping marijuana legislation — but it doesn’t mean he won’t, either.

Already in 2021, two congressional marijuana bills have been filed. One proposal seeks to prevent the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from denying veterans benefits because they use medical marijuana. The other would move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act — a move which many advocates and stakeholders fear will cause more problems than it solves. If marijuana remains a controlled substance, the Food and Drug Administration would be able to impose federal regulations on state cannabis markets.

Marijuana Moment has more on this story.

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