March 6, 2020

Today, Governor Baker, Mayor Walsh of Boston, Chief of Health & Human Services Marty Martinez, and Secretary of MA Health & Human Services MaryLou Sudders provided an update about COVID-19 in a press conference.

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Legislature last week passed a balanced $43.1 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2020, with major investments in education, affordable housing and homelessness prevention, mental health and substance use disorder programs, and health care. The agreement reached between the House and Senate includes significant increases in funding over the previous year, including an increase of $269 million to Chapter 70 education funding,  an additional $29.6 million for unrestricted local aid to cities and towns, a combined $249.4 million for housing and homelessness prevention programs – including the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, Public Housing Subsidies, Alternative Housing Voucher Program, and Homeless individual shelters – and $150.2 million for the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, which will help create five new recovery centers across the state.  The City of Quincy is set to receive $50.4 million in direct funding from the state, about 15.3% of the City’s overall $329 million budget; this includes $28.6 million in Chapter 70 education funding and $20.27 million in unrestricted general assistance from the state.

BOSTON – State Representative Tackey Chan (D-Quincy) has been named House Chair of the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure for the 191st Legislative Session. The appointment was confirmed today by the House Democratic Caucus following the recommendation of House Speaker Robert DeLeo.

BOSTON - The state this week announced the release of $7.74 million in Senator Charles E. Shannon Jr., Community Safety Initiative (Shannon CSI) Grant Program funds to communities across the state for their efforts to combat gang violence. The awards include funding for Quincy, which along with Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Revere, Somerville and Winthrop make up the Metro Mayors Coalition which is set to receive $434,786.

BOSTON – Governor Charlie Baker on Thursday signed into law House Bill 4806, An Act relative to protecting consumers from security breaches. Both branches of the Massachusetts Legislature initially passed the legislation unanimously this past July, however the Governor sent back an amendment with concerns over state agencies’ abilities to perform their statutory duties without conflicting with current state and federal the law. The final legislation takes these concerns into careful consideration, making adjustments to exempt certain agencies in order to ensure compliance with existing regulations.

Massachusetts State Representative Tackey Chan (D-Quincy) last week was awarded the National Association of Government Employees’ 2018 “Legislator of the Year” award, presented at the NAGE National Convention in Atlantic City, NJ. Since being elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 2010, Representative Chan has worked closely with NAGE to protect public sector employees and ensure strong labor laws in the Commonwealth.

The Massachusetts Legislature last month passed legislation seeking to reduce tobacco use and nicotine addiction among youth across the Commonwealth, with new regulations that were signed into law by Governor Baker on July 27th. The bill, An Act to protect youth from the health risks of tobacco and nicotine addiction, raises the legal age to purchase all tobacco and nicotine products to 21, while additionally expanding Massachusetts’ Smoke-Free Workplace Laws to include e-cigarettes and vapes. This expansion creates simplified standards for smoking and vaping, ensuring that newer tobacco and vapor products will be regulated under the same guidelines used for traditional tobacco products.

With the end of the Massachusetts Legislature’s 2017-2018 formal sessions on July 31st, several major pieces of legislation were passed by the House and Senate and sent to Governor Charles D. Baker for his review.  In addition to balancing the $42 billion Fiscal Year 2019 state budget, the Legislature authorized over $1 billion in economic development funds; passed a $2.4 billion environmental bond authorization; created an automatic voter registration system; enacted comprehensive addiction prevention and treatment legislation to address the opioid epidemic; increased benefits to our veterans and their families; created a requirement to teach civic education in schools; increased the age to purchase tobacco products to 21; and expanded the amount of renewable energy we all use.

BOSTON – The Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to pass House Bill 4806, An Act relative to consumer protection from security breaches. The bill represents a compromise reached between House and Senate conference committee negotiators, led by Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Chairs Tackey Chan (D-Quincy) and Barbara L’Italien (D-Andover), along with members Representative Dan Hunt (D-Boston), Representative Randy Hunt (R-Sandwich), Senator John Keenan (D-Quincy), and Senator Ryan Fattman (R-Webster). The compromise builds on recently passed federal regulations mandating the removal of all fees for consumers who elect to place, lift, or remove a credit freeze from a consumer reporting agency.  The Massachusetts legislation also updates the state’s laws to reflect modern technological processes, updates notification requirements, and mandates free credit monitoring services.

This past month, Governor Baker signed into law the most comprehensive change for workers in Massachusetts in decades, which the media has dubbed “the grand bargain.”  The new law incrementally increases the minimum wage to $15 over five years, phases out time and half hourly wages over five years, establishes a paid medical and family leave program for all Massachusetts workers and creates a permanent sales tax holiday in August.  The new law represents a compromise based on discussions with a coalition formed by the Massachusetts Retailers Association and a separate coalition formed by Raise Up Massachusetts, who each were able to qualify their respective questions for the November 2018 ballot.  This compromise represents months of negotiations, with each party having made concessions in order to reach a final agreement.  As a result of this compromise, voted on by the Legislature on June 20th, the respective groups withdrew their ballot questions before the July 3rd deadline.

Under the “grand bargain”, the minimum wage will increase to $15/hour over five years while the tipped minimum wage will increase to $6.75/hour also over five years.  The increases will begin January 1, 2019 when the minimum wage increases by one dollar to $12/hour, then will increase incrementally by $0.75 over the following four years until it reaches $15. Tipped worker wages will be brought up to the state minimum wage based on earnings each day, rather than the current policy of calculating the difference between tips and minimum wage each pay cycle. This will ensure that restaurant and other tipped workers face more equitable schedules each week, removing the potential of giving preferential shifts to certain employees.