With Massachusetts governments still operating in pandemic mode, socially distanced lawmakers are facing familiar deadlines.
The coronavirus continues to be an economic damper, and a new fiscal year begins this week with no full-year budget in place — although there is an interim budget.
Reporter Matt Murphy of the State House News Service joins us to talk about the what to expect in the near future.
Carrie Healy, NEPR: What do we know about how state budget talks are progressing, and with what kind of timeline?
Matt Murphy, State House News Service: We know that they're basically still very uncomfortable with the idea of predicting what a full fiscal year for Massachusetts would look like. And they're waiting, and hoping, to get some clarity when the new revenue numbers come in, in early July.
They are also waiting to see what the tax collections look like from the push-out of the deadline from April 15 to July 15 for the income tax filing deadline. Many people have already paid, but not everybody.
Governor Charlie Baker and legislative leaders have noted that they won't really know what the true depths of the crisis is until they see how those tax revenues come in.
They're also watching Washington, D.C., very closely to see if another federal stimulus package will come through. If billions in relief money were to come in to Massachusetts, that would dramatically change the fortunes of the state.
So there are a lot of question marks still hanging over this budget, which is why the governor signed an interim spending bill last week that will keep government functional through at least the month of July.
And his budget secretary has suggested it could be the first of several interim budgets before they get around to producing a full calendar-year plan.
As Baker continues to see encouraging public health data, the state is barreling toward phase three of reopening. We're seeing states across the country hitting new daily highs in coronavirus cases. Massachusetts businesses are anxiously awaiting the go-ahead to open in phase three. When will Baker likely indicate his decision?
Yeah, it's not just businesses — it's actually people. Couples in particular, because phase three comes with not just the reopening of things like theaters, and indoor health facilities like gyms, and larger gathering spaces. We're also expecting the state to give guidance on things such as how to hold a wedding — basically, whether those are indoors, outdoors, how many people you can have.
So there are a lot of people waiting to see what this might look like.
The governor is potentially poised to make a decision by July 6 or 7 to get things started. He said he wanted two full weeks of indoor dining data to see how well that went, what the spread looks like once they reopen indoor restaurants, and some of those other close-contact personal services, like nail salons and massage parlors, and things like that.
So it could be, or should be, another week — potentially longer. But maybe next week, we will find out whether or not we're ready for phase three.
Massachusetts residents recently identified racism as among the biggest problems we face today. A majority of respondents to a Suffolk University poll indicated there is a specific problem with the treatment of black people by police. Baker filed legislation to let the state certify police officers and revoke their licenses for misconduct. But are lawmakers talking about a broader action to address systemic racism?
I think what you're likely to see, in addition to the policing elements of this — and the push towards creating a statewide Juneteenth holiday — is the fact that racial equity is going to take a foothold into a lot of the public policy debates, whether that is energy and clean energy debates.
We're seeing it now in the health care space. The Senate and House are putting together a health equity task force to look at disparities in health access in communities of color. The Senate, even though they passed a pretty big health care bill last week, also convened a day-long panel discussion Monday morning that will bring together health experts from a variety of fields. One of the panels will focus on equity in communities of color, because this issue has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, as we've seen communities of color disproportionately impacted by the spread of the disease.
In November, voters are not going to be voting on a ballot question to allow more stores to sell beer and wine. Late last week, its backers withdrew, citing COVID-19's impact. On the retail sector, so that leaves three measures on the ballot, and a couple of measures still collecting signatures. That deadline is still Wednesday, right?
It is still Wednesday. Cumberland Farms is the big backer behind the ballot question that would have expanded the availability of beer and wine at food stores. They're saying they are now going to focus on their core business because of the impact they've taken.
In backing off the ballot question, they say they will try and come back during the next cycle.
But we do look like we're going to have ballot questions that would increase funding for nursing homes, give independent auto repairs, more access to the telematic electronic car data that your car computers store, as well as a ranked-choice voting ballot question.
And signatures have been delivered to the local clerks, and they have until Wednesday to collect them, and get them to Secretary of State William Galvin to secure their spot on the ballot.
