Massachusetts lawmakers will soon learn more about the contagious COVID-19 variants known to reinfect those who previously had coronavirus.
The CDC says Massachusetts has the second-highest number of COVID-19 P.1 variant cases in the nation.
And this week, a group of lawmakers overseeing the state's response to the pandemic will focus on learning about COVID-19 variants.
The committee has held previous sessions grilling the governor about the state's bumpy vaccine rollout. Matt Murphy of State House News Service joins us to talk about the week ahead.
Carrie Healy, NEPM: What will lawmakers do with the information about the variants they'll get from the epidemiologists?
Matt Murphy, State House News Service: That will depend on what they hear when they convene this this group of scientists to talk more about infection rates — what hospitals, medical professionals are seeing with the spread of these variants, and how it impacted the trajectory of the virus.
We know that the variants have been linked to some of the reason why Massachusetts saw its declining rates in March plateau, and then start to tick back up.
And the UK variant is now the most prevalent variant in the United States. The CDC says the P.1, or the Brazil variant, is — next to Florida — spreading most rapidly in Massachusetts.
So the committee have used these hearings in the past to pressure the administration to adapt its strategy in one way or another, whether the people with vaccines, or now, with this study of the spread and infection rates. Perhaps they could use this to ask the administration, or to request certain delays in the rest of the reopening strategy, or other plans the administration might have for getting back to the new normal. But a lot depends on what they hear when they convene this group.
That committee is different from the Health Equity Committee, which was created last year to study and make recommendations to address health disparities for underserved or underrepresented populations during the pandemic. We've seen the Health Equity Committee now miss a few deadlines for filing reports. What's going on here?
They've repeatedly extended their deadlines, now saying they're taking a little extra time, as they're close to the finish line to review these final recommendations. We've heard that they are both denser and more thorough, and committee members wanted a little more time to look at them.
To me, this suggests that perhaps they're looking not just at the COVID response in communities of color, but also projecting out how the state can improve its health care delivery in these hard-hit communities.
This is a report that was supposed to be done last August. It then extended the deadline until September, then again to February. Here we are into April. We're still waiting as the impact this report could have on the treatment of the pandemic is waning.
I think lawmakers are liable to be more future-looking into what additional steps can be taken to improve health equity in these hard-hit communities and communities of color.
I want to circle back to testimony you previewed last week about federal relief spending by Mike Heffernan. Some Beacon Hill lawmakers, like Rep. John Barrett of North Adams, say they feel like they're being left out of the process by the Baker administration when it comes to how these federal relief funds are being spent. Barrett said he “doesn't want to feel like the red-headed stepchild as a member of the legislature.” Do we have any sense as to how a more inclusive process might affect legislative overseers moving forward?
Barrett says Berkshire County feels like the "redheaded stepchild" when it comes to fed stimulus dollars.
— Erin Tiernan (@ErinTiernan) April 8, 2021
"There has to be a reconciliation here of how this future money is going to be spent -- and oversight." #mapoli @bostonherald
Yes, Representative Barrett's comments are quite illuminating. We've heard this from leadership as well. The American Rescue Plan had not just a lot of money for Massachusetts, but a lot of money with a lot fewer strings than we've seen before with the previous relief packages like the CARES Act did, where the money has to be spent on very specific purposes.
Massachusetts is getting — the government, the state itself — over $4.5 billion, with a variety of uses allowed by the federal government. The legislature wants a more active role in appropriating money.
In the coming months, the Baker administration — once it collects this money from the federal government — could file a supplemental budget to propose how to spend this, which would give the legislature a direct hand in reviewing that, OK'ing it and inserting their own priorities or earmarks into any final spending package.
This, I think, is what you're going to see them push for, as they've said that they want to exercise their authority as the legislature over spending. And we will see how much the administration goes along with this plan — because in the past, we've seen them take this money, use it for things like business recovery grants and others without the legislature's direct input. That is what lawmakers like Representative Barrett are seeking to change this time around.
