House Speaker Robert DeLeo won't even hazard a guess these days as to when or how his chamber might debate an annual budget for the state, let alone a climate change bill. But almost a month into the new reality of legislating from a safe distance, the Democrat said Monday he's not giving up on everything lawmakers thought they'd be working on this spring and summer before the coronavirus upended daily life.
The state's public safety secretary has tested positive for COVID-19, he announced Monday night, and is working from home.
![Gov. Charlie Baker announced a new statewide COVID-19 Relief Fund on Monday at Eastern Bank's headquarters in Boston's Financial District. [Photo: Sam Doran/SHNS]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2020/04-06_Baker_10.jpg "Gov. Charlie Baker announced a new statewide COVID-19 Relief Fund on Monday at Eastern Bank's headquarters in Boston's Financial District. [Photo: Sam Doran/SHNS]")
The data show that the measures Massachusetts has taken to combat the spread of the coronavirus -- closing schools, shutting down large chunks of the economy and asking people to limit trips outside -- could be working, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday, but those measures must continue to be adhered to as the state prepares for an expected influx of COVID-19 patients who need to be hospitalized.
Lawmakers are calling on Gov. Charlie Baker to let health care professionals trained in other countries join the state's COVID-19 fight, and a recent Board of Registration in Medicine move will allow some international medical graduates who've also trained in the U.S. to receive temporary licenses here.
[Coverage Developing] As the number of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts climbed to nearly 14,000, Gov. Charlie Baker and First Lady Lauren Baker on Monday announced the creation of the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund which is being launched with $13 million in funding available to local foundations and community organizations.
The global coronavirus pandemic has upended significant swaths of the economy in Massachusetts and the relatively-young legal marijuana industry is no exception.
One day after Gov. Charlie Baker revealed Massachusetts has only received a fraction of the ventilators it requested from the national stockpile, the state's congressional delegation slammed the federal response as "grossly insufficient."
... The HPC has a new pharmacy pricing official ... A veteran early education official is moving on to a health care post in Rhode Island ... Congresswoman Trahan has a new communications director ... the Boston Housing Authority has a new special advisor ... the Mass. Public Health Association has a new public policy specialist ... and National Grid has a new president of its U.S. Business ... Please enjoy the latest Personnel File ...
The Senate on Monday sent to the Ways and Means Committee two bills that would provide relief for renters and homeowners during the COVID-19 emergency. A Senate bill (S 2621) approved by Ways and Means last Tuesday was recommitted to the same panel where it is joined by an eviction and foreclosure moratorium bill (H 4615) passed by the House last Thursday.
Aspects of the COVID-19 public health crisis are the focus of a flow of new bills addressing student loans, public higher education, food access, workers compensation, tax deadlines and public safety workers. House members on Monday sent those bills to committees for review.
![Boston Mayor Martin Walsh put on a mask after his press conference Sunday at City Hall. [Photo: Mayor's Office/John Wilcox]](https://www.statehousenews.com/content/frontpage_photo/2020/04-05_Walsh_mask_COURTESY-City.jpg "Boston Mayor Martin Walsh put on a mask after his press conference Sunday at City Hall. [Photo: Mayor's Office/John Wilcox]")
People across Massachusetts started wearing masks in public in noticeable numbers Saturday, adjusting to the latest aspect of the new COVID-19 normal a day after new federal guidance recommended "simple cloth face coverings" in public settings.
Private sector layoffs have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Gov. Charlie Baker has offered job reassurances to many of those working in state government - one of the state's largest employers -- and given his vote of confidence to public employees operating both remotely and "on the job."
With college students nationwide suddenly immersed in online learning, the president of the University of Massachusetts foresees remote learning playing a major role in the future of higher education, regardless of when colleges and universities tell students it's safe to return to campuses.
A COVID-19 testing facility for first responders opened Sunday in Foxborough after it was built in just four days, and Gov. Charlie Baker said conversations are underway about setting up similar sites in western Massachusetts and the Merrimack Valley.
The Massachusetts health care landscape is shifting again in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Steward Health Care on Saturday began transforming Morton Hospital in Taunton into a dedicated care center for patients who test posivive for the virus.
Citing "deep concern for those who are experiencing sexual and domestic violence," Jane Doe Inc. is encouraging everyone in Massachusetts to be aware that services remain available.
The Massachusetts bar exam scheduled for July will instead be held on Wednesday, Sept. 30 and Thursday, Oct. 1, the Supreme Judicial Court and Board of Bar Examiners announced on Saturday morning.
The state is delaying its plans to stand up a COVID-19-only center at a nursing home in Wilmington due to positive COVID-19 test results among patients there.
Saving lives and jobs and limiting the depths of suffering and economic collapse are among the many goals in Massachusetts and across the world amid a pandemic that has derailed life as we have known it. Confirmed cases of COVID-19 are growing dramatically and no one knows how many unconfirmed cases are out there.
The hit from COVID-19 on the state's finances didn't fully materialize in March, but state tax collectors acknowledged Friday that it's coming.