Weekly Roundup – Off the Charts

Recap and analysis of the week in state government

JAN. 7, 2022…..New year, same vibes. Frustratingly so.

Massachusetts celebrated the first week of 2022 with its first major snowstorm, a 40 percent surge in patients hospitalized for (or with) COVID-19, and shortages of workers of all stripes, including teachers. Testing appointments are in short supply and patience is running thin.

The idea held by so many last summer that the worst of the pandemic was behind us seems now like a quaint notion with the omicron variant fueling single-day records for new cases and hospitalizations climbing to peaks not seen since May 2020. Designers have literally had to remake the Y axis on the Department of Public Health graphics to accommodate the higher totals.

House Speaker Ron Mariano (third from left) visited Boston Medical Center on Thursday for a firsthand look at what medical personnel have been dealing with. He was joined by former Rep. Steve Walsh (far left), president of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, Health Care Financing Committee Co-Chair Rep. John Lawn (second from left), and emergency room doctor Rep. Jon Santiago (fourth from right). [Courtesy/Speaker’s Office]

House Speaker Ron Mariano quietly visited Boston Medical Center on Thursday, and then shared his observations online.

“After visiting the ER and having conversations with staff, it is clear that while #COVID19 case numbers are at a record high, those who are up to date on their vaccinations are unlikely to get severely ill,” Mariano said.

The speaker said he supported the DPH’s decision to change the way it reports COVID-19 hospitalizations beginning next week, requiring providers to distinguish between patients admitted due to COVID-19 and those hospitalized for other conditions who also test positive for the virus.

Mariano sounded an awful lot like Gov. Charlie Baker preaching booster shots and vaccines for the still unvaccinated after his field trip. State-sponsored booster clinics opened this week at Fenway Park and in Taunton, and smaller municipally run clinics are beginning to crop up in other areas. The Department of Early Education and Care is exploring a test-and-stay program for day care centers, and began shipping roughly 40,000 rapid tests to child care centers this week.

But the Legislature still wants to know what Baker is doing about the surge, and the Committee on COVID-19 and Emergency Management and Preparedness invited the governor and his administration to testify early next week after they skipped a December oversight hearing, citing scheduling conflicts.

Mariano said the Legislature specifically wants to know how Baker spent the $200 million they carved out for him from American Rescue Plan Act funds for COVID-19 emergency, and whether more money is needed for things like testing and masks. Of course, the first question is an easy one to answer because Baker told them how he was spending it back in July when he detailed a $186 million plan to invest in hospitals, workforce training, human service salary increases and psychiatric care beds.

Even if high case counts are the new normal, it’s still stopping many people from returning to office life, including at the State House, which remains closed to the public as the Legislature kicked off the second year of the two-year session on Wednesday.

After soldiering through the worst of the pandemic when Beacon Hill turned into a ghost town, the popular lunch spot High Spot Deli slapped a sign in its window this week announcing it was closing for good. No more slice-of-day deals, deli sandwiches or chicken and rice plates.

“Well THIS sucks,” Rep. Danielle Gregoire tweeted.

Good news, however, for those who prefer a drink with their lunch, or dinner. The former Red Hat pub at the bottom of Bowdoin Street will be reopening this month as Teddy’s on the Hill. “We’re back like a celebrity out of rehab!” the chalkboard in the window reads.

The Legislature is also back after a seven-month recess, but eased into the new year as lawmakers await Baker’s budget filing and State of the Commonwealth address later this month.

The annual speech will be Baker’s last as governor, but the race to replace him stayed status quo this week, while the less flashy contest for lieutenant governor continued to be a siren song for legislators.

Sen. Eric Lesser became the latest entrant to the Democratic primary to be number two in the executive suite, expanding the field to four as he joined two of his State House colleagues in seeking the lieutenant governor’s office. Lesser, of Holyoke, and Sen. Adam Hinds, of Pittsfield, are now both looking to become the first statewide elected officials from west of Worcester since Jane Swift.

But back in Boston, Suffolk County will soon have a new district attorney. Baker tapped Sex Offender Registry Board Chairman Kevin Hayden to replace Rachael Rollins for the rest of the year and her term. Rollins submitted her resignation letter this week, and on Monday will take the oath to become the next U.S. attorney for Massachusetts.

Hayden hasn’t said whether he will seek a full term in November but holding the title now could give him a leg up should he choose to run. His selection may also inform the decisions of others considering the race.

Hayden will inherit a pair of investigations launched by Rollins as she heads for the exit, including one review of whether the MBTA bears any criminal responsibility for the Green Line trolley crash last July that injured 27 riders. The operator of that trolley has already been charged, but Rollins said his supervisors and colleagues were aware of his reputation for speeding and past violations and did nothing.

The other investigation is into potential perjury charges against a former Boston police detective.

While the district attorney’s office considers charges against the former cop, a special commission charged with reviewing the concept of qualified immunity for police officers suggested a two-year review before considering any changes to the controversial legal standard to see how a new policing reform law plays out.

The 2020 police reform law called for qualified immunity to be revoked for police officers who commit offenses that result in their decertification by the new Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission. Qualified immunity gives some government officials immunity from personal liability in certain civil lawsuits for things done in the course of their official duties. 

The commission was unable to reach consensus on whether to end or amend the qualified immunity standard, a result that groups like the ACLU and Lawyers for Civil Rights deemed a failure.

Suffolk County is also not the only county that will soon have a new top prosecutor, though voters of Essex County and the Cape and Islands will get to choose theirs later this year. Longtime district attorneys Jonathan Blodgett of Essex County and Michael O’Keefe from the Cape announced that this sixth term for each of them will be their last.

Salem Rep. Paul Tucker, a former police chief, wasted no time jumping into the race on the North Shore.