Page 18 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2021 A note from Bob Katzen, Publisher of Beacon Hill Roll Call: Join me this Sunday night and every Sunday night between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. for my talk show “The Bob Katzen Baby Boomer and Gen X Show.” Jump in my time capsule and come back to the simpler days of the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. There are many ways you can listen to the show from anywhere in the world: • If you have a smart speaker, simply say, “Play WMEX on Audacy.com” • Download the free Audacy app on your phone or tablet • Listen online at www.wmexboston.com • Or tune into 1510 AM if you have an AM radio. • Visit us at www.bobkatzenshow.com THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Beacon Hill Roll Call records local representatives’ and senators’ votes on roll calls from the week of May 17-21. $400 MILLION FOR NEW SOLDIERS’ HOME IN HOLYOKE (H 3770) House 160-0, Senate 40-0, approved and sent to Gov. Charlie Baker a bill authorizing $400 million to fund the construction of a new Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke. The push to construct the new home follows the deaths of 77 veteran residents last year as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak at the current facility. A HouseSenate conference committee hammered out this compromise version after the House and Senate approved diff erent versions of the measure. The bill also provides $200 million to increase geographic equity and accessibility of longterm care services for Bay State veterans with a focus on areas that are not primarily served by the soldiers’ homes in Chelsea or Holyoke. The Baker administration and House and Senate leaders have urged speedy passage of the proposal in order to meet deadlines to apply for as much as $260 million in funding from the federal government, which would leave state taxpayers with a $140 million bill. “Rebuilding the soldiers’ home in Holyoke and increasing access to services for our veterans is necessary and long overdue, especially after tragically losing many residents of the soldiers’ home to a COVID-19 outbreak last year,” said Sen. Cindy Friedman (D-Arlington) who served as the lead Senate negotiator of the conference committee. “This funding will ensure that the commonwealth’s veterans are met with the services that they deserve and that address their unique and changing needs.” “Our veterans throughout the commonwealth deserve the very best in care and treatment as they age,” said Sen. Paul Feeney (D-Foxborough), another member of the conference Attorneys at Law 14 Norwood St., Everett, MA 02149 Phone: (617) 387-4900 Fax: (617) 381-1755 John Mackey, Esq. * Katherine M. Brown, Esq. Patricia Ridge, Esq. HELP WANTED To care for two senior citizens refer Spanish or Italian speaking woman repar committee. The bill that we enacted today will ensure that their needs are met for generations to come in a safe, comfortable and welcoming soldiers’ home. Additionally, it is critical that this vital taxpayer-funded facility be built effi ciently by a local, well-trained, safe and diverse workforce that provides a career pipeline for skilled craftspeople in Western Massachusetts. The bipartisan and collaborative bond authorization bill we sent to the governor is refl ective of our values and consistent with our focus on providing equitable and top-notch care to every veteran in the commonwealth.” “As the senator for the city of Holyoke and the Soldiers’ Home, I know what this new home means to so many in our community,” said Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield), Senate chair of the Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs. “This has truly been a long and emotional process that started well before this legislation was first fi led. From the very start, families and veterans gave me a very clear message: ‘Get this done.’ We could not let them down and I am proud to say that we have not let them down … The funding authorized in this bill will ensure that the future residents of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home and veterans across our commonwealth receive the care with honor and dignity that they have earned in service to our nation. Today’s vote brings us one step closer towards fulfi lling that mission.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Rep. Jessica Giannino Yes Sen. Joseph Boncore Yes COVID-19 EMERGENCY SICK LEAVE AND UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CHANGES (H 3771) House 157-0, Senate 40-0, approved and sent to Gov. Baker a bill that would provide qualifi ed workers with up to fi ve days of paid leave for COVID-related emergencies including workers who are sick with the virus, under a quarantine order, recovering from receiving a vaccine or caring for a family member ill with the virus. The measure is also designed to relieve employers this spring from expensive unexpected unemployment system costs. Many businesses were shocked when they saw their fi rst-quarter unemployment contribution bills and found the solvency assessment rate had jumped from 0.58 percent in 2020 to 9.23 percent in 2021, raising costs in many cases by hundreds or thousands of dollars. Under the proposal, the state would shift all COVID-related unemployment claims from the solvency fund into a new COVID claims fund and the solvency fund would revert to its original function. Employers, who fund the state’s jobless aid system, will still be on the hook in the long term, and a COVID-related assessment on businesses will kick into eff ect for 2021 and 2022. “In order for us to fully recover from the pandemic, all Massachusetts workers need access to emergency paid sick time if they are sick with COVID-19, quarantined or need to care for a sick family member,” said Deb Fastino, Executive Director of the Coalition for Social Justice and a member of the Raise Up Massachusetts Steering Committee. “Many essential frontline workers need paid sick time so they can recover from the side eff ects of the COVID-19 vaccine.” “Massachusetts workers and businesses share the same goal of restoring jobs lost during the COVID pandemic and getting back to work,” said Steve Tolman, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “By spreading this year’s solvency assessment over the next two decades using already authorized borrowing, the House took the necessary step at this time to enable that continued economic recovery. Moving forward, it is critical that we take a hard look at the way we fund our Unemployment Insurance system to ensure that costs are fairly spread out across businesses; that we build substantial reserves during good economic times in order to weather the bad without relying on costly borrowing; and that workers can continue to count on UI benefi ts as an economic lifeline to provide for their families and boost the Massachusetts economy.” “The unemployment benefi ts crisis was directly caused by Gov. Baker’s shutdown of the state’s economy and the Legislature’s failure to act,” said Chip Ford, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation. “The federal government provided relief with its American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), but the House chose not to use those funds to mitigate the burden the state imposed on employers. It is unconscionable for the state to further abuse devastated businesses when federal funds have been made available to alleviate that pain.” “This proposal is a good step to help provide employers immediate unemployment insurance tax relief, but it is not a long-term solution,” said National Federation of Independent Business’s (NFIB) Massachusetts State Director Christopher Carlozzi. “The state forced businesses to close their doors and rollback operations resulting in widespread layoff s. Because of this, employers alone should not be left to shoulder the entire UI tax burden and policymakers must use some of the billions of dollars in federal aid to help replenish the UI trust fund like so many other states have done.” “This legislation is an important stopgap step to prevent up to 1,600 percent immediate tax increases for Massachusetts employers,” said Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. “It will amortize the multi-billion-dollar COVID-related claims over 20 years, spreading out, but not eliminating the pain. Still there needs to be a shared responsibility with the government to cover some of the UI Trust Fund debt. The orders, restrictions, messaging, emergency benefi ts and fraudulent claims were related to government actions, not that of employers. So there still needs to be a determination on how much of the federal relief dollars under either the CARES Act or ARPA will be the government’s responsibility for the debt of approximately $4 billion. Massachusetts will be receiving $4.5 billion under the ARPA. Most other states have used federal COVID relief dollars to reduce the overall UI tax hit for their employers, and Massachusetts must support their small businesses and employers in a similar way.” (A “Yes” vote is for the bill.) Rep. Jessica Giannino Yes Sen. Joseph Boncore Yes EXCLUDE MUNICIPAL WORKERS (H 3771) House 0-158 (Senate on a voice vote without a roll call) rejected Gov. Baker’s amendment that would exclude municipal employees from the emergency COVID-19 paid leave program. The Baker administration has defended the exclusion of municipal workers arguing that they already have strong leave protections in place and that many municipalities can access federal funds to implement their own leave programs that could align with state and federal leave guarantees. Rep. Josh Cutler, (D-Pembroke), House chair of the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development disagreed with Baker. “As the speaker has made clear, the House stands fi rm in supporting COVID emergency paid leave for all Massachusetts workers,” said Cutler. “That includes our municipal employees, the teachers, police offi cers, fi refi ghters, health agents, janitors, veterans’ agents and many others who have been essential to our state’s COVID-19 response. Further, our actions today to address unemployment solvency account rates will help stem rising costs for employers and small businesses.” House GOP Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading) BEACON | SEE Page 19
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