Schools closed through May 4, shopping guidelines in placeDate: 3/31/2020 BOSTON/WESTERN MASS. – Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has extended the closure of schools and childcare centers across the state until May 4. A previous order had required the closure of schools through April 6, but Baker said the additional month would “allow school districts to provide the best possible opportunities for remote learning to all students.”
The governor said the closure will also allow more time for teachers to ensure that students have access to customized resources and instruction time and it “provides a runway to ensure [students] can complete their coursework by the end of the year in June."
The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will continue to work with districts to develop “educational programming” that students can use at home, Baker said. He added that the public television station WGBH will be televising educational content from noon to 5 p.m to help kids who don't have access to the internet or a computer at home remain engaged with learning.
As an update to an executive order that closed all childcare centers with the exception of those few designated for the care of children of first responders, medical staff and those on the front lines fighting this epidemic, Baker said about 400 emergency daycare programs have been reoriented to care for those individuals.
Baker also announced that the Department of Housing and Community Development is issuing guidelines for state-aided housing and housing authorities to suspend “non-emergency evictions” and terminations of rental vouchers.
A new program, COVID-19 Rental Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT), has been set up to assist with rent and security. Baker said Mass housing is giving $5 million to the
program and that families can apply for assistance of up to $4,000 through www.mass.gov/orgs/housing-and-community-development.
Baker told reporters that the state would be “aggressive” in making sure residents don't lose their housing. To that end, Baker said that banks would be suspending foreclosures for 60 days and not reporting late payments to credit agencies for “at least” 60 days.
Switching gears, the governor’s administration has put in place a requirement that grocery stores and pharmacies set aside one hour for senior-only shopping. Other rules for grocery stores include the closure of all self serve food stations, prohibiting reusable bags, prohibiting the charge for paper or plastic bags and lifting any plastic bag bans. They will also be encouraging social distancing by marking off a line six feet from the cashier for people to wait behind.
Baker is also requesting stores with employees who cannot go to work because they are unwell and reassigning “high risk” to lower contact jobs.
As always Baker urged texting COVIDMA to 888777 for the most up-to-date, accurate information.
On March 26, Baker hosted an additional press conference. At this press conference, he announced a new request to the federal government for a Major Disaster Declaration.
If the Disaster Declaration is approved, it provides Massachusetts with additional federal assistance beyond what was included in the Emergency Declaration declared by President Trump on May 13.
According to a press release from the Baker-Polito Administration, the disaster declaration request includes a request for FEMA’s Public Assistance Program, which would “make financial assistance available to cities and towns, state agencies, and certain non-profits statewide,” continuing, the release notes, “The disaster declaration request also requests FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program including Disaster Unemployment Assistance and Crisis Counseling Assistance to help support residents in need during this unprecedented incident.”
Baker stated at the conference that they, “hope to see the Feds move on this quickly,” and noted that “from every corner of government,” they were working on this issue.
By March 28, Baker announced that he had heard from the White House and FEMA and they had issued a Major Disaster Declaration for the Commonwealth.
Under this declaration, there are two programs listed, the public assistance pgoram and the individual assistance program.
As explained by a press release provided by the Baker-Polito administration, the public assistance program aids, “affected local governments, state agencies and certain private non–profit organizations statewide will be reimbursed for 75 percent of their costs associated with response and emergency protective measures. The eligible emergency protective measures include non–congregate isolation and quarantine costs for homeless individuals and familoies as well as first responders, as well as other types of properly documented costs.”
The release continued to explain the individual assistance program, noting that “crisis counseling assistance will provide funding for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health to assist individuals and families in recovering from the psychological effects of the COVID–19 outbreak through electronic phone and chat technology.
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency will provide webinars and other information about the process for applying for the Public Assistance Program to municipal and state officials and eligible non-profits.”
As the press conference on March 26 continued, Baker explained that he can’t tell the public “how much the lieutenant governor and I appreciate how frustrating and difficult this is for you and your loved ones,” and stated that they are “grateful” for the public’s cooperation and patience.
“We’re confident we can get through this together,” he said. Adding, “thank you, thank you, thank you,” to parents who are juggling working from home and taking care of their children who are now home from school.
“Thank you for your patience and your creativity,” he said.
Baker then referenced that the people of Massachusetts are known for their “resilience” and “grit” during challenging times. He asked for the public to “please continue to stay informed and use common sense.”
“You have our commitment that we will do everything we can to ease the burden of this virus,” Baker stated.
Baker and Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders then encouraged residents of Massachusetts to sign up for their Coronavirus alert system by texting COVIDMA to 888777. Sudders noted that more than 110,000 individuals had signed up for alerts by that time on March 26.
In addition to these updates, Sudders shared that the Department of Public Health has issued three emergency orders to support the health care system’s response to COVID–19:
“• Pharmacy Practice: To ensure pharmacists are able to fully support the health care system’s response to COVID-19, this emergency order makes several changes regarding pharmacy practice, including expedited approval for pharmacists licensed in other states to practice in Massachusetts, and allowing the remote processing of prescriptions by pharmacy technicians.
• Determination of Need: This emergency order exempts health care facilities from the requirement that they submit a Notice of Determination of Need for certain activities that will support their response to COVID-19.
• Nurse Staffing: To ensure hospitals have the flexibility they need to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, this emergency order exempts hospitals from certain nurse-staffing requirements, while requiring that they must ensure that staffing levels remain adequate to meet patients’ needs, and staff is trained and competent to meet the needs of their patients.”
In addition to these emergency orders, the Baker–Polito Administration press release explained the following:
“• Permit Order: Governor Baker today is issuing an emergency order that provides that a permit will not expire or lapse during the state of emergency for most permits issued by agencies within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. The order also pauses deadlines for these agencies to decide or hold hearings on permit applications. The clock on those deadlines will resume 45 days after the end of the emergency. It also ensures that no permit is automatically issued because an agency is unable to make a decision on a permit application during the emergency.
• Ensuring Access to Personal Care Attendant Services: The Administration worked with the advocacy community and union partners to implement solutions to ensure access to Personal Care Attendant (PCA) services for individuals with disabilities and older adults during this public health emergency. MassHealth created a hotline through MassOptions for MassHealth members to call if they are in need of services, and updated its policies to streamline the hiring process and allow more flexibility for PCAs to work more hours.”
On March 27, Baker, Polito, and Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Robert DeLeo announced an agreement to extend the 2019 state individual income tax filing and payment deadline from April 15 to July 15, due to the ongoing outbreak. The press release stated that “this income tax relief is automatic and taxpayers do not need to file any additional forms to qualify.”
“Massachusetts will move the state personal income tax filing and payment deadline to July 15, consistent with the federal government, in order to provide additional flexibility to filers during this crisis,” said Baker. “In partnership with our colleagues in the Legislature, we are committed to providing this flexibility to taxpayers in a way that protects the Commonwealth’s strong fiscal footing that we have all worked hard to develop over the past several years.”
Polito commented, “We are proud to work with the Legislature to provide meaningful relief to people throughout the Commonwealth during this public health emergency. This extension will afford taxpayers additional time to file their Massachusetts individual income tax returns as we carry out the historic response to the COVID-19 outbreak.”
The press release noted that the announcement will “move the state income tax filing deadline to match the July 15 deadline for filing federal individual income taxes. Legislation will be filed in the near future to finance the extension, and accompanying administrative changes will be implemented through the Department of Revenue. Specifically, the legislation will authorize the Commonwealth borrowing flexibility to manage deferred revenue this fiscal year and repay it in the next fiscal year, which starts July 1, 2020.”
Individuals with questions or concerns regarding taxes can contact the Massachusetts Department of Revenue at 617-887-6367 or send a secure e-message through MassTaxConnect.
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