Updates from state government

• As of Thursday night, DPH reported a total of 107,683 cases of COVID-19. The state has now confirmed a total of 8,265 deaths from the virus. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts increased in the last week and new coronavirus infections are outpacing recoveries, according to data released Wednesday by the Department of Public Health. Last week, there were 2,586 people isolated with confirmed cases of COVID-19, and DPH said this week there were 2,712 people under isolation.
• The rise in active and confirmed cases of the respiratory disease is only the second since DPH began reporting the number at the start of June that there has been an increase. Between the report published July 15 and the report released July 22, Massachusetts confirmed 1,285 new cases of COVID-19. Over the same time period, 1,062 people recovered from their bouts with the illness and 97 people died with the virus. When the state first began reporting the number of recoveries and of people under isolation on June 3, there were 7,012 people isolated. That number of active cases rose to 7,300 in the June 10 report but had been falling or steady each week since.
• The House on Thursday continued debate on their version of a comprehensive police reform legislation (H.4860). House lawmakers will continue into a third day of debate Friday on police reform legislation. Over the course of 12 hours, lawmakers adopted four individual amendments, two consolidated bundles that dispensed with 46 amendments, and rejected 17.
• The Senate on Thursday approved a plan to erect a memorial in the House chamber containing the text of the address that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered in that room on April 22, 1965. The proposed resolve aims to create a permanent tribute to remarks that King delivered to a joint House-Senate convention.
• The small group tasked with producing a compromise bill to fund more than $17 billion in transportation improvements is now in place. The Senate on Thursday appointed its three conference committee members: Transportation Committee Co-chair Sen. Joe Boncore, Ways and Means Committee Chair Sen. Michael Rodrigues, and Fitchburg Republican Sen. Dean Tran. The House on Wednesday named its conferees: Transportation Committee Co-chair Rep. William Straus, Revenue Committee Co-chair Rep. Mark Cusack, and Lakeville Republican Rep. Norman Orrall. The conference committee will work privately to reconcile an $18 billion House bill (H 4547) and a roughly $17 billion Senate version (S 2836) of transportation bond legislation.
• Following years of disagreement between craft brewers and wholesale beer distributors, the Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a bill that lawmakers hailed as a major compromise. The bill (S 2829) would make it easier for small brewers to end their relationship with a wholesaler. Sen. Paul Feeney (D-Attleboro) praised the “spirit of commonality” that brewers and distributors brought to negotiations, and the fact that a larger craft brewer, Jim Koch of Boston Beer Company, stepped aside so the bill could focus on companies that produce fewer than 250,000 barrels per year.
• The Senate also approved legislation dealing with transport protocols for stroke patients and designation of comprehensive stroke centers. The next action in the Senate would likely be appointment of a conference committee to negotiate a compromise version of the wide-ranging proposals.
• The Department of Public Health is integrating its hotlines that provide assistance and resources to people dealing with substance use issues and problem gambling, and an official said it could result in having up to 20,000 additional people screened for problem gaming. As of the start of July, the two helplines are being operated by Health Resources in Action (HRiA). HRiA now is in charge of providing support and referrals for problem gambling, substance use and mental health.
• A group of businesses wrote to House leaders to urge that lawmakers take up a bill to address environmental injustices before the current session ends. Advocates and certain business groups have been making a steady push to get the Legislature to act on climate-related bills by the end of the session, currently slated for July 31. In a letter to Speaker Robert DeLeo and Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz, a group of businesses highlighted their support for a bill (H 4264) that would codify a definition of “environmental justice population” in state law and bolster the review process for projects proposed in environmental justice communities.
• The Legislature’s Housing Committee is launching a public feedback period on a proposal that would keep a mandatory pause on virtually all evictions and foreclosures in place for at least a year. The committee opened a virtual hearing process to receive written testimony on two bills (H 4878 / S 2831) aimed at preventing housing insecurity during both the COVID-19 public health emergency and the recovery period. The bills, filed by Housing Committee Co-chair Rep. Kevin Honan, Rep. Mike Connolly and Sen. Patricia Jehlen, would extend the state’s eviction and foreclosure moratorium until one year after Gov. Charlie Baker lifts the state of emergency.
• The bills would also freeze rents for one year after the emergency and create a fund to support landlords with 15 or fewer units who were affected financially during the pandemic. Governor Baker earlier this week pushed the existing moratorium from its Aug. 18 expiration until Oct. 17, but its fate after that date remains unclear.
• Mitchell Adams, died in his Beacon Hill home last Saturday. He was 75. He served as commissioner of the Department of Revenue from 1991 to 1998 under Governor Bill Weld.