• As of Thursday night, DPH reported a total of 523,258 cases of COVID-19. The state reported 2,213 new confirmed cases. The state has now confirmed a total of 14,964 deaths from the virus.
• The Senate on Thursday passed three rules packages governing how the chamber will conduct business during the 2021-2022 session after fighting through some technological issues that delayed the start of proceedings. Many of the amendments Thursday covered topics that featured prominently in last session’s debates on high-profile bills like police reform, such as meeting late at night, tabling legislation, and a one-day pause. Thursday’s debate also revolved around what senators felt was sufficient time to review bills or amendments, particularly during complex formal sessions that stretch on for hours.
• Several unsuccessful amendments to the Senate rules attempted to restrict the chamber’s ability to meet past midnight, which happened several times last year. One from Minority Leader Bruce Tarr would have required unanimous consent to meet into the early morning hours failed on a 6-34 vote. Senators adopted several changes to the their chamber’s rules that provide at least two days to file budget amendments, mandate that all informal sessions be broadcast, and require supplier diversity in the chamber’s contracts.
• Senate President Karen Spilka said the package of rules provides the public “tremendous equitable access” to the chamber. She highlighted one amendment to the Joint Rules from Sen. Jamie Eldridge that would require a one-week public notice of a joint committee hearing.
• House Speaker Ron Mariano named his senior leadership team late Thursday afternoon. Rep. Claire Cronin for the number two slot in Democratic leadership as majority leader. Rep. Kate Hogan has been appointed speaker pro tempore, the third highest position in House leadership. Rep. Michael Moran of Boston for assistant majority leader position, otherwise known as the majority whip. Reps. Joseph Wagner of Chicopee and Sarah Peake of Provincetown have been selected as second assistant majority leaders.
• All four division leaders in the House will be new, the new team of division leaders includes Rep. Jim O’Day of West Boylston, Rep. Ruth Balser of Newton, Rep. Frank Moran of Lawrence and Rep. Thomas Golden of Lowell. The new speaker will ask the Democratic caucus to ratify his appointments on Friday when he also plans to roll out the full slate of committee assignments. Rep. Aaron Michlewitz is widely expected to retain the coveted chairmanship of Ways and Means, but the shakeup at the top of the leadership ladder creates openings on several high-profile committees, including the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.
• Senate President Karen Spilka said Thursday that the Senate has a plan for considering the climate policy bill amendments Governor Baker returned to the Legislature but did not commit to a timeline for taking them up. Spilka said the Senate, which has custody of the enacted bill and Baker’s proposed amendments and will be the first branch to consider his proposals, also plans “to work with the House and the administration” as it processes Baker’s suggestions. Senate President Spilka said “we recognize there is a sense of real urgency around this issue.”
• Looking beyond the state’s ongoing public health and economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, Senate President Karen Spilka announced plans Thursday to launch a Senate committee that will function as a clearinghouse of policies, practices and ideas that could prepare Massachusetts for whatever waits on the other side of the pandemic. The new Senate Special Committee on Reimagining Massachusetts: Post-Pandemic Resiliency is modeled on some of the working groups Spilka has established since taking the reins of the Senate, like the COVID-19 working group Northampton Sen. Jo Comerford led last session.
• It will be tasked with examining the short- and long-term challenges that could follow the pandemic response. The committee will not be assigned specific bills to review but could hold virtual listening sessions focused on different regions of the state, or solicit testimony from residents and industry-specific stakeholders. Spilka said the activities of the committee will be determined by its yet-to-be-named chairperson, she said Senate committee assignments will be coming “in the near future.
• A top Baker administration official resigned his post Wednesday night after coming under fire for comments he made about pushing consumers to reduce their carbon emissions. In a letter to Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides, which he said was effective immediately and would serve as his only public statement on the topic, undersecretary of climate change David Ismay said he was leaving the job “with great regret.” Ismay apologized for remarks he made at a January Vermont Climate Council meeting.
• With the state’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout still early in its second phase, Governor Baker on Thursday urged residents to seek the immunization when it is their turn even if they previously contracted the virus. Governor Baker, who faced sharp criticism Thursday from Cape Cod officials frustrated by vaccine distribution, touted the vaccine’s protection against new strains of the virus that have been spreading in the United States in recent weeks.
• Many health care providers, including those in communities of color that have been hardest hit, have recounted conversations with patients who believe that they are immune after recovering from COVID-19.
• His recommendation aligns with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s outlook. Although the federal health agency notes that reinfection appears uncommon in the first 90 days after contracting COVID-19, it emphasizes that experts do not yet have a consensus on how long that protection lasts.
• Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s nomination for labor secretary advanced through a Senate committee on Thursday, setting up the Democrat for a vote before the full Senate with the clock ticking at home on a home rule petition to call off a special election for mayor if he resigns before March 5. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted 18-4 on Thursday to approve President Joe Biden’s nomination of Walsh to lead the U.S. Department Labor. Walsh had his confirmation hearing last week where he encountered little resistance, and spoke up in support a federal $15 an hour minimum wage. The no votes all came from Republicans, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Mike Braun of Indiana, Tim Scott of South Carolina, and Jerry Moran of Kansas.
• State officials will begin accepting electronically filed income tax returns on Friday, consistent with the IRS opening date for federal returns. The Department of Revenue announced its plans Thursday and referred people to its website, which includes taxpayer and preparer resources, including FAQs, free e-file options, and information on locating free tax help.
• The state’s slots parlor and casinos have been free since Monday morning of the requirement that they limit occupancy to no more than 25 percent, but none of the three properties had crossed that threshold as of Thursday morning, gaming regulators said. The Mass. Gaming Commission heard an update Thursday morning from Investigations and Enforcement Bureau Director Loretta Lillios, who told commissioners that the revocation of Governor Baker’s 25 percent restriction effectively means Plainridge Park Casino, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor will go back to using the formula the commission adopted in June to determine their maximum capacity.
• The Baker administration on Thursday filed a $400 million bill to finance the construction of a new long-term care facility on the site of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, and attached some urgency to its request for the capital authorization. According to the governor’s office, the project is on an “expedited timeline” due to an April 15 deadline for the VA State Home Construction Grant Program, which would provide 65 percent matching federal funds.
• Baker’s office said the bill must pass the Legislature by mid-March, and the project’s design development phase must be completed by Aug. 1 to be eligible for this cycle of the federal grant program. In a statement, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said the home was built before modern design standards for medical facilities, and the administration has taken steps to address “urgent capital and infection control needs.”
• But she added that “it is clear that a major reconstruction of the campus is necessary for the safety, health and comfort of future generations of veterans and staff.” Last week, a bipartisan group of 82 state lawmakers told Governor Baker they were concerned that the 192-bed facility that has been recommended will not be sufficient. The home’s current capacity is 235, according to the office of Westfield Sen. John Velis.

Special thanks to MassAccess for providing us with these updates.