Politico Massachusetts Playbook: Washington takes BAKER’S ADVICE — DUKAKIS in hospital with pneumonia — Bill would allow BOOZE to-go

Washington takes BAKER’S ADVICE — DUKAKIS in hospital with pneumonia — Bill would allow BOOZE to-go

By Stephanie Murray GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. WASHINGTON TAKES BAKER'S ADVICE — Senate lawmakers struck an agreement with President Donald Trump's administration in the early morning hours Wednesday on a nearly $2 trillion economic stimulus plan to address the coronavirus pandemic. The deal will be welcome news for Gov. Charlie Baker, who hammered Washington lawmakers on what he called an "appalling" debate around the economic aid package yesterday. Much of the Massachusetts coronavirus response will hinge on what the federal government does, Baker says. "Make a deal. Make a deal," Baker said during a Tuesday afternoon press conference. At 1 a.m. on Wednesday, the Senate and the Trump administration finally did just that. If you rewind to three months ago, it feels like we were living on another planet for a number of reasons. But consider Baker's state of the commonwealth address, where he said Massachusetts was able to accomplish its goals by flouting the divided politics of Washington, D.C. "We've been able to do all of this by finding common ground, by refusing to engage in the partisan nonsense that consumes so much of our national politics," Baker said in January. Now, with a pandemic spreading across the country and a looming recession, the public health and financial crises Massachusetts is facing are too large for one state to solve. That means a state that has seen itself as operating counter to Washington lawmakers now finds itself dependent on them. "State governments, local governments, we have to balance our budgets, alright? Whatever revenue we have, that's what we got," Baker said on Tuesday. "In the end, the only entity that can truly spend significantly when there's a downturn in the economy is the federal government." And from where we're sitting now, Massachusetts is going to need some serious cash. The state is being bombarded by unemployment claims now that most businesses are shut down, many are panicked about how to pay their rent that's due in a week and the legislature's usual springtime budget process is pretty much out the window. "It's very hard for states to make decisions if they don't know what the feds are doing," Baker said. "Which is why it's so important for the feds to decide what it is they're going to do and to do it." Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com. TODAY — Rep. Lori Trahan is a guest on WBUR. Congressional candidate Ben Sigel hosts a coronavirus virtual town hall. Rep. Joe Kennedy III holds a coronavirus town hall via livestream. THE LATEST NUMBERS - "382 new coronavirus cases confirmed in Mass. as state death toll rises to 11," by Martin Finucane, Jaclyn Reiss, Tim Logan and Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: "Confirmed coronavirus cases in Massachusetts jumped by 382, the state reported on Tuesday, bringing the total number in the state to 1,159 — up from 777 on Monday. Two more coronavirus-related deaths — a woman in her 80s from Middlesex County and a woman in her 60s from Berkshire County — were also reported by the state, raising the total count to 11. Both were hospitalized and had underlying health conditions." DATELINE BEACON HILL - "Michael Dukakis hospitalized in California for pneumonia, tested negative for coronavirus," by Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe: "Former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis has been hospitalized in Los Angeles with bacterial pneumonia but has twice tested negative for the new coronavirus, his son said Tuesday night. Dukakis and his wife, Kitty, were staying at their second home near the University of California, Los Angeles, where Dukakis teaches each winter quarter, when he experienced respiratory symptoms, John Dukakis said." - "Coronavirus response: To-go liquor, tax payments, MCAS requirements part of municipal bill," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "Restaurants would be able to sell beer and wine with to-go orders, requirements around MCAS tests could be changed and municipal governments could give residents more time to make tax payments, under new bill Gov. Charlie Baker filed Tuesday to create flexibility in local responses to the coronavirus pandemic." - "National Guard delivering supplies to hospitals, tents to Massachusetts jails," by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: "The Massachusetts National Guard's first few missions in helping the state ward off the novel coronavirus involve delivering supplies to hospitals and setting up screening tents at correctional facilities, an official said. The guard members' first missions are logistical, said Don Veitch, spokesman for the Massachusetts National Guard." - "Wave of jobless claims expected," by Christian M. Wade, The Salem News: "The state is bracing for a tsunami of unemployment claims from laid-off workers, which is raising questions about the solvency of the state's unemployment trust fund. Tens of thousands of workers have filed for unemployment benefits as the state forces a wide swath of industries to shut down to prevent spread of the coronavirus. While the latest numbers won't be available until Thursday, last week the state received twice as many new jobless claims as were filed during the worst month of the great recession." - "Massachusetts launches COVID-19 text alerts for public," by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: "Massachusetts launched a texting service on Tuesday to send updates to the public about the response to the novel coronavirus, which has killed at least nine people across the state. Gov. Charlie Baker is announcing the service, called Alerts MA, during Tuesday's news conference at the Massachusetts State House." - "Amid coronavirus, a surge in calls to Massachusetts suicide prevention hotline," by Matt Rocheleau, Boston Globe: "The far-reaching fallout from the coronavirus pandemic has led to widespread feelings of isolation and anxiety across the nation, and prompted a surge in calls to Massachusetts' largest suicide prevention hotline, officials said. The virus outbreak has upended daily routines, triggered a host of health concerns, and sparked other worries. Public health officials, as well as Governor Charlie Baker and President Trump, have expressed concern about the growing emotional toll." - "Arts shutdown cost $58 million," by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: "The shuttering of the arts in Massachusetts due to COVID-19 has affected an estimated 8,000 jobs so far and cost arts-related nonprofits $55.7 million and individual artists $2.8 million, according to the results of a survey distributed by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The data are sparking calls by arts advocates for more help from the state and federal governments." - "Lottery tanks with everyone locked up inside," by Hillary Chabot, Boston Herald: "Massachusetts State Lottery sales have plummeted by $21 million in the last two weeks as Bay State residents have been grappling with the coronavirus, a stunning drop in state revenue that's just one of the many new realities for the state government. Lottery sales totals went from a healthy $111.6 million during the first week of March to $88.7 million last week, according to Lottery officials, who can do little about the cratering sales amidst a nationwide health crisis." - "Baker wants construction work to continue, despite the pandemic," by Tim Logan, Boston Globe: "While Boston, Cambridge, and several other municipalities have halted construction projects to help stop the spread of coronavirus, Governor Charlie Baker said Tuesday that he believes most such work should continue. Baker pointed to Greater Boston's long-running housing shortage — and the high prices it creates for renters and home buyers — as reasons to allow as many projects as possible to keep moving forward." FROM THE HUB - "Massachusetts hospitals scramble to get more ventilators before deluge of coronavirus patients," by Liz Kowalczyk and Rebecca Ostriker, Boston Globe: "Massachusetts hospitals are scrambling to bring in more ventilators by almost any means possible, including buying and renting machines and repurposing other medical devices, in anticipation of an expected surge in critically ill coronavirus patients. But limited equipment is not the only challenge: Ventilators generally need rooms with a piped-in oxygen supply and staff who know how to run them." - "COVID-19 cases at Bridgewater prison facility up to 10," by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: "The Massachusetts Department of Correction says eight prisoners, one staff member, and one medical provider have tested positive for coronavirus - all of them at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater. Another staff member at the correctional institution at Shirley tested positive as well, bringing the total number of infected within the Department of Correction to 11." - "When Inmates Die Of Poor Medical Care, Jails Often Keep It Secret," by Christine Willmsen and Beth Healy, WBUR: "A WBUR investigation found that when people suffered from dire medical conditions in Massachusetts county jails, they were often ignored or mistrusted, with fatal consequences. The sheriffs and for-profit companies increasingly responsible for inmate health care face little oversight, and often have withheld the circumstances of these deaths from the public — even from inmates' families." - "RMV announces more changes amid coronavirus pandemic," by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: "The state Registry of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday instituted a temporary appointment-only system for certain in-person transactions amid the coronavirus pandemic. The RMV provided details in a statement. Effective Tuesday, the statement said, "an appointment-only reservation system is being implemented for certain necessary and required in-person transactions at the RMV's eight open and operating Service Centers.'" - "In Boston's neighborhoods an uneven response to the coronavirus epidemic," by Yawu Miller, Bay State Banner: "Last week, downtown neighborhoods such as the Back Bay and the South End were largely bereft of commuter traffic and shoppers. But most businesses in Grove Hall were open on Friday, March 20 — nail shops, hair salons, takeout restaurants and liquor stores — and doing what seemed a healthy business volume." - "Harvard University President Tests Positive For Coronavirus, Recuperating At Home," WBUR: "The president of Harvard University and his wife have tested positive for the coronavirus. In a message to the Harvard community, Larry Bacow said he and his wife Adele started experiencing symptoms on Sunday, which included coughs, fevers and muscle aches." - "Restaurant Closures Create Ripple Effects, Leaving Suppliers Feeling The Sting," by Stephanie Leydon, WGBH News: "When Gov. Charlie Baker ordered restaurants across the state to close their dining rooms to sit-down patrons as a way to enforce social distancing and to slow the spread of the coronavirus last week, Chef Jeremy Kean thought he might have to lay off his staff. Then, he took a look around the food-filled kitchen and had an idea. He could turn his remaining kitchen inventory into dumplings, putting everyone from the wait staff to dishwashers to work." - "Singer-songwriter James Taylor donates $1M to Massachusetts General Hospital to fight coronavirus," by Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald: "Massachusetts General Hospital has a friend in James Taylor — the famed singer-songwriter, a Bay State native, and his wife, Kim Taylor, have donated $1 million to the medical center to support its fight against COVID-19. The Taylors' donation will support the MGH President's Emergency Response Fund, which was established after the Boston Marathon bombings." DAY IN COURT - "Coronavirus causes three Worcester County courthouses to shut down after judge tests positive for COVID-19," by Scott J. Croteau, MassLive.com: "Three Worcester County courthouses are being shut down temporarily after an employee tested positive for coronavirus, according to a notice sent to courthouse employees Tuesday. Sources told MassLive the employee is a judge who sat in all three courthouses within the past few weeks." - "With courts closed, pressure grows to release many prisoners," by Andrea Estes, Boston Globe: "A coalition of defense lawyers and advocates has asked the state Supreme Judicial Court to order the release of inmates from state prisons and jails to protect them and others from COVID-19, whose spread in correctional facilities is 'virtually impossible' to stop, they said. 'There are hundreds of vulnerable people behind bars who are no danger to society," said Anthony Benedetti, chief counsel for the Committee for Public Counsel Services, which represents public defenders across the state." - "Keeping notaries at a distance puts legal work on hold," by Christian M. Wade, The Salem News: "From wills and trusts to home sales and loan refinancing, few legal transactions don't require a notary public to witness the document signing. But under Massachusetts law those interactions must take place in person, which runs counter to social distancing directives aimed at preventing spread of the new coronavirus." FROM THE DELEGATION - "The coronavirus puts child care sector in need of a bailout," by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Bruce Mann, Rep. Joe Kennedy III, Lauren Birchfield Kennedy, Rep. Katherine Clark, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Conan Harris: "Parents across the Commonwealth face a painful economic bind: their children are at home, but the child care check is still due. COVID-19 has (rightfully) forced the closure of child care centers across Massachusetts. In doing so, it has forced a profound reckoning about the state of the American child care system. The child care sector — long overlooked and long deprived of adequate public investment — is foundational to today's economy." IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN - "Backlash grows against reusable grocery bags as virus spreads," by David Abel, Boston Globe: "Four years after becoming the state's first municipality to ban the use of plastic bags and impose fees for acquiring others at grocery stores, Cambridge this week issued an emergency order temporarily forbidding the use of reusable bags at retail stores, reflecting a growing fear they could be spreading the coronavirus. New Hampshire took similar action last week, apparently the first such statewide ban on reusable bags." ABOVE THE FOLD — Herald: "BOUNCE BACK," — Globe: "Amid warnings, Trump takes rosy view," "Live virus, new drugs put to test at BU lab," "Hospitals race to get enough ventilators." THE LOCAL ANGLE - "One City's Road to Recovery Offers Lessons, and Hope," by Eduardo Porter, The New York Times: "It's got to be hard to fall farther than Lawrence. This old textile-mill town, 30 miles north of Boston on the Merrimack River, was once a standard-bearer for America's industrial power. That was a long time ago. Over the last decade, the state took over its schools after math and English scores plummeted to the bottom 1 percent of Massachusetts rankings and the dropout rate soared to three times the state average." - "Attleboro area lawmakers react to Baker's 'stay-at-home' order," by Devyani Chhetri, Sun Chronicle: "State Sen. Paul Feeney, D-Foxboro, and Rep. James Hawkins, D-Attleboro, said that the emergency order was essential as a state response to the coronavirus pandemic because it clarified and emphasized what social distancing meant. 'These decisions aren't made lightly. But the priority right now is to slow the spread of the virus so that we don't overwhelm our healthcare system,' Feeney said." MEDIA MATTERS - "Layoffs hit Sun Chronicle as coronavirus hammers newspapers," by Ted Nesi and Tim White, WPRI: "The Sun Chronicle has been forced to lay off employees as the rapid economic devastation of the coronavirus pandemic hammers the already beleaguered newspaper industry. Craig Borges, the Attleboro daily's top editor, told WPRI 12 he'd "had to make cuts throughout the building, in every department, because of a lack of advertising." He said the forced shutdown of restaurants had been particularly damaging because they make up a large number of ad buyers." - "Coronavirus triggers layoffs, pay cuts at Daily Hampshire Gazette," by Ray Kelly, Springfield Republican: "The coronavirus pandemic has forced layoffs and reduced hours or pay cuts for retained staff at the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton. Gazette Publisher Michael Moses revealed the 'painful decisions' in a post on the newspaper's website Tuesday. Moses did not detail staff reductions or pay cuts, which he said he hoped would be only temporary." SPOTTED: Sen. Ed Markey and his former Democratic primary opponent Shannon Liss-Riordan talking about the coronavirus and gig economy workers on a Facebook livestream last night. Liss-Riordan dropped out of the Senate race in January and has not endorsed Markey or his opponent Rep. Joe Kennedy III. Link. HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to the Boston Globe's Felice Belman, Vail Kohnert-Yount and Alissa C. Rooney. DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? The home teams are not playing. NEW EPISODE: HOME ALONE - On this week's Horse Race podcast, hosts Jennifer Smith and Stephanie Murray speak with state Rep. Jon Santiago and Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu about the coronavirus pandemic. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.   Follow us on Twitter Stephanie Murray @StephMurr_Jour   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters Follow us

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