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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
LAWMAKERS SEEK CORONAVIRUS TESTS — As the coronavirus spreads and test capacity increases, a trio of Massachusetts elected officials have sought COVID-19 testing after feeling sick.
Lawmakers are an especially vulnerable population. Elected officials cast in-person votes and have a significant number colleagues over the age of 60, who are considered at an increased risk of getting the disease.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley is the latest Massachusetts lawmaker to report feeling sick, and she is waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test. Meanwhile, Rep. Seth Moulton and his wife were not tested but are in self-quarantine.
"After experiencing flu-like symptoms, Congresswoman Pressley sought professional medical treatment out of an abundance of caution. She has been tested for COVID-19 and is awaiting test results," spokesperson Lina Francis said. Pressley was tested on Wednesday and she is at home in Massachusetts.
Moulton began feeling sick last week with a low-grade fever, sore throat and "a concerning tightness" in his chest, he said on Wednesday. Moulton contacted the VA, where he gets his health care, and the House attending physician.
"As the House doctor explained, I am 'symptomatic,' but because the symptoms are minor and a test would not change my treatment protocol, my wife and I don't qualify for tests," Moulton said in a statement. "I'm making this public because I will potentially miss some important votes as a result. I will make very clear my position on those votes ahead of time."
On Beacon Hill, state Rep. Michael Day said on Wednesday that he tested positive for the coronavirus. Day detailed his symptoms, which he said felt like a "mild case of the flu," and his experience being tested at Lawrence General Hospital in a post on Facebook. He self-quarantined around the time he started feeling ill on March 12.
Day was initially denied testing, but qualified for a test March 18 after he learned that someone at the State House had tested positive for the virus.
"I have been only mildly ill given my exposure to COVID-19 and have been symptom-free for more than a week now," Day wrote online. "The quarantine protocol will end on Thursday, March 26 but I have decided that I will continue to self-quarantine with my family for an extended period beyond that."
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 holds a virtual town hall on the coronavirus. Rep. Katherine Clark and Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui hold a virtual town hall on small business and coronavirus. Candidate for congress and Newton City Councilor Jake Auchincloss holds a coronavirus town hall on Zoom.
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 | THE LATEST NUMBERS |
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- "Mass. sees 679 new coronavirus cases, total now 1,838; 4 more deaths, total now 15," by Dialynn Dwyer and Christopher Gavin, Boston.com. Link.
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| DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Massachusetts utility companies ordered to not shut off gas, electric or water for people who fail to pay bills," by Jackson Cote, MassLive.com: "In his continued response to the coronavirus pandemic, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker ordered utility companies Tuesday to not shut off gas, electric or water for people who fail to pay their bills. The declaration applies to all investor-owned business. The order will last until the governor's state of emergency, announced on March 10, is lifted or the state Department of Public Utilities determines otherwise, according to a statement from Baker."
- "Good news: State hitting target for COVID-19 tests," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "The Baker administration appeared to exceed its target goal for daily COVID-19 testing on Tuesday, reporting that 4,827 patients had been tested over the previous 24 hours. The increase was well beyond the target of 3,500 tests, but it was accomplished mostly by an unusually large increase in tests conducted by Quest Diagnostics in Marlborough, which reported testing a total of 3,843 patients between Monday's state report and Tuesday's report ."
- "Charlie Baker unveils new coronavirus rules for grocery stores," by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: "Gov. Charlie Baker says the ability of Massachusetts residents to go to the grocery store will remain an 'unimpeded right' as the state tries to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But he's also laying down a few guidelines. The Baker administration issued an order Wednesday on how grocery stores and pharmacies in Massachusetts should operate in the midst of the pandemic."
- "Coronavirus turned Beacon Hill into a ghost town, but it hasn't shut down The Fill-A-Buster, iconic Boston eatery," by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: "The Fill-A-Buster's brown tiled floor was once barely visible around lunchtime as people waited in line to order a Greek salad or chicken cutlets. On Wednesday, the tables and chairs are gone, and the floor is bare except for three metallic-colored strips of tape, each 6 feet apart to remind customers to keep their distance from the staff and from each other. Crowds at the luncheonette, which has served Beacon Hill for decades, are now a foreign concept. Boston is now a ghost town amid the coronavirus pandemic."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Baker, Walsh are at odds over coronavirus construction ban," by Tim Logan, Boston Globe: "In a rare rift, Governor Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh appeared increasingly at odds Wednesday over whether construction work should continue amid the state's coronavirus crisis. The Baker administration Wednesday sent a letter to city and town officials across Massachusetts emphasizing its stance deeming construction an 'essential service' that should continue despite the stay-home advisory Baker issued earlier this week. Specifically, the letter, signed by Baker's chief legal counsel, Robert Ross, appears to override local bans like those put in place last week by Boston, Cambridge, and a handful of other communities."
- "No-rent resolution during coronavirus crisis blocked at Boston City Council," by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: "Nearly all of Boston's City Councilors backed a resolution seeking to delay rent and mortgage collection during the coronavirus outbreak, though an objection prevented it from going up for a vote. 'We will see evictions, foreclosures and homelessness at levels we have not seen in our lifetimes,' City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo said during Wednesday's remote council meeting. The item would not represent a regulatory change in itself; resolutions are just expressions of the will of the council."
- "Safety net hospitals teetering on brink," by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine: "Dr. Eric Dickson oversees a sprawling health care system that cares for lots of low-income families throughout central Massachusetts, many of whom are wondering how they'll pay their rent or afford groceries after suddenly losing their income in the avalanche of job losses being unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic. Without help, the CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care says his hospital system could soon be in the same boat."
- "Pain And Profits: Sheriffs Hand Off Inmate Care To Private Health Companies," by Christine Willmsen and Beth Healy, WBUR: "At the Suffolk County House of Correction in Boston, where hundreds of people are serving short sentences, the sheriff tries to keep inmate trips to hospitals or medical specialists under 80 per month. Escorting them off-site is considered a costly headache. Suffolk's medical provider, a Birmingham, Ala., company called NaphCare Inc., is on board: It pays the sheriff's department a $100 penalty for each trip over the cap."
- "Three MBTA bus drivers test positive for coronavirus," by Travis Andersen and Adam Vaccaro, Boston Globe: "Three MBTA bus drivers have tested positive for the coronavirus, the agency said Wednesday, marking the first of the region's transit operators to be afflicted with COVID-19. The T did not release details about which routes the riders operated but said they all worked out of the Cabot Garage facility that serves several lines in South Boston, Dorchester, Roxbury, and other parts of Boston."
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| PRIMARY SOURCES |
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- "Climate group targets 2 powerful House Democrats," by Alex Thompson, POLITICO: "The left-wing environmental group Sunrise Movement will back two more liberal candidates challenging long-time Democratic congressmen in primaries this year, looking to add to progressives' modest gains so far in 2020. The group — which was instrumental to pushing the concept Green New Deal into the political mainstream and helped Bernie Sanders consolidate the left behind him in the presidential race — told POLITICO Wednesday it is endorsing Holyoke, Mass., Mayor Alex Morse, who is running against Rep. Richard Neal, chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee."
- "Ed Markey continues fundraising as coronavirus upends U.S. Senate race against Joe Kennedy," by Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald: "U.S. Sen. Edward Markey is in Washington fighting to make sure families and workers are cared for during the coronavirus pandemic. He's also asking them to donate to his re-election campaign. As Massachusetts grinds to a halt over COVID-19, Markey's team has sent out two emails so far this week soliciting donations ahead of next week's Federal Election Commission deadline — the missives coming as campaigns across the country grapple with how to forge ahead in an election cycle zapped of energy by coronavirus."
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| ALL ABOARD |
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- "MBTA puts fare losses at more than $25 million so far," by Adam Vaccaro, Boston Globe: "The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority expects to lose between $25 million and $35 million in fare revenue for the month of March, reflecting the huge drop in ridership and precarious financial position facing public transit agencies across the country from the coronavirus pandemic. That's about half of what the T collects from riders in a typical month. Fares cover about one-third of the agency's $2.1 billion operating budget."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "DA, defense attorneys wrangle: Who should get out of jail?" by Michael Connors, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "The Northwestern district attorney's office has downscaled its operations and is working to release some nonviolent and vulnerable pretrial detainees in local county jails due to the COVID-19 crisis. But some local defense attorneys and advocates say the area's sheriffs and top prosecutor should do more to let people out. Last week, Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan publicly posted a letter that he signed along with prosecutors from across the country calling for a decrease in jail populations due to the public health crisis."
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "Coronavirus: Elizabeth Warren's former campaign manager Roger Lau calls resolution against Chinese government 'fear mongering,'" by Douglas Hook, MassLive.com: "Roger Lau, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren's longtime campaign manager, spoke out against a new resolution co-signed by Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, referring to it as lazy, hateful and dangerous. 'Asian Americans have been victims of hate crimes that have been incited by ignorance like this,' said Lau in a tweet on Tuesday. 'This is a global crisis and we're all in this together. We're better than this!'" Moulton is the only Democrat who signed the bill."
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| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
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- "After coronavirus response prompts state closure of recreational marijuana shops, Massachusetts veterans urge supporters to ask lawmakers to reconsider," by Melissa Hanson, MassLive.com: "The Veterans Cannabis Project on Wednesday has launched a website for Massachusetts veterans to voice concerns about a lack of access to marijuana after an order by Gov. Charlie Baker closed recreational dispensaries during the COVID-19 pandemic. The website, mass.vetscp.org, has a call to action, asking veterans and supporters to email Baker and state lawmakers and request that recreational marijuana shops be allowed to open."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "HOME ROOM," "THE GAME THAT NEVER WAS," — Globe: "On the Cape, a deathbed without family," "Baker orders schools shut until May 4." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "Shortage Of Teachers Of Color In Western Mass. Has Major Costs," by Ben James, NEPR: "Many educators want Massachusetts public schools — closed for now to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus — to be a leveling force, improving outcomes for students of color. But inequities in school services can be a barrier to student success. Willa Sippel, president of the Student Union at Northampton High, recently conducted a survey for her AP statistics class. She wanted to see how white students' enrollment in AP classes compared to enrollment by students of color."
- "Coronavirus shutdown doesn't close Springfield Smith & Wesson plant; gunmaker donates eye protection to Baystate Health," by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: "Saying it is 'critical infrastructure for the United States and the Commonwealth,' gunmaker Smith & Wesson is keeping its manufacturing plants, including the Springfield factory, operational during Gov. Charlie Baker's order closing 'nonessential' businesses across the state."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "People have been calling police over social distancing violations," by Arianna MacNeill, Boston.com: "Local police have been fielding calls from people reporting others violating social distancing guidelines during the COVID-19 crisis. In Cambridge, the department took a number of calls throughout last week and over the weekend asking officers to respond to reports of people not heeding officials' pleas to stay away from each other, according to Jeremy Warnick, a spokesman for the city's police department."
- "Worcester in search of personal protective equipment donations," by Steven H. Foskett Jr., Telegram & Gazette: "Two more deaths in Worcester County have been reported due to COVID-19, and eight more people in the city have tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total number of cases to 27. Officials at a briefing at City Hall also made an appeal Wednesday for donations of personal protective equipment to equip community health care workers and first responders, and said they are seeking volunteers to help out as the city prepares for cases to continue to rise. "
- "Virus disrupts Cape Cod town meeting, election schedules," by Denise Coffey, Cape Cod Times: "The Select Board, town administrator and town moderator during a virtual meeting Tuesday discussed rescheduling this spring's annual town meeting. The challenges are significant, especially in light of Gov. Charlie Baker's emergency order due to the coronavirus outbreak and his stay at home advisory order issued earlier this week. Wellfleet is not alone. Cape towns must abide by state law, but also by their own charters and codes, which are different for each town."
- "Scramble to protect public may leave some more vulnerable," by Julie Manganis, The Salem News: "In the rush to prevent the spread of coronavirus and find ways to protect officers, some police departments are now requiring people to stay outside stations when making reports. But that, and other policies implemented by state officials to prevent the nation's health care system from becoming overrun, could unintentionally put victims of domestic abuse at greater risk, according to the director of a Salem-based domestic violence organization."
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Cambridge City Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler (h/t Shane Woolley), Nick Bayer, Caroline Darmody and Kelli Ritter.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? The home teams are not playing.
NEW EPISODE: TESTING 1, 2, 3 - On this week's Horse Race podcast, hosts Steve Koczela and Stephanie Murray speak with Newton City Councilor Becky Grossman about her campaign for congress during 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.
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