RMV Updates

The Massachusetts RMV has extended their promotion to waive the $25 REAL ID upgrade fee for people who renew their license or Massachusetts ID online until the end of the Commonwealth's State of Emergency! Over 70,000 people have renewed their licenses and IDs online at Mass.Gov/RMV so far, and now even more folks will have access to the opportunity to save on the $25 upgrade fee.

You can renew your license up to 1 year in advance, or up to 2 years after its expiration date to take advantage of the free upgrade. Fee-waived REAL ID upgrades through the promotion will be available starting 6 months after the State of Emergency ends.

The RMV has also announced that they will now accept 6 additional hours of supervised driving with a parent, guardian or adult over 21 with a valid license, for a total of 46 hours supervised driving, in lieu of the 6-hour requirement for observing another student driver. This will allow folks of all ages learning to drive to avoid unnecessary contact with people outside their family in the confined space of cars, and help us to reduce the spread of COVID in our community. Finally, RMV has extended certain expiring licenses and IDs as follows: - Driver’s licenses and ID cards that expired or were set to expire in March, April, and May 2020 have been extended until September 2020. - Driver’s licenses and ID cards that expired or were set to expire in June have been extended until October 2020. - Driver’s licenses and ID cards that expired or were set to expire in Julyhave been extended until November 2020. - Driver’s licenses and ID cards that will expire in August have been extended until December 2020.

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House Passes Jobs Bill

House Passes Jobs Bill to Spur Economy Amid Pandemic

(BOSTON) – Faced with an economy buffeted by COVID-19 Representative Steven Ultrino (D-Malden) joined Speaker DeLeo and his colleagues in the House to pass a bill to give a shot in the arm to the state’s economy by legalizing sports gaming, facilitating housing development and providing more than $450 million in state funding to spur growth.

“During tough economic times, it’s vital that we turn to time-honored tactics, innovative tools and creative ideas to create and preserve jobs in Massachusetts,” said House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo (D-Winthrop). “I’m grateful to Chairs Ferrante, Michlewitz, Honan and my colleagues in the House for their work on this bill that will shore up and spur our economy.”

"With the passage of this bill, the Commonwealth stands ready to buttress important sectors of our economy such as the restaurant, arts, culture and tourism industries that have been most adversely affected by Covid-19; it gives many displaced workers an opportunity to rejoin the Massachusetts workforce,” said Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies (D-Gloucester). “This bill also takes an enormous step in providing housing choices for urban and rural areas of the state by amending zoning laws and making unprecedented monetary investments in housing as well as a major outlay in economic empowerment for minority communities. These expenditures relative to economic empowerment, at a time of decreasing revenues, is fuel by the legalization of sports betting which accomplishes other critical goals: bringing a black market activity into the light and, thereby, reducing ancillary crimes, and protecting the Commonwealth's investments in the gaming industry and the high technology software design innovation sector." 

“I was proud to join my colleagues to pass this legislation which will create thousands of new jobs throughout the Commonwealth and stimulate the economy during these uncertain times,” said Representative Ultrino. “This bill makes a significant investment in affordable housing through production, low income housing tax credits, and rehabilitation of old buildings. This legislation makes a necessary commitment to ensuring that our most vulnerable populations are protected.”

The bill pairs initiatives to improve the housing market for buyers while providing protections for tenants. It authorizes the Housing Choice concept, reducing the voting requirement for a range of housing-related zoning changes and special permits at the local level, from a two-thirds threshold to a simple majority. The legislation also creates a local option for the tenant right to purchase/first right of refusal to purchase buildings landlords put up for sale, increases the low-income housing tax credit from $20 million to $40 million, and requires DHCD to notify tenants they have a right to mediation with landlords prior to the eviction process.

The bill establishes the Rural Jobs Tax Credit for businesses that make a capital contribution to a rural growth fund, which will be established within the Office of Business Development. It allows for the creation of Tourism Destination Marketing Districts, which, following local approval, can add an additional 2% surcharge on room occupancy taxes to fund tourism marketing activities within these districts. The legislation also creates a Cultural Council Recovery Commission to review and develop recommendations for the recovery, promotion and continued growth and vitality of the cultural and creative sector in the commonwealth.

The bill initiates a system for legal sports gaming in Massachusetts enabling the independent Massachusetts Gaming Commission to grant in-person licenses to existing casinos and racing facilities. Mobile applications and casinos are also eligible to receive mobile gaming licenses. In addition to licensing fees, the state will receive 15% of all sports betting proceeds -- $50 million annually -- (with an additional 1% for games played in Massachusetts going to a fund to ensure the integrity of the game.) The proceeds will be distributed in the following fashion:

· 40% to a workforce development fund for at-risk youth in low-income/minority communities

· 30% to a Distressed Restaurant Fund that would help over 1,000 restaurants pay for things like rent, payroll, and PPE for a period of two years

· 10% to Youth Development Initiatives (raised to 25% after January 2023), including scholarships and after-School programs

· 10% to Local Aid (raised to 25% after January 2023)

· 9% to Public Health, including Gaming Addiction

· 1% to a Player’s Benevolent fund to pay for local player connected charity foundations.

The bill provides for $459M in bond funding, including:

· $35M for MGCC small business loans to underserved populations

· $15M for MGCC for Microbusinesses

· $10M Travel and Tourism capital improvements

· $10M MA Tech Collaborative on Manufacturing grants

· $45M MA Tech Collaborative for academic and research institutions grants for robotic, AI R&D

· $15M Mass Development for planning activities to speed up developments

· $10M Mass Development for rural development grants

· $40M Mass Development for redevelopment of underutilized, blighted, or abandoned properties

· $5M Mass Tech Collaborative for broadband grants to Western Mass

· $5M to Economic Development for technical assistance to support locally driven development

· $40M DHCD for Neighborhood stabilization and preservation

· $10M for MA Housing Finance Agency for climate resilient housing construction

· $50M to MA Housing Partnership to fund high-density mixed income transit oriented housing

· $30M for a PPP loan type program run by MGCC

o 2/3rds ($20M) of funds would be dedicated for minority, women, and veteran owned businesses

o Under certain conditions, these loans can become grants

o Directs funds to businesses impacted by COVID-19 but didn’t receive federal assistance

· $15M for Trial Courts to support improve Virtual Mediations in Housing related cases.

· $10M UTEC for capital grants

· $12.5M Zoo New England for capital improvements

· $5M Economic Development for small business multi-lingual tech assistance and coaching

· $6M MCC grants for capital/IT upgrades to improve remote access to materials

· $5M MCC/DESE for school districts to provide remote access to MCC grantee facilities.

The bill is now in conference committee.

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HOUSE PASSES LEGISLATION TO IMPROVE DCF REPORTING

HOUSE PASSES LEGISLATION TO BOTH IMPROVE DCF REPORTING AND ASSIST THE MOSQUITO CONTROL BOARD IN FIGHTING EEE

BOSTON- Representatives Steven Ultrino (D-Malden) and Lipper-Garabedian (D-Melrose) joined their colleagues in the House of Representatives on Thursday to pass two bills: one improving DCF reporting in an effort to increase transparency and the other to provide the mosquito control board with the necessary tools to fight mosquito-borne illnesses such as EEE.

H.4841, An Act relative to accountability for vulnerable children and families, includes many measures to strengthen the reporting requirements to which the Department of Children and Families (DCF) must adhere. As the COVID-19 Pandemic has had an undeniable effect on children in the DCF system, the legislature prioritized researching and analyzing these trends in an effort to address reporting deficits. The bill incorporates many different elements, among which include:

· Codifying a foster parents’ bill of rights

· Strengthening the integrity of the Office of the Child Advocate which is charged with the safety and wellbeing of the children of the Commonwealth

· Requiring an analysis of the COVID-19 emergency on the state of services- the concerns for foster care children have been amplified by the pandemic, so this bill seeks to measure the severity of this impact

· Requiring DCF to report monthly to the legislature during the COVID-19 state of emergency

· Requiring DESE to ensure effective remote learning and engage the most vulnerable and at risk students and their families

· Requiring reporting abuse and neglect data monthly

The House also passed S.2757, An Act to mitigate arbovirus in the commonwealth, which provides additional resources to the Mosquito Control Board to battle mosquito-borne diseases. The bill allows the Department of Public Health to study the projected impact of mosquito-borne illnesses and then subsequently engage in mosquito prevention, management, and eradication in any area of the Commonwealth. The legislation also establishes a mechanism by which municipalities can opt out of aerial spraying and seek alternate control methods. Lastly, the bill establishes the a mosquito control task force which will continually study the Commonwealth’s mosquito control process and recommend comprehensive reforms.

“It is crucial to take action to both combat mosquito-borne illnesses and address the long overdue deficits in the DCF system, especially amid the COVID-19 state of emergency. I was proud to join my colleagues in passing these two necessary bills which both tackle extremely pressing issues,” said Representative Ultrino. “The lack of regular and comprehensive reporting in the Department of Children and Families can have devastating effects on the most vulnerable children in the Commonwealth. Passing this bill was a necessary step in addressing the shortfalls of the system and hopefully improving the care and treatment the foster care system provides these children.”

“Both bills passed this week aid the Commonwealth in responding to pressing risks to community wellbeing,” said Representative Lipper-Garabedian. “The DCF bill will increase coordinated attention on the safety of our most vulnerable children. It also is appropriately attuned to the challenges associated with COVID-19, including the pandemic’s impact on the work of the DCF; the number of K-12 students across the state who did not participate in learning in the spring 2020 school term; and the filing of child abuse and neglect reports.”

These bills now move to the Senate for a vote.

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