Baker-Polito
Administration Releases New Announcements on Childcare, Small Business Tax
Relief and Unemployment Insurance Legislation Related to COVID-19
BOSTON – Today, Governor Charlie Baker announced
a series of new measures to adapt childcare operations, enhance the
Commonwealth’s healthcare system’s capacity, assist small businesses, and
support unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Childcare
Operations: Governor
Baker issued an Executive Order requiring all early education centers and
family childcare providers to close, starting Monday March 23 to mitigate the
spread of COVID-19. The Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) also
issued emergency procedures to set forth a process for opening Exempt Emergency
Child Care Programs during the COVID-19 outbreak to provide priority access for
families of emergency personnel, medical staff, and others critical to
confronting COVID-19.
Read the Executive
Order here: Early
Education and Care Order
Exempt Emergency
Child Care Programs: Exempt
Emergency Child Care Programs will be the only child care programs able to
operate during the COVID-19 outbreak. Families who work to maintain the health,
safety, and welfare of all Commonwealth citizens will receive priority access
to emergency childcare programs and these centers should only be used by people
who must go to work. Vulnerable children will also receive
priority access and space will be made for people who must go to work but
aren’t necessarily emergency personnel.
- The
Department of Early Education and Care put procedures in place to quickly
review applications for emergency child care programs, and to conduct
expedited background record checks for childcare teachers and staff.
- The
Department is working to ensure there is sufficient access to emergency
child care programs in each region of the Commonwealth, so those workers
who need childcare can still access it.
- A
proposed program can be either a currently-licensed child care program, or
a new program such as a location within or near a medical facility.
- Providers
impacted by these closures will continue to receive child care subsidy
payments from the state. This ensures that programs will be able to
re-open once the crisis is over. Parents who receive subsidies will not
lose their vouchers, and will be able to eventually resume care. EEC
will cover the cost of parent fees for subsidized families enrolled in
care.
- All
programs that would like to operate must complete the EEC’s Emergency
Licensing and Background Record Check process. Programs that have a
current license and educators with confirmed background checks will be
expedited for approval.
- Programs must adhere to strict safety and health
standards established by the Department of Public Health and Executive
Office of Health and Human Services.
Public Health
Orders: Department of
Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel has signed three public health orders
today which do the following:
- The first Order relaxes administrative
requirements so as to allow physician’s assistants who previously worked
on elective surgeries to be used elsewhere in the hospital under a
different supervising physician.
- The second Order, due to the expected demands on
nursing staff, would allow pharmacists to administer certain medication
for the treatment of opioid use disorder, where, under normal
circumstances, such medication must be administered by a nurse.
- The third Order requires Local Board of Health to
disclose the addresses – but no other identifying information – of those
diagnosed with COVID-19 to the official in charge of emergency calls in
the jurisdiction. That information can only be used for responding to
emergency calls and is to be kept confidential.
Extending the
Licenses of Certain Licensed Professionals: Governor Baker signed a new emergency order to ensure that licensed
professionals do not have their licenses or registrations lapse due to
unforeseen problems with renewal during the COVID-19 emergency. Specifically,
under this order, occupational or professional licenses of individuals that are
in good standing and that would otherwise be up for renewal during the COVID-19
emergency shall be extended for 90 days after the end of the public health
emergency. This order does not affect license extensions that have already
been granted in earlier emergency orders.
Read the Emergency
Order here: Extension
of Professional Licensure Order
Small Business
Relief: The Baker-Polito
Administration today announced administrative tax relief measures for small
local businesses which have been impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak,
especially in the restaurant and hospitality sectors. This tax relief includes
postponing the collection of regular sales tax, meals tax, and room occupancy
taxes that would be due in March, April and May so that they will instead be
due on June 20. Additionally, all penalties and interest that would otherwise
apply will be waived.
- Businesses that paid less than $150,000 in
regular sales plus meals taxes in the year ending February 29, 2020 will
be eligible for relief for sales and meals taxes, and business that paid
less than $150,000 in room occupancy taxes in the year ending February 29,
2020 will be eligible for relief with respect to room occupancy taxes.
- The Department of Revenue is currently drafting
emergency regulations to implement these administrative relief measures,
and they are expected to be finalized before Friday, March 20, 2020.
Unemployment
Benefits: Governor Baker
also today signed S.2599 to provide unemployment assistance to workers impacted
by COVID-19. This legislation will allow new claims to be paid more quickly by
waiving the one week waiting period for unemployment benefits.
The Administration
will continue to update the public on further developments and individuals are
encouraged to consult both the Department of Public Health and
the US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention websites for the most up to date information.
The latest information and
guidance regarding COVID-19 is always available at mass.gov/COVID19.
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