News
Plymouth County Announces Substantive Test Kit Procurement for Municipalities
(BOSTON) - On January 21, Plymouth County Chair Sandy Wright informed Plymouth County legislators that Plymouth County has secured nearly 400,000 COVID-19 antigen rapid tests to be distributed in the County’s municipalities this week. Plymouth County was able to secure these test kits using the last of its money from the CARES Act. Though cases in the most recent surge of COVID-19 have recently peaked and numbers have begun to decline again, test kits remain in high demand throughout the Commonwealth. Municipalities represented by Representative Meschino received the . . . Read More
Mass. Seeks to Claw Back at Least $2.7 Billion in Jobless Benefits It Says Were Incorrectly Paid
By Larry Edelman, Globe Staff, in the Boston Globe The Department of Unemployment Assistance made overpayments on about 719,000 claims in 2020-2021. It’s going after recipients even if they weren’t at fault. In the early months of the pandemic, when nearly 700,000 local jobs disappeared in a flash, the Baker administration was caught in a bind: There was a massive backlog of unemployment claims, but laid-off workers needed money fast or a bad economic crisis would only get worse. The Department of Unemployment Assistance rushed to get benefit checks out . . . Read More
Department of Fire Services Announces FY22 Firefighter Safety Equipment Grants for Towns in 3rd Plymouth District
(BOSTON) - This week, $5 million in grant funding was awarded to 306 Massachusetts fire departments from the FY22 Firefighter Safety Equipment Grant Program. The grant program enables fire departments to purchase a variety of equipment that will make firefighters’ jobs safer. Examples of eligible equipment include, among others, personal protective clothing and equipment; communications equipment; thermal imaging cameras; and health and wellness equipment. Cohasset, Hingham, Hull, and Scituate were among the 306 communities that received awards. Towns in the 3rd Plymouth District received the following funding: Cohasset: . . . Read More
Massachusetts Legislature Passes ARPA, FY21 Surplus Spending Bill
(BOSTON) - On Monday, December 13, 2021, Governor Baker signed An Act relative to immediate COVID-19 recovery needs (H.4269,) which allocates $2.55 billion in federal funding granted to the Commonwealth for COVID-19 relief from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and $1.45 billion in surplus tax dollars from fiscal year 2021. Advanced by the Massachusetts legislature in early December, the bill allocates $4 billion in critical investments to sectors including housing, health care, mental and behavioral health, climate preparedness, education, and workforce development. “A once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest . . . Read More
Representative Meschino Joins with House Colleagues to Honor our Veterans
(BOSTON) – On this Veterans Day, the Massachusetts House of Representatives collectively recognizes the courage and sacrifice of men and women in the Armed Forces. Originally known as Armistice Day, Veterans Day was first celebrated in 1919 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. Congress formally passed legislation in 1938 designating Armistice Day as a federal holiday. In 1954, following World War II and the Korean War, Congress changed the day’s title from Armistice Day to Veterans Day in order to honor . . . Read More
Massachusetts House of Representatives Passes ARPA Spending Bill
(BOSTON) - At the end of October, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed legislation, An Act relative to immediate COVID-19 recovery needs (H.4219,) that allocates federal funding granted to the Commonwealth for COVID-19 relief from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and surplus tax dollars from fiscal year 2021. Funded at $3.82 billion, the bill aims to close gaps exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, encouraging recovery through one-time investments in housing, environment and climate mitigation, economic development, workforce, health and human services, and education. After the original $3.65 . . . Read More