Hi there,

Today's Saturday Scoop is a "kiddie scoop." Although our unpredictable and often chaotic state legislature can make it hard for us watchdogs to take a day off, I'm doing it next week—5 in a row! Prepping for that (and some exciting upcoming initiatives...!) kept us busy this week. We'll be back in two Saturdays with our regularly scheduled programming. 

One thing we were tracking this week in the Senate: a $3.6 billion environmental bond authorization that Senate leadership described as "The Greatest Environmental Investment in Massachusetts History." The bill, S.3050, passed the Senate Wednesday 36-3. If passed by the House and signed by the governor, it will be the state's first environmental bond bill since 2018. 

Although this bill is exciting, it's important to keep in mind that bond authorizations are different than budget allocations. The bill will give the executive branch the option to borrow (by issuing bonds) for specific capital investments, but does not require them. Over the multiyear term of a bond bill, actual investment often comes out significantly lower than the initial number. So we'll have to hope Senate leadership was right about the scale of environmental investment in Massachusetts! 

Something Senate leadership wasn't right about? The location of the state they are so eager to invest in! An eagle-eyed Act on Mass supporter noticed something off about the placard at the Senate's press conference.

Can you see it?

The yellow speck they highlighted, my friends, is the Maritime Peninsula, home to Maine and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Not, in fact, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Oops! Let's hope our Canadian neighbors like environmental bond authorizations!

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State House Scoop

If you happen to see your state rep, please tell them to consult my vacation schedule the next time they're planning major moves. There's a lot to keep an eye on! 

 House budget on the move! 💰

 The House released its $63.3 billion Fiscal Year 2027 state budget proposal on Wednesday (H.5500), coming in a smidge smaller than Governor Healey's February proposal. For a preliminary analysis of the House proposal, check out our friends at Mass Budget. For a review of the budget process in all its un-transparent glory, read our Scoop from February! 💰

Representatives have already filed 1646 amendments to the House proposal, clamoring for earmark funding. The House budget "debate" is set for the last week of April, so we'll be back and watching closely to see which favored members get big checks for their districts! 

Mariano warms to tax cuts? ✂️

Facing the possibility of 12 questions on the ballot this fall, Speaker Ron Mariano has indicated a willingness to negotiate a compromise with one of the campaigns in the chance of keeping their question off the ballot. Which one, you ask? Surely, the uncontroversial election day voter registration, promoted by none other than Secretary of State Bill Galvin? Perhaps union rights for public defenders? Public records law? In my wildest dreams... stipend reform?

Alas, Mariano's making entreaties to the big businesses behind a major tax cut which would move the state's income tax rate from 5% to 4%. If passed, the question would cut a projected $5 billionfrom the state budget each year (at a time of already strained finances) and wipe out the gains from the Fair Share Amendment. Under the new tax code, the top 1% of households in the state by income would receive average annual tax savings of $31,600. The bottom 80% of households would receive average annual tax savings of $534. Huh. 

Speaker Mariano had previously described the business-backed question as a “ham-fisted approach” to tax policy, warning that if it passes, "we will have no choice but to make significant budget cuts to services and programs that our residents rely on." Yet, last week, he indicated a willingness to negotiate with backers to find a "fiscally responsible" compromise. 

As I've said before, with Democrats like this, who needs Republicans?

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Lily's Lowdown: Massachusetts: A Beacon of Medical Care with Uneven Access

Earlier this week, it was announced that the maternal care unit of Merrimack Health’s Methuen campus will be closing its doors, the twelfth maternal care facility to close since 2010 and the fifth in a Gateway City. Despite the Commonwealth’s exceptional status as a hotbed for cutting-edge care, this trend is on par with the nationwide trend of maternal care closures. 

A number of converging factors have driven this nationwide decline in maternal care, including a declining national birthrate, (a favorite conservative talking point). Another factor has been the precarity of Medicaid, amid the massive cuts perpetuated by the Trump admin’s Big Beautiful Bill. According to reporting from the Commonwealth Beacon, 73 percent of Methuen Hospital’s patient revenue came from Medicaid and Medicare, per data from 2023. 

What is crucially obscured in the narratives about Massachusetts as a glimmering beacon of state-of-the-art medical care are the gaping discrepancies in who has access to this care. Nearly all of the maternal care units that have shuttered since 2010 were located far from the well-funded facilities in central Boston. This means pregnant people in rural and lower-income communitieswith already-faltering maternal care risk a worsening crisis. 

These facilities’ closures have accompanied a rise in C-Sections in low-risk pregnancies. According to reporting from the Boston Globe (paywall), two important figures define a troubling trend in Massachusetts maternal care. In Massachusetts, rates of severe maternal complications following births are 16% higher than the national average, a rate that has nearly doubled since 2011. 

Second, Massachusetts’ rates of C-Sections are astonishingly high, making up more than one-third of all births in the state. C-sections are a lifesaving procedure when medically necessary, but they are still surgical interventions that can cause major, long-term complications for both parent and infant. Massachusetts' rate is more than double what the World Health Organization deems an ideal rate, and disproportionately impacts Black women in the state. 

Interestingly, Merrimack Health’s Methuen campus, until recently owned by the now-bankrupt for-profit Steward Health Care, had extremely high rates of C-Sections, even compared to peer hospitals with similar rates of low-risk pregnancies. This is especially troubling given studies that reveal that C-Sections are more profitable for hospitals than vaginal births. 

As more facilities close their doors, this cycle risks only worsening. When hospitals shutter, patient care is upended. Limited access to prenatal care, for instance, can increase the likelihood of a medical care team missing an early complication, which can turn into more significant complications that lead to C-Section. Especially in rural areas, where prenatal care is already scarce, the vanishing of maternal care facilities risks worsening already-alarming rates of pregnancy and birth complications. 

In a state which is lauded for its quality medical services and a high rate of insured patients, access to maternal care should not be a stress for expecting people during pregnancy. 

The legislature could act now to stop the worsening crisis of maternal care by passing legislation like S.761 , An Act ensuring access to full spectrum pregnancy care. This bill, first introduced in the State House in 2021 after other health equity bills failed, would ensure that pregnant people do not have to cover any out-of-pocket costs during pregnancy, and would expand insurance coverage to include midwifery. It has been stalled, unsurprisingly, in the Joint Committee on Financial Services, since February. 

As the legislative session comes to a close, we’ll be keeping our eyes out for action on the crisis of maternal healthcare. Reach out to your rep to let them know you’re watching too!

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Missed a Scoop or two? You can find a full archive of all past Saturday Scoops on our blog.

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What else we're reading this week

Good reporting from news outlets around the Commonwealth this week! 

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Take Action

Progressive Mass Lobby Day! - May 7th, 10 am - 1 pm 

Our allies at Progressive Mass are hosting their annual lobby day on May 7th. Join fellow progressives to lobby your legislators for must-pass priorities this session! 

RSVP FOR PROGRESSIVE LOBBY DAY>>

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Thanks for reading and for taking action! We'll be back in May! 

In solidarity,

Scotia

Scotia Hille (she/her)

Executive Director, Act on Mass