Medway & Millis May 2020

Page 8 Medway & Millis Local Town Pages www.localtownpages.com May 2020
Massachusetts Legislature Taking Numerous Measures
to Protect Residents, Businesses and Municipalities
During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic
On March 10, 2020, Governor
Charlie Baker declared a
State of Emergency to support
the Commonwealth’s response
to the outbreak of the 2019 novel
coronavirus. Since then, the Massachusetts
State Legislature has
taken a number of steps to both
protect the health and safety of
our residents and mitigate the immediate
economic impacts of this
unprecedented global pandemic.
“This is a difficult time, but we
are Massachusetts, and we will
get through this together,” stated
Senate President Karen E. Spilka
(D-Ashland). “The Massachusetts
State Senate stands ready to take
action quickly when needed, and
we will continue to work with the
Baker Administration, the House
of Representatives, and our partners
in the Federal and local governments
to understand the needs
of our residents, businesses and
municipalities during this crisis.”
“Extraordinary moments call
for extraordinary actions. Working
together we can overcome the
adverse conditions set upon us by
the pandemic,” said Representative
Jeffrey N. Roy (D-Franklin).
“We have been working hard as
a delegation and with our government
colleagues and business
partners to provide a united front.
That work will continue so that we
can meet the needs of our constituents
and the Commonwealth.”
“Virtually all of our efforts as
legislators, since the Governor’s
declaration, have been directly
focused on addressing the many
health and financial issues for our
constituents that the COVID-19
pandemic has caused,” said Representative
Brian Murray (D-Milford).
“We will continue this focus
until this unprecedented public
health crisis ends.”
The legislature’s response to
protect public health was swift.
It created a $15 million fund, to
be held in reserve, to support the
Department of Public Health, as
well as regional and local boards
of health, in the monitoring,
treatment and containment of
COVID-19; $5 million has already
been tapped to expand the
response capacity of local boards
of health.
The House and Senate also
took early action to close the Massachusetts
State House to the
public to limit the spread of the
coronavirus. To maintain transparency,
the House and Senate
are now streaming informal sessions
online. The legislature is
also welcoming public testimony
on bills online, and streaming important
events. To protect Massachusetts
communities while
preserving voting access, the Legislature
passed a bill that provides
cities and towns the authority to
postpone and reschedule certain
municipal elections and related
activities.
The Legislature has also
acted quickly to protect workers
and businesses. The Senate and
House passed a bill that waives
the one-week waiting period for
any person making a claim for
unemployment benefits resulting
from the COVID-19 outbreak or
the effects of the state of emergency.
The House and Senate
also joined Governor Baker in
announcing the creation of a $10
million Small Business Recovery
Loan Fund, which will provide
emergency capital up to $75,000
to Massachusetts-based small
businesses impacted by COVID-
19, including nonprofits.
The House and Senate passed
a number of initiatives to help
residents, businesses, communities
and municipalities, including
extending the individual income
tax filing and payment deadline
to July 15, 2020; prohibiting the
shut off of essential services provided
by cities and towns due to
missed or late payment; allowing
restaurants to sell wine and beer
with food takeout and delivery;
and addressing several areas relating
to city and town operations.
To address disruptions caused by
the closure of schools, the Legislature
passed a bill that waives
the MCAS requirements for the
2019-2020 academic year and allows
the Department of Early and
Secondary Education to modify
or waive competency determination
requirements related to high
school graduation.
Finally, the Senate and House
have taken steps to protect all
residents in the face of this crisis
by ensuring access to housing
and protecting the most vulnerable.
Both branches passed legislation
to prevent evictions and
foreclosures; they also took action
to suspend, waive, delay, or
simplify in-person verification requirements
for the Massachusetts
Rental Voucher Program and
Residential Assistance for Families
in Transition applicants.
The House and Senate will
continue to work closely together,
along with the Baker Administration,
to protect residents and
mitigate the economic impacts of
the COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts.
PANTRIES
continued from page 7
efforts of Medway photographer
Tim Rice. Rice adopted the idea
from a Norwood effort, volunteering
his time to drive around
Medway and snap family portraits,
and at first, he did it for
food donations to the pantry, and
later, for monetary donations to
the pantries. After taking photos
of 570 families, meeting 2,500
people from a distance of 10 feet
or more, Rice yielded over 1,000
pounds of food and $25,000
(including a $5,000 donation
from Medway Cable) for the two
Medway food pantries.
“It’s amazing,” says Dietrich.
“I have been blown away. People
have been reaching out to me,
and it’s unbelievable the way the
community is coming together to
support one another during this
crisis. It never ceases to amaze
me how wonderful the people in
this town are.”
“March 22 was the first round
I did,” says Rice, who did the
porch portraits as part of his ongoing
“We are Medway” project.
Rice says that normally, nights
and weekends, he’d be taking
photos of people in springtime
town event. The porch portraits,
“keeps me in front of them, and
I love the town.”
Dietrich encourages town
members who are struggling to
visit the pantry.
“If you need a hand to get
yourself where you need to be,
then please take our outstretched
hand,” she says. “Make payments
on things that are most critical,
and if you need to come see me
for groceries, come see me every
week. I love to see your face.”
The Medway food pantries
are open to everyone who lives in
the state of Massachusetts.
FREE SMALL COFFEE
with a purchase of a muffin with this coupon
M
Expire 5-31-2020
HOUSE
MUFFIN
CAFE
• Open Daily
• Bakery with Fresh Muffins/Pastries
• Breakfast and Lunch Sandwiches
• Best Blueberry Muffins Since Jordan Marsh
M
Receive 10% off any cake
with this coupon
All our cakes are made from scratch on the premises
Expire 5-31-2020
Muffinhousecafe
116 Main Street, Medway
(508) 533-6655
32 Hasting Street, Rte 16. Mendon
(508) 381-0249
MuffinHouseCafe@gmail.com
Rice took porch photos of 570 families in Medway, including his own,
shown here.