News from the State House, August 20, 2024

TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 2024

Dear Cambridge and Somerville Constituents —

With less than two weeks until Labor Day, the State House has slowed down this week as focus shifts to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Nevertheless, I want to pass along a few nice updates from my State House office.

Maternal Health Bill Reaches Governor's Desk

Massachusetts is facing a worsening maternal health crisis, marked by widening racial disparities in fetal and maternal morbidity. Last year, the Department of Public Health released a report that showed maternal morbidity nearly doubled in the state over the last decade and that Black women were 2.3 times more likely than white women to experience labor and delivery complications.

Access to equitable maternal health care is also severely lacking in Massachusetts, further exacerbated by eleven maternity ward closures across the state since 2010. Two freestanding birth centers, Cambridge Birth Center and North Shore Birth Center, have also been closed, leaving only one birth center in Massachusetts (Seven Sisters in Northampton). Massachusetts ranks 35th out of 44 states for share of births in birth centers. (Fortunately, the Cambridge Birth Center will reopen following renovations). 

Thankfully, there's a policy solution is in sight. Studies have shown that access to licensed midwives leads to lower mortality rates in both mothers and infants, reduced C-section rates, and increased breastfeeding rates, and that midwifery care reduces racial inequities in maternal health outcomes. 

I am proud to report that the Legislature passed the final version of this bill in an informal session last Thursday, and the Governor pledged to sign the bill. When signed, this bill will improve maternal health outcomes by offering greater choices and ensuring compassionate care during one of life’s most transformative moments. The bill will create a state licensure pathway for midwives and lactation consultants, encourage the creation of more freestanding birth centers, establish a grant program to address maternal mental health and substance use disorder, and expand the statewide universal postpartum home visiting program. This legislation also mandates that insurers provide coverage for postpartum depression and major depressive disorder screenings for perinatal individuals.

For background context, the House passed our version of the bill on June 20th, followed by the Senate passing their version on July 30th, just one day before formal sessions were to conclude. A conference committee was appointed on July 31st and they continued talking over the past two weeks to reach a final agreement.

For a full writeup of the bill, visit my State House blog.

Nine Conference Reports Remain Pending

With the final passage of the maternal health bill we now have nine remaining conference reports. These include Clean Energy Siting (S.2838), the Economic Development Bill (H.4804), Hospital Oversight (H.4643), Prescription Drug Pricing (S.2520), Long Term Care Oversight (H.4193), Federal Grants (S.2554), a local bill relative to liquor licenses in Boston (H.4696), Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Coverage (H.4785), and a closeout Supplemental Budget (H.4799). 

Fortunately, both the Speaker and the Senate President have indicated they are willing to bring us back for formal session pending agreement on the economic development bill. And as we just saw last week, many major bills can also still pass in the informal sessions that run through the end of the year.

MassCare/Progressive Mass. Health Care Forum Sept. 5

The catastrophic collapse of the Steward Health Care system came as a shock to many, with workers and patients stuck in limbo. However, this crisis is the culmination of longstanding forces and trends in the health care system in Massachusetts and across the nation, in which financial extraction has increasingly taken precedence over the provision of care.

How did we get here? For one thing, Steward CEO Ralph de la Torre sold the land under all of his Massachusetts hospitals to a real estate investment firm back in 2016 — and now those hospitals cannot afford their rent. As a result, life-saving equipment has been repossessed with some fatal consequences. And in spite of all this, de la Torre is still the CEO of Steward. It's truly criminal!

So what is the path forward? To help answer that question, MassCare and Progressive Massachusetts will be co-hosting a virtual forum on Thursday, September 5th, at 7pm. Panelists include Paul Hattis, Senior Fellow, Lown Institute, Katie Murphy, President, Massachusetts Nurses Association, Alan Sager, Professor, BU School of Public Health, Director of Health Reform Program, and Bill Walczak, Founder, Codman Square Health Center. If you're interested you can RSVP here.

East End House Block Party is Tomorrow!

The East End House, one of East Cambridge’s most vital community resources, will host its annual block party, tomorrow, August 21st, at 6pm. The block party will feature BBQ, Italian ice, face painting, games, a moon bounce, live music, and more! All food and activities are provided free of charge to the public. I biked over there last year and a great time catching up with constituents and I even got to make friends with some of the neighborhood dogs...

In all seriousness, the East End House is a treasured community center which continues to meet local needs through innovative programs that support families and individuals of every age and ability. They use evidence-based curriculum to prepare preschoolers for Kindergarten and offer comprehensive services like the Food Pantry, Community Workshops, Parent Education and Senior Programming. I’ve been honored to support East End House in the Legislature, most recently by winning approval of a legislative amendment to deliver $50,000 of pandemic relief funds to the organization.

Thank you, as always, for being an informed and engaged constituent. Please reach out anytime!

Yours in service,

Rep. Mike Connolly