Senate passes $75M COVID bill with pandemic-related provisions

On Jan. 26, the Senate passed a $75 million bill that would supplement certain fiscal 2022 appropriations in response to the current phase of the COVID-19 public health emergency and extend certain authorizations related to public meetings.

In many ways, the Senate bill (S.2622) mirrors a House version passed last week, though it adds $20 million to the bottom line.

Similar to the House bill, the Senate would provide $30 million to fund the expansion of COVID-19 testing and $25 million for the procurement and distribution of high-quality face masks for students and faculty in elementary and secondary public school districts. The Senate bill would expand the procurement and distribution of face masks to include early childhood centers, congregate care facilities and home health care workers, accounting for the additional cost.

The Senate adopted amendments to extend popular authorizations for expanded outdoor dining and to-go alcoholic beverages that are currently set to expire this spring. The Senate bill would extend these measures through Dec. 15, 2022.

Both the House and Senate bills include the following pandemic-related provisions and authorizations related to public board and town meetings, all of which are MMA priorities for early this year:
• Remote option for public bodies: The bills would extend through July 15 previous authorization for remote public meetings, first enacted at the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020 and currently set to expire on April 1.
• Open town meeting quorums: The bills would allow select boards, in consultation with their town moderator, to lower quorum requirements for open town meetings to not less than 10% of the existing quorum level. The quorum provision includes a seven-day notification requirement before any select board vote.
• Remote representative town meetings: The bills would allow representative town meetings to once again have the option to meet remotely, if approved by the select board and town moderator, as well as the town meeting when it meets.

The provisions related to open and representative town meetings would be available through July 15, 2022.

Both bills would also set the state primary date for Sept. 6, 2022.

A conference committee is expected to work out the differences between the House and Senate bills.