Bringing Beacon Hill to You

We managed to pack a lot into the shortest month of the year. Here's a look at some of our legislative priorities and ongoing focuses that my office was working on in February.

Legislation................................................

If you follow news on Beacon Hill or track the progress of bills, you have likely heard the phrase “Joint Rule 10 Day.” For those unfamiliar, it’s a deadline in the legislative session by which the committees that have been reviewing bills over the past year have to make a decision on what they think should happen with each piece of legislation. Ultimately, you want to see your bill “reported out favorably” meaning it will advance further in the legislative process, while some bills are reported out to another committee or designated for “further study,” essentially meaning that they will not advance. 

We find ourselves at an interesting juncture of the Opioid Epidemic. We have been in this struggle for so long and, indeed, have seen many successes. But the epidemic continues. People are still suffering. People are still dying. Overdose deaths, which just a few short years ago were trending down, are now increasing due to the introduction of fentanyl and more recently a drug called xylazine. 

It’s time to consider new approaches, including overdose prevention centers, also known as safe consumption sites. 

These are the facilities where individuals living with substance use disorder can consume narcotics in a supervised healthcare setting with trained medical professionals on hand. I know it sounds shocking to some, with these sites perceived by critics as a form of enablement or endorsement of “criminal behavior.” People are also worried about the impact of these centers on the surrounding communities. 

I recently authored an op-ed that was published in The Boston Globe detailing the visits I’ve made over the past few years to a half dozen of these facilities across the U.S. and Canada. What I saw was a treatment model for harm reduction and resource access that should be available to Massachusetts communities that want to host facilities. Since these sites opened in North America, they have seen zero fatal overdoses. Any time someone was close to overdosing, a medical professional was standing by to provide medical care and a case worker was waiting in the wings to move that person into a treatment program if requested. I have seen the successes of these facilities firsthand, and I am convinced we need to explore them as an option for Massachusetts. 

You can learn more about my research by visiting senatorjohnkeenan.com or read my Boston Globe op-ed here.  

Steward Health Care System is once again back in the news. Their precarious financial position has led to fears of further hospital closures, speculation of state government intervention, and news that reconstruction of their Norwood facility has stalled. 

It’s familiar ground for folks living in my district, particularly those in Quincy, where Steward shut down the city’s only hospital in 2014 despite having already pledged to keep the facility open for at least 10 years following its acquisition. Now other communities are worried they will face the same fate and neighboring hospitals are bracing for the influx of new patients seeking medical refuge.  

I have no desire to endorse a state-funded bailout of this company, especially when multiple news reports have indicated the not-so-precarious financial situation of its top executive, who reportedly owns two yachts with a combined value of over $65 million. We have no assurances that lending any support would result in hospitals remaining open or services going uninterrupted. 

 

While efforts to address the Steward situation are ongoing, we can take steps to prevent situations like this from happening again. One option we have is to enact policy that calls for better coordination of regional and statewide health care needs and services. Earlier this session, I filed S.761 An Act relative to hospital closures and health planning, which would require the state to identify hospitals that may be in financial distress or at risk of closing or discontinuing essential health services and then initiate an extended notification process for hospital closures so that patients and health care providers can have more time to plan out alternatives. While it wouldn’t stop hospitals from closing, the bill, I hope, would at least make it easier for people to navigate such disruptions. 

. In & Out of the District...................

February featured a series of office hours sessions in each community of the Norfolk & Plymouth District, hosting conversations on a variety of state and local issues. In Rockland, Braintree, and Hanover we talked to residents about many individual issues and provided updates on different bills like the HERO Act for our veterans. In Quincy and Abington, we discussed issues like gun control legislation and service delays with the MBTA. Office hours in Holbrook had some of the highest levels of engagement, particularly with senior constituents, with topics ranging from immigration to veterans benefits and Steward Health Care. 



My office is currently looking into expanding our office hours and complementing our in-person meetings with remote-participation options, as well as expanded timeframes so that more individuals can participate. If you have thoughts on this issue, please contact my office. 

Though not in the district, one State House event from this past month stood out, and it has a bit of a connection to the district. The Senate Chamber is home to several busts of influential figures from American history, including George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln. This year, we celebrated Black History Month with the unveiling of a bust depicting Frederick Douglass. The sculptor of the Douglass bust was Lloyd Lillie, who sculptured the beautiful statues of John Adams and that of Abigail Adams and her son John Quincy Adams that are located at Merrymount Park in Quincy. Much of Douglass’s advocacy during the abolition movement was done right here on Beacon Hill, imploring lawmakers to support the emancipation of enslaved people. His work at the State House arguably ranks among the most important work to have ever been done in this building. This marks not only the first bust to be permanently added to the Senate’s collection in over 125 years, but it is also the first of these sculptures to feature a Person of Color.