Legislative Update – Week of December 5, 2022

Dec 06, 2022

Last week:

Congresswoman Katherine Clark will be the second highest ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives when the new Congress is sworn-in in January. Clark, who represents the Massachusetts 5th Congressional district, was voted into the role by the Democratic caucus. Clark is the second woman in history to hold the position, the other being Nancy Pelosi.

Lauren Peters, who has served as undersecretary for health policy in the Executive Office of Health and Human Services since 2017, will become CHIA’s next executive director on January 3, 2023, after being jointly appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker, Attorney General Maura Healey and Auditor Suzanne Bump.

A new study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital shows an increase in COVID-19-related deaths among younger people and a decrease in COVID-19-related deaths among older people. Researchers note that while age and pre-existing conditions played a major role in public health initiatives, behavioral changes during the pandemic put different ages at higher risk.

This week:

MassBio’s Government Affairs team is in Washington, D.C. this week for the Council of State Bioscience Associations’ annual conference.

Recounts in two Massachusetts House races are underway this week, as ordered by the Secretary of State’s office. In the 1st Middlesex district, Democrat Margaret Scarsdale leads Republican Andrew Shepherd by 17 votes. In the 2nd Essex district, incumbent Representative Lenny Mirra leads Democratic challenger Kristin Kassner by 10 votes.

The Boston City Council’s Committee on Boston’s COVID-19 Recovery holds a hearing on Tuesday regarding grants provided by the Boston infrastructure law for COVID recovery.

On Wednesday, the Cambridge City Council holds a joint meeting of the Economic Development and University Relations Committee and the Neighborhood & Long-Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts & Celebrations Committee to review and discuss zoning petition regarding lab use.

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