HAPPENING TODAY:
10:00 | Children's Trust holds an advocacy event where they plan to display 70 pairs of shoes, signifying the number of children who are abused or neglected daily in the state | Grand Staircase
10:00 | New England-Canada Business Council and lead sponsor TD Bank present a U.S.-Canada Economic Forum focusing on the 2025 economic outlook and business trends for both countries, impacts of tariffs and counter-tariffs, business expansion, AI, fintech, and more | Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 600 Atlantic Ave., Boston
11:00 | Greater Boston Food Bank hosts a celebration of 30 years of the Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program, a state-funded program that invests in four food banks | NBBJ Design, 1 Center Plaza, Suite 800, Boston
11:00 | Brain Aneurysm Foundation hosts "Day on the Hill" | Room 437
6:00 | Sen. Feeney and Rep. Galvin hold community meeting about Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children in Canton | Congregational Church of Canton, 1541 Washington St., Canton
Remember six years ago, when Gov. Charlie Baker tried to force health insurers and providers to boost spending on primary care? Or when he offered much of the same proposal again three years later?
If you don’t, maybe the reason is because neither bill really went anywhere up on Beacon Hill. And in the interim, the outlook for primary care hasn’t exactly gotten much better.
Just a few months ago, state watchdogs warned that Boston has some of the longest wait times for new patient physical appointments in the country, and that most Bay Staters have turned to the emergency department because they couldn’t get an appointment quickly enough at a local doctor’s office or a clinic.
Policymakers, industry leaders and other experts will take a step in the general direction of reform today, when a new task force convenes its first meeting as it sets out to craft recommendations to stabilize the primary care system.
Of course, don’t expect that to generate significant change in the immediate future. Beacon Hill loves to punt big decisions to task forces, and those task forces love to take months to complete their work, which will wind up only as recommendations instead of concrete changes.
But there are some indications that power players are itching for action in an area where Baker couldn’t generate much momentum. His successor, Gov. Maura Healey, has also described a desire to shift more health care resources to the “front lines” and to “build a whole army of primary care providers.”
Sen. Cindy Friedman, her chamber’s health care point person, said last month she plans to “attack primary care again” as the 2025-2026 term revs into gear.
You just might have to keep waiting for that physical in the meantime. — Chris Lisinski
State’s top economic development official to step down
Yvonne Hao, Massachusetts secretary of economic development, announced her resignation Monday from the Healey administration, effective in May. Hao said she is stepping down to dedicate more time to her mother in California and teenage children in Massachusetts. Appointed in January 2023, Hao played a pivotal role in shaping the state’s economic strategies, including initiatives to attract businesses. Her departure comes amid challenges such as significant federal funding cuts to local research institutions. Hao’s number-two will fill the role on an interim basis. — Boston Globe
Hannah Bowen wins 6th Essex primary
Beverly City Councilor Hannah Bowen won the Democratic primary for the Beverly-Wenham 6th Essex district on Tuesday, beating fellow City Councilor Todd Rotondo by about 600 votes. Unofficial results within Beverly show that Bowen won every district in the city aside from Ward 1, which Rotondo represents on the council. Bowen will now face Republican candidate Medley Long in the special general election on May 13. — Patch
Trump administration cuts funding to citizenship programs
The Trump Administration cut $300,000 the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition used to help people in the country become citizens, MassLive’s Hadley Barndollar reports. Officials with the group had hoped the funds would be reinstated, and would run through Sept. 30 as previously expected, after being initially suspended — a move that forced the organization to cease citizenship application assistance. — MassLive
Letter calls on Bay State hospitals, health care systems to protect patients’ privacy and access regardless of immigration status
An open letter signed by over 400 Massachusetts health care workers was released this morning, advocating for Massachusetts hospitals and health systems to “take immediate action to ensure health systems remain welcoming to all patients, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or immigration status.” The letter condemns the Trump administration‘s reversal of a policy that designated health care facilities as sensitive locations (in addition to schools and churches), which protected the people inside from immigration enforcement. Letter-writers note that because immigrants know federal agents might target health care facilities, “a growing number of our patients are canceling or not coming to appointments and delaying medical care that they need.”
AG cracks down on businesses accused of violating child labor laws
Attorney General Andrea Campbell pledged continued enforcement of child labor laws in announcing settlements with three western Massachusetts fast food operators accused of violating state protections for young workers, the Eagle’s Heather Bellow reports. Campbell’s office cited Cafua Management Co., LLC, which operates Dunkin’ franchises; the Brewster Company, LLC, a McDonald’s operator; and Knight Food Service, Inc., which runs Subway restaurants. The businesses reached settlements with the state, with Cafua agreeing to pay $140,000 in penalties after investigators found minors working without required permits, during prohibited hours and beyond daily limits for 16- and 17-year-olds. — Berkshire Eagle
Holyoke mulls overhauling finance operation
Holyoke officials are considering a measure proponents said would tighten financial oversight and increase accountability, MassLive’s Aprell May Munford reports. A key goal of the proposal is to ensure the city does not spend more than it takes in; city officials said its implementation could save taxpayers $100,000 a year by fiscal 2027. The city already did away with an elected treasurer and now its finances are overseen by someone appointed to the position. — MassLive
Harvard tells researchers whose grants were cut by Trump administration to stop work
Harvard University researchers, including a prominent scientist working on treatments for ALS, have been told to stop their work and save money wherever possible in the wake of the Trump administration’s cut of $2.2 billion of funding for projects at the university, the Crimson reports. The new cuts, unlike previous high-profile cuts by the administration, appear to target work that is not associated with political issues. — Harvard Crimson
… And Healey talks Harvard, university research funding on MSNBC
Gov. Healey made an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Beat” Tuesday night, during which she talked about the billions in funding the Trump administration has frozen from Harvard University since the school refused to comply with the administration’s demands for university policy changes. “Because of what he’s done to Harvard, because of what Trump is doing to other universities, China is recruiting all of our scientists and researchers away. He’s giving away intellectual assets,” Healey said Tuesday on TV. “It’s also an attack on this country, on this economy, on who we are.” — MSNBC
Martha’s Vineyard fishermen preparing for new restrictions
Martha’s Vineyard fishermen are bracing for changes to their summer fishing practices as Massachusetts regulators prepare to introduce new regulations on false albacore and Atlantic bonito catches, MVTimes’s Nicholas Vukota reports. For the first time, the state is set to impose a minimum length requirement of 16 inches for both species and a combined daily catch limit of five fish. Both species are popular with sport fishermen. — MVTimes
Amherst proceeding with $46 million library expansion
The Amherst Town Council gave the green light to the Jones Library expansion and renovation project, voting 9-3 to allow Town Manager Paul Bockelman to sign a contract with low bidder Fontaine Brothers Inc. of Springfield. The Gazette’s Scott Merzbach reports that the decision came after nearly four hours of public comment and debate, with some councilors expressing concerns about the cost and others supporting the $46.1 million project to modernize and enlarge the building to 63,000 square feet from 48,000. — Daily Hampshire Gazette
AG promises to keep fighting opioid abuse in Western Mass.
AG Andrea Campbell told officials in western Massachusetts that her office will continue to support anti-opioid-abuse projects despite cuts in federal funding, the Recorder’s Anthony Cammalleri reports. “I’m pledging and promising, frankly, that even in the midst of that chaos, we will continue to prioritize everything we need to in this opioid crisis that we’re all grappling with,” Campbell during at a roundtable discussion at Baystate Franklin Medical Center with local politicians, health care professionals and nonprofit leaders. — Greenfield Recorder
ICYMI…The jury selection for the second Karen Read trial is complete, teeing up opening statements for next week. Keeping an eye on Kennealy: the gubernatorial candidate released a statement on Monday committing to “no new taxes” in Massachusetts, and calling on Gov. Healey to do the same. Healey has already said she won’t raise taxes (though her fiscal 2026 budget proposal includes fees on prescription drugs, sales tax on candy and cap on charitable donation deductions). And how, exactly, is Massachusetts’ local pig-to-human organ transplant company entering clinical trials?
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