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Legislating during a global pandemic

Black and Latino Caucus members work to support local communities

Yawu Miller
Yawu Miller is the former senior editor of the Bay State Banner. He has written for the Banner since 1988.... VIEW BIO
Legislating during a global pandemic
Mass. Black and Latino Legislative Caucus Chairman Carlos Gonzalez (right) with Caucus members Aaron Vega, Nika Elugardo and Jonathan Santiago. BANNER FILE PHOTO

The halls of the State House may be empty, but the Legislature is buzzing with activity, with lawmakers and constituents participating in hearings and votes from the confines of home offices and living rooms.

Members of the Massachusetts Legislative Black and Latino Caucus say they are faced with an added layer of complexity, dealing with communities that bear a disproportionate number of COVID-19 infections.

“I’ve been dealing with the crises amongst the crisis,” said state Rep. Russell Holmes. Holmes represents the 6th Suffolk District, which includes parts of Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park, where the rates of COVID-19 infections are among the highest in Boston.

Holmes says his office is getting calls from residents and business owners seeking help with government assistance.

“All 200 representatives and senators are dealing with these issues,” he said. “But when the white community gets a cold, we get the flu. This is impacting us much more than the white community.”

Holmes said the Black and Latino Caucus members’ lines of communication with the governor remain open. When the Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued its crisis care standards, suggesting people with conditions such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension be given lower priority for COVID care, Caucus members fired off an angry letter pointing out that such changes would bear a disproportionate impact on blacks, Latinos and Asians who live in low income communities where such ailments are common.

The DPH last week modified the standards.

Caucus members have also pushed the state to release data on the race of people suffering from COVID infections. That call mirrored a push at the federal level spearheaded by U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and at the local level by City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo.

The synergy in those calls is no accident. A group of black, Latino and Asian elected officials at the federal, state, county and local level are holding weekly meetings. Pressley keeps local officials informed of developments at the federal level, while Suffolk County officials Sheriff Steve Tompkins, District Attorney Rachael Rollins and Register of Probate Felix D. Arroyo fill the officials in on conditions in the court system and jails.

Holmes, who convenes the meetings, says they are helpful in coordinating efforts.

“I don’t get a chance to follow everything going on in City Hall,” he said. “Hearing from the councilors is very important.”

Legislative issues

While state Rep. Carlos Gonzalez of Springfield, the Black and Latino Caucus chairman, doesn’t participate in the meetings of the Boston-based officials, he says elected officials of color are doing remarkably well at coordinating efforts and advocacy at the state level. Gonzalez, who is also the founding head of the Massachusetts Latino Chamber of Commerce, says caucus members are advocating for loans for the microbusinesses that make up 80 percent of businesses owned by Latinos and blacks in Massachusetts.

Microbusinesses are those with 10 employees or fewer and less than $200,000 in sales.

“They’re hair salons, barber shops, web developers,” Gonzalez says.

The caucus is seeking $500,000 in aid for such businesses.

Gonzalez said the caucus is also advocating for the expansion of community-based COVID-19 testing sites. Blacks and Latinos work in many of the occupations with high rates of infections, such as nursing home attendants, personal care attendants and grocery workers.

Gonzalez says he has found Gov. Baker and the legislative receptive to the caucus members’ concerns.

“The issues we’ve bought to the forefront have been addressed in a manner we think appropriate,” he said. “The leadership has been working with us. They hear our concerns and they’re helping us address them.”

Rep. Nika Elugardo agrees. When she was working to build support for legislation to support people on public assistance, sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Decker, legislative leadership helped with the drafting of the bill.

“People are working hard to figure things out,” she said. “We keep figuring out more things our constituents need.”

Legislators will soon be convening to work on the fiscal year 2021 budget. With the shutdown of businesses and the hollowing out of the state’s economy, the deliberations could be challenging. Already, state officials are expecting a shortfall of more than $4 billion in the remainder of this fiscal year’s budget. Next year’s will be even more difficult.

“We’re going to do all we can to make sure people are getting as much support as they can from the state,” Elugardo said.