Chamber News

MassLive – Massachusetts public health officials on Sunday reported that 1,508 more residents have tested positive for COVID-19 and another 30 have died from the virus. Since the pandemic hit the U.S. about a year ago, at least 568,616 Bay State residents have tested positive for the coronavirus and 16,311 have died, according to the state Department of…

State House News – The unemployment rate in Massachusetts fell to 7.8 percent in January, and revisions to 2020 estimates have pinpointed the highest spike of pandemic-era joblessness to last April, labor officials announced Friday. The January rate dropped 0.6 percentage points from the revised December rate of 8.4 percent, and it stands 1.5 percentage…

Boston Globe – Child-care providers, whose shoestring survival has been tested by the pandemic conditions of the past year, are not only getting a belated lifeline from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan but also a sudden show of appreciation for their essential role to the economy. The beleaguered Massachusetts child-care system is expected to reap…

State House News – The new federal stimulus is expected to funnel billions of dollars to Massachusetts for state and local government aid, education and transportation funding, and direct payments to more than three million families. Passage of the American Rescue Act that will provide state governments with direct federal aid for the first time…

Boston Globe – Governor Charlie Baker has been called to testify at a second legislative oversight hearing exploring Massachusetts’s COVID-19 rollout, according to state lawmakers, who intend to drill down into his administration’s decision to entrust a handful of private companies with running its seven mass vaccination sites. The March 23 hearing will explore what lawmakers…

Boston Globe – More than 400,000 Massachusetts residents pre-registered for COVID-19 vaccine appointments by Friday evening, even as the state sought to do more to reach people of color and immigrant communities. Launched around 3 a.m. Friday, the state’s new preregistration site prompts users with a series of questions to sort eligibility, and takes just a few minutes…

New York Times – President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan on Thursday, enacting a nearly $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package with benefits including another round of stimulus payments, an extension of unemployment benefits and generous tax breaks to low- and moderate-income people. When will my stimulus check arrive? The Treasury Department said that stimulus payments began arriving in bank…

State House News – On the heels of House action last week, the Massachusetts Senate plans on Thursday to advance a bill laying out new unemployment system costs and tax breaks for businesses, a new emergency paid sick leave benefit, and new tax relief for low-income workers. “We are aware of the timely and sensitive nature of…

Every week the construction contractors for Contract No. 2019-01 – Downtown Area Wastewater Treatment Facility and Effluent Disposal, Daniel O’Connell’s Sons, Inc. and Contract No. 2019-02 – Downtown Area Collection System and Pumping Stations, Robert B. Our Co., Inc. provide a “two-week look ahead” that summarizes anticipated construction activity in the planned project area. Contract…

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation continue to create, update, and evolve our COVID-19 vaccine resources and programs to ensure you and your members have the information you need to navigate this critical phase of the pandemic response and get back to business.Please continue reading below for the latest vaccine guides…