 and welcome I'm James Milan and I am here for a legislative update with our state senator Cindy Friedman Cindy how are you good how are you James I'm doing okay I was just realizing just before we went on air that this is in fact the third time that we're getting to talk to you we try and talk to you every quarter as you know and this is the third time we're talking to you under COVID because we we snuck in right away after the lockdown in March and then low and behold six months later so tell us a little bit how are things going how how how has anything changed if if it has for you in these six months I crave a human direct contact with people other than my family who I love so I can say that's that's changed but it's kind of the new normal and I think we're all just you know trying to figure out how to keep going under these circumstances and but work's being done things are happening so the world certainly hasn't stopped right and his work being done I mean you we spent a little bit of time in our other conversations just talking about how is how are you getting the work of the state house done under these circumstances and it's been obviously a lot of zoom meetings just like we're doing now and some adjustments made I think to the processes and the way that you you just do the work you do but has that has that basically did that come into place you know at the beginning of the of the lockdown and and been pretty much the same or if it have there been any changes of significance in just the way you're doing things in the Senate well I think it certainly has evolved because we did we done some major bills since I think you know since the beginning of the pandemic only done of health a big health care bill we did an echo dev bill we did a criminal justice bill echo dev is what I'm sorry economic development I'm sorry economic development bill and I know I'm missing something but so those have taken you know that's caused us to do business in a different way because they're much more deliberative and much more involved there's lots of amendments to those bills so there's how do you how do you set up a situation where a deliberative body gets to deliberate together but they can't be together so that's been a challenge and something that I think people work very hard to continue so that that work can get done and then we're going longer so usually we're done formal sessions at the end of July at the end of two years but that's not the case this time we're going to be continuing we've budgets to do we have several conference committees on major bills that are working to get those bills done so we'll be working further and that's that we'll be working longer into the session and that's different let me ask you like to talk in terms of the work that you're you know that has been going on and is anticipated like to ask you first about any legislation that you are particularly connected to either as you know as a sponsor or in some other way that is you know has come to fruition is now is now law or or is in the process the big area that I've been working on of course is healthcare and we have done we did a couple of healthcare bills around scope of practice you know scope of practice being allowing different kinds of providers to work to the height of their licensure and I've been very involved in telehealth and also involved in funding for our hospitals and our providers during COVID so we've done we did a big bill around those three areas and along with surprise billing which is an issue that a lot of people it's been very important to a lot of people it's when you get when you go to the hospital maybe for an emergency and you use your provider in your hospital and it's all in your network and then what happens is two months later you get a bill for a thousand dollars because the anesthesiologist wasn't in wasn't in your network but you didn't know it you came in an emergency and so that's something that we've been working on for a long time was around surprise billing and so we did a bill and I am now the lead senate of conference excuse me these are the kinds of things that both participants and audiences have had to get used to right so yes we'll just continue forward let me ask you actually in terms of continuing forward whether you could just tell us a little bit or I'm curious when you say you've been working very involved in telehealth and that was part of this this bill that you are one of the lead sponsors on or at least in terms of the committee that's come together what are you doing is that just expanding the opportunities for people to get services via you know remotely one of the things that we did early on in the in the pandemic is we pushed we actually did a bill on on expanding telehealth access to telehealth and then the governor then did a executive order that said any inpatient any in in person service can be delivered by telehealth during the pandemic during the state of emergency which was our bill and then so what we're doing now is we want to make sure that those opportunities and that access stays in place beyond the state of emergency and so what this part of what this bill is that I am negotiating with the house is to determine how telehealth will continue beyond the beyond the pandemic because it is clear that it is a key piece in the delivery of health care and it is something that has been incredibly successful and we need to continue to make it available all right so good example in fact of that kind of thing which is something I've asked you about before as well in which we're always curious about what kinds of things are come out out of the exigency or urgency of the pandemic that you've realized oh this is a good thing that we want to make sure we kind of instill and you know scope of practice is the same thing allowing nurses for example to work to the height of their licensure which allows them to see patients and be part of the team and and you know do diagnostics and and all of that is really important because it expands expands access to experienced good providers so that's something that we want to continue is to allow that to allow nurses to do for instance nurses to provide health care especially really important in the behavioral health space to have advanced psychiatric nurses be able to treat to treat people is really important yeah and again uh undoubtedly um exacerbated under these conditions um but also necessary in a in a general way um beyond this the this work on around health that you are doing um I just wanted to ask again uh is there stuff either that you are particularly involved in or that may be that may be you know of of particular concern or import to your constituents in the in the five towns that you that you represent so one of the areas that I've been working on is around child care and the so it's fascinating what this pandemic has um brought to light and um there's many things and and and it's certainly we've certainly seen many what the what the fragility of our entire system is and how connected everything is to each other and um one of the big issues is around child care people talk about the getting the economy back and back on track and there's lots of things that we need to do to that but one of the most important um uh aspects of it is making sure that there's adequate high quality child care because people can't go back to work if they can't ensure that their children are going to be safe and taken care of and um we especially now it's really exacerbated because people kids are not going back to school and school has been traditionally you know has provided that provider there is right yeah really good because they're providing education um and lots of work is is built around those hours and now I'm hearing from constituents all over that they and some of them are saying I have to quit my job because I don't have many I my my kids are at home and they're little and the economic impact of that is profound so um I've started I'm now starting to work on that and trying to pull together um a coalition of people administration providers businesses to address how we can provide child care for especially for school aged children um while while schools are hybrid or remote or you know and you know like so many other so many things you know this is an issue for you know some people are very well they're well connected they have you know they've got they're economically secure they can figure out how to put pods together how to share resources it's you know it's it's doable for some people but for so many people so many people those those opportunities aren't available and and it really is the role of government to help figure out help put together solutions to those kinds of problems um so that people can get back to work well you are 100 right there I think and um certainly it does seem like child care is one of those stealth issues that just underlies an awful lot of things that it that get a lot more attention right and that suddenly you take that away and it it turns out to have been a bedrock support for a lot of other again higher things that we're often concerned about it is an issue as you said that that just goes spreads far and wide such that I in my own life it is a constant source of conversation or topic of conversation with lots and lots of people that I know and therefore I am aware of how you know we're our minds are exploding in these conversations as we're trying to figure out what answers are there so you said you have begun to I don't know where you are in the process of of gathering of these various constituencies and areas of expertise to try and figure this out but are you how hopeful are you are people able to generate ideas from what you've seen so far that that may be able in fact to address this in a way that those of us sitting around in our living rooms just haven't you know haven't been able to come up with I think that there is an enormous amount of creative thinking going on I think the issue is it's not that people aren't thinking about it it's that people are very siloed so groups are very siloed so schools look at one thing early childhood looks at another businesses look at another you know and they're all in silos and so all I'm trying to do is say can can we stop siloing this because it's it affects everybody you can't have a solution for employees that don't include business schools have to be involved in how that you know while they're while they are not the providers of childcare and shouldn't be they are the educators and kids are going to school and so how do we all how does this all get connected in a way that serves the kids and then and serves parents who need to get to work so my my goal is just to say hey everybody let's can we can you all sit at the same table because I think that's the only way we're going to figure this out and there is a certain amount we can do and then we can't do more without the help of the federal government and this is so this is just the truth across so much of what this state is trying to do thank god I live in Massachusetts because I think we have done an extraordinary job in dealing with this pandemic and things are not you know things don't always run smoothly it's not always working there are problems but thoughtful people are at the helm they are doing the best they can they are working very hard in in the midst of something that nobody has ever done before they are great at responding they are great at turning the ship around when they have to we're all learning and I don't think I I don't think a state is doing it any better so I'm really grateful for that but there's but if the federal government does not get its act together and they don't start helping states and they don't start providing leadership we will not get through this because we can't make these decisions alone we are not an endless pit of resources we need continuity around certain around certain issues providing health care and rolling out vaccines when we have them or testing that's all part of a federal government's responsibility and we don't have that partner and we've got to get that in place if we're going to get out of this yeah and you're you're encouraging words about you know what is happening here the management of this crisis in Massachusetts and frankly here in Arlington as well oh yeah certainly the numbers bear that out again with the caveat that things can change at any point we all get that if we didn't get it before we sure get it now the numbers do look like like like government action has been and action of citizens compliance etc has been effective right and I don't go whenever I have conversations with the administration which is very often and it's around a lot of the different rollout of of you know COVID kinds of activities I always hear well you know you're Arlington so you got this great public health department you don't have to worry about you you know so where our reputation our public health board of health public health is is well well regarded right but you you did I just want to follow up a little bit on what you were just saying about the fact that there is a massive massive role that the federal government needs to play here and you know we we all have relatively little reason for confidence that that you know that that's going to be happening anytime soon I wonder whether that also is part of the answer to the next thing I want to ask about which is the desperate the increasingly desperate need for some kind of economic development help as as the you know as the as the chickens come home to roost here what we had anticipated and feared from the beginning of the pandemic when you just arrest development so to speak in the way that we've had to we're now seeing the restaurants just not coming back the shops board it up and and again not those doors are not going to reopen etc and the many many people out of work who no longer are getting assistance like they were initially what can you tell us again understanding that there are finite resources within the state you know just give us an update on what is happening you know in the state legislature to address these very very real impacts on so many people there are a number of things that I know about I mean I don't know I mean it's a huge it's a it's a huge issue and as we said before there's so many interrelated pieces in terms of what the legislature is doing I mean we we had a housing bill that where we worked with the administration to stop foreclosures and evictions we need to fix that modify it so that small homeowners landlords small landlords are not you know affected adversely which is what's happening right now and so there's a lot of effort to to address that issue the child care issue is very big and we're trying to fix that so people can get back to work or we're looking at a budget and and we're working on ways that we can kind of use our resources so that we're not doing massive cuts to everyone because when you start massive cutting everything then you just exacerbate the problems so there's a lot of work going on and that's very a lot of work going on around how we can manage our budget while we're waiting and hoping that the federal government will do its job and support the states so we're relaxing some rules that make it harder for people to provide care so you know so that it's less administrative and financial burdens for people to for instance do tell a health I believe that you know we're all sitting around waiting for a vaccine right because if we really want to get back to work we really have to make sure that we have a way of keeping people safe and that's really what's driving this right businesses are closing people are schools are shutting down it's all around the virus okay and I really believe that what we need to be focusing on is much better different kinds of testing so that we can be more nuanced or be I'm not sure what the word is but so that we can let people do their work and get back to their daily lives as long as they are not infectious so one of the things about this virus is that there's so many over 40 percent of the people that have it are asymptomatic okay so they don't know that they have it and that's one of the reasons why it makes it so dangerous because you just start you want to walk around you say I'm fine our tests are very they're like hammers you either got it or you don't have it right but that doesn't tell us what we need to know which is I may have some little pieces of the virus in me but can I give it to you James do I have enough that I can that I can infect you well if I can't then I should be able to go to work I should go to restaurants I should you know like I should go to school we need testing that tells us that if we can be confident that the people who need to be quarantined because they are infectious they can give it to someone else if we can be sure we can quarantine those people and separate them out then the rest of us can get on with with our work and so I think we really need to focus on how we can better test how we can how we can find better tools so that we can not be so have such a blanket reaction which is all we have right now and so that's what we have to do you know our tests are wonderful diagnostic tests but they're not good public health tests and that's what we need so I think we really got to focus on the places that are trying to solve that problem because we're not going to see a vaccine or we're not going to be out of this for quite some time and so how do we continue our lives while we're in the middle of this pandemic I think that's what we need to focus on yeah excellent points actually let me ask you about a couple of issues that are ever present in these days and that touch on Massachusetts and also here in Arlington one of them is the idea and any advancement towards police reforms and I'd like to ask you about first of all just an update on anything that's emanating or potentially so from the state house around this and then I want to ask you about a very specific Arlington issue so let's start with the state house well there's there was there is criminal justice bill that came out of the senate and came out of the house and one the senate one is the house and those are those there's a conference committee that's negotiating the differences in that and I think we'll see some we'll see some progress I think you know certainly in the next three months and you know there's a lot of similarities in the bills and there were some differences and so I think that's I'm not party to the conference committee and I couldn't talk about it anyway even if I was so I can't tell you much more than that but I know that there's there's there's certainly common ground and then there are some things that need to be worked out and obviously I think you're familiar with the fact that you know several years ago now a giant omnibus criminal justice reform bill got passed here in in in the state and I assume that this this work that you're talking about is either further advancing some of the things that were were addressed there or dealing with stuff that again has come to seem very very important perhaps in the time since yeah this is it's a focus on law enforcement okay speaking of a focus on law enforcement let me ask you and I understand that here I really because I'm speaking to you in front of your house here in Arlington I imagine that that's where you are and as an Arlington resident more than as a as our state legislator we are about a week away or so from what may be the last step in a process that restorative justice process for Lieutenant Rick Petrini here in town on the basis of writings he made a couple of years ago everybody I think is very familiar with this at this point obviously has caused a lot of consternation conversation controversy in town for now a couple of years roiling what is usually a pretty you know again a town in which a consensus is not hard to find most of the time this is clearly been a different story so we may be coming to the end of this again the end of the restorative justice process is an apology and acknowledgement that's set for September 22nd so as an Arlingtonian again what do you think about what you've seen and heard over these last couple of years so I really am speaking as a resident of Arlington because this is a very local issue um I'm deeply disheartened by what's happened um I think the our our ability to vilify people to lose our humanity um in all of this is just it's it's it's striking and it's heartbreaking and you know I listen I I understand you know I'm an elected official and I know there's lots and lots of people out there who've never met me I've never spoken to and they're sure I'm corrupt and dishonest because I'm an elected official and I understand that you know that's probably and I know that there's people that do that like against the police right your policemen say you're bad and you're violent right and we just can't live in a society like that we can't lose our humanity and look I don't care about Rick Petrini we have such big problems to solve and so you know and so much need out there um and and real issues that people need to figure out how to live together um and the focus on whether or not some one person is going to be fired is just it's amazing to me and it's frustrating to me and it's you know and and it it doesn't represent what we ought to be focused on you know and I think the what I find so upsetting is that there's so many good people in this town and they're being screened at and yelled at and um treated badly because they're trying to help solve a problem because they're trying to figure out how do we live together right so you know I am I am somebody who absolutely believes in police reform I think that um we need to be sure that all of our citizens are being treated equally and um and that people have access to justice and fairness but this is a small town okay we know who these people are we know our police um we need to come together we need to stop vilifying um you know not only to stop vilifying people who want to try and make a difference right like the human rights commission who's working incredibly hard to figure out a way to have a conversation we need to stop vilifying them and we need to stop vilifying our police force right um there's bad police there's bad citizens there's bad people there's bad politicians but we can't lose sight of our humanity and we can't lose sight of the fact that I can have a direct relationship with you you are a person I am a person I'm not just a politician I'm not just a policeman I'm not just somebody who's trying to you know to run a human rights commission right and that's what I think has happened is that we there's no common ground anymore there's no middle and frankly James at this point I don't need I don't I don't care about Rick Padrini I don't care what I mean he should be apologizing I think what he did is horrible but whether Rick Padrini stays or goes isn't going to solve the problems that we have in front of us and I it angers me that people are out there and all they're talking about is whether or not we fire Rick Padrini like and then what so that is my rant as a private citizen of the town of Arlington that I love and that I have enormous respect for in a lot of people in and um I really think that if we can just stop yelling at each other and just kind of talk about what matters and how we feel and listen to each other we probably can get we can get pretty far and um I I support all the people in town that are trying to that are trying to solve the problem not just be angry and cause the problems and that's both sides there's no right hey I really appreciate uh your candor and clearly uh the passion um that you feel around this oh I'm sure my phone will start buzzing and people will start screaming at me but you know you know as again hopefully they're screaming at you as neighbors you know as another citizen or not screaming at you at all because I have I have no control over this in Arlington I mean it's not my it really is me as a as a as just a resident of course speed and you know uh while we're on the subject of things you don't have control over as a state legislator um let me just ask you because I think there might it might be useful to clarify if there is any role as people wrestle in community after community with with school reopening what form is it going to take how are we going to keep it safe how are we going to balance the competing interest same thing's happening here in Arlington as everywhere else um people might think or look to the state legislature to provide guidance and leadership around here or think that there's a role I think there's not oh oh please illuminate the the situation for us well certainly the um the state has standards and requirements for delivering education um how that is delivered and um you know the whole air issues around school openings and um hybrid learning remote that is really a local decision and you know that's how our that's how our system is set up I mean every every district has its teachers they have their own contracts um they make their own local decisions um about how things are you know rolled out they have requirements that they have to report you know etc to the state but that all the reopening is is it's a local decision and so unless we want to change that and make you know or you know take away that um the um local control over it and maybe there's reasons to or not I mean that's the discussion a separate discussion that I don't know enough about the kind of way in on this is what we got and um so we can recommend the department of education can recommend certain things they can um but they're not they're they're not the cities and towns get to make the ultimate decision and it's a very very very very difficult decision and um like every like pretty much everything in this pandemic there's no good answer there's less bad answers and there's really bad answers but you know a good decision this is really hard and I know that towns cities and towns everywhere my district across the board across the state are struggling with this and it's just critical that there be good communication and that the communication continue I mean that's you know but I don't know what else I mean the state can certainly provide support and um they can have requirements but it's really up to the cities and towns how they are the local school districts how they are going to handle this particular thank you um as usual I've kept you talking for quite a while here um and let me just ask you before we close uh if there is anything either we've somehow left out though it has been a wide-ranging conversation obviously um or that you particularly just want to highlight that's in the works uh gonna be you know something people can anticipate any and anything that fits into that broad category of a we should say something about this before we sign off well like I do want to say that I think the state's been great in the um legislature and the administration you know we have kept um the local um local contributions and chapter 70 we've kept them we've not cut them and we've sort of given a slight inflation increase and so I think that's a great thing for a real relief for our communities and certainly something that I support I think there's a lot of work being done to ensure that um we use our resources so that we're not cutting um really vital programs and um I'm the vice chair of this of senate ways and means so I know that that works going on and I am hopeful at least for FY 21 that we can figure out how to um you know creatively use our resources so that we're not cutting and that we're not necessarily affecting our rainy day fund so I think that's um that's a good effort um I know can I ask you Cindy sorry for the interruption but I realized that I meant to ask you something about this before you mentioned the rainy day fund and you mentioned that it is so that it is not affected too much you know I'm not sure I think we would all agree that it's a rainy day we haven't faced a crisis like that like if this is not a rainy day right so so what do you mean by that like what is the approach with that pot of money um it's it there's really competing interests right I mean one is you have a rainy day though this is the way I look at it one is that you have a rainy day fund because you have a rainy day and you need to use it but then there's this other separate world of bonding and um and insurance etc that sort of looks and says do you have a rainy day fund right and how big is it and if it's big enough then we we rate you a certain way and those are really compete to me that's kind of competing right um because at some point they ought to give you credit for having had the rainy day fund so that you can actually keep your economy going and you have to imagine they would also have to change their metrics in the face of what we're all dealing with but anyway but this is way way way way way beyond my pay grade so but I what I do think is going on and is important is you really don't you really want to keep that whole as much as you can because I mean I think people feel like in our state for instance you know we probably you know we do have some federal government money we do have some some pots of resources that we might be able to to use or utilize or move around and if we can do that we really don't want to touch the savings um and so I think that's what they're trying to do we have not yet reached that point and if you haven't read all the rest of that right you want to make sure that you haven't reached that point so probably we won't be able to contribute to the rainy day fund in 21 but the question is can we keep it whole and still keep these really essential programs in you know um funded and so I think that's what that's what happens is that you just try everything you can before you just dip into that because then when that's done it then you're really out of resources so right you want to put it off as long as you can one lesson here then is that whether it's chapter 70 whether it's local aid whether it's the rainy day fund the fact that we are holding on our ground uh in this state is an accomplishment it is an accomplishment that takes you know real effort and that we need to kind of celebrate and recognize right or at least breathe a bit of a small sigh for least you know fair enough and you might be breathing a small sigh of relief that I don't have any more questions at this point for you um thank you again for for taking the time today appreciate uh you know the information as always for sure um but also as I recognized earlier the candor and the forthrightness with which you speak to me and to us um I think that I hope that people appreciate that that is not business as usual or what anybody can expect necessarily from their elected politicians all the time um and uh and I do think that the audience appreciates it so on their behalf and on my own thanks for that well thank you thank you for having me and um I'll just forward all the calls I get to you wish all right all right we will talk to you uh sometime in this fall into winter and we wish you the very best okay take care James thank you I've been talking to our state senator Cindy Friedman and Arlington resident proud and uh and long time um I'm James Milan this has been a legislative update as part of talk of the town thanks for joining us we'll see you next time