New Law Extends Some Massachusetts Pandemic-Era Policies

Gov. Charlie Baker

BOSTON (AP) — Some pandemic-era policies that had expired on Tuesday, such as allowing restaurants to offer take-out cocktails, were quickly extended Wednesday after Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill sent to him by state lawmakers.

The new law would also let government bodies continue to hold virtual public hearings and temporarily extend some protections for tenants facing eviction.

Those protections briefly expired after the coronavirus state of emergency was lifted in Massachusetts on Tuesday. It had been in place for more than a year.

Two other pandemic-era policies, the expansion of early voting and mail-in voting, were not extended.