#2021-28 November 19, 2021

Judiciary Committee Holds Public Hearing on RUFADAA

Earlier this week, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary held its second public hearing of the session on family and probate issues. Included in its extensive 34 bill docket were two Association-filed bills to establish a formal procedure allowing for the access to digital assets of decedents.

The identical bills, H 1749 & S 1033, add the uniform law commission’s revised uniform fiduciary access to digital assets language – or RUFADAA – to the laws of the Commonwealth. RUFADAA governs access to a person’s online accounts when the account owner dies or can no longer manage their affairs.

Under the proposed legislation, the powers of a fiduciary, such as the executors of a decedent’s estate, trustees, conservators, and agents under a power of attorney, are extended to include management of digital assets. Specifically, the bill allows fiduciaries to manage digital property like computer files, web domains, and virtual currency, but restricts a fiduciary’s access to electronic communications such as email, text messages, and social media accounts unless the original user consented to fiduciary access in a will, trust, power of attorney, or other record. If passed, Massachusetts would become the 46^th state to adopt RUFADAA.

To read the Association’s RUFADAA testimony, click here.

ARPA Talks Stall; Surplus Spending May Wait Until 2022

The House and Senate went into their mid-session recess on Wednesday evening without finalizing a plan to spend more than $3.8 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funding and state surplus tax dollars, after negotiators failed to reach a deal on a consensus bill.  The completion of legislation to spend billions of dollars from the state's share of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) had emerged as a major goal before the legislative break with leaders in both branches expressing their desire to put a bill on Gov. Charlie Baker's desk before Thanksgiving.

While legislative leaders have stated they are not giving up on passing a bill in the coming weeks, the process becomes more challenging, since the legislature will not be in formal sessions again until early 2022.  During the informal sessions that are expected to be held over the next two months, an objection from just one legislator can block a bill from advancing.

As we reported previously, both the House and Senate have passed plans to spend roughly $3.82 billion from a combination of ARPA funds and surplus state tax dollars from fiscal year 2021 to stimulate the economy, support workers and businesses, and invest in infrastructure projects, public health and other priorities. Before either branch debated its bill, the two sides had agreed to spend $500 million on a bonus-pay program for low-income essential workers and to invest $500 million in the state's depleted unemployment insurance trust fund, taking some of the financial burden of rebuilding that fund off employers.  However, the final versions of the bills had differences in how House and Senate Democrats preferred to prioritize the federal relief and state surplus revenue.

Governor Baker’s Approval Rating Rebounding

According to a new UMass Amherst/WCVB poll released this week, Gov. Charlie Baker's approval rating has increased as he determines whether to seek a third term in 2022.  The poll states that 56 percent of residents support the job Baker is doing and 69 percent say Massachusetts is the same or better off than it was prior to the governor taking office in 2015.

The number is down from the 78 percent peak he reached in August 2020, but he is up four percentage points from March when UMass and WCVB conducted a similar survey.  Gov. Baker has not yet decided if he will run again next year, but he is potentially facing competition from both the left and right with three Democrats and one Republican so far in the gubernatorial race.

The poll also shows Baker continuing to struggle with members of his own party, particularly conservative Republicans, while Democrats and independents consistently have a higher opinion of the governor.  Only 41 percent of Republican voters said they approved of the job Baker was doing and 49 percent said he had fallen short of their expectation, compared to his 65 percent approval rating among Democrats and 48 percent among unenrolled voters.

To view the UMass Amherst/WCVB poll, click here.

Unemployment Rate Increases to 5.3 Percent

The Massachusetts unemployment rate rose again in October to 5.3 percent even as employers reported adding 25,000 jobs last month.  The increase comes after the state posted a 5.2 percent rate in September and is now 0.7 percentage points above the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) national rate of 4.6 percent.

Job growth accelerated in October, with preliminary estimates of 25,000 jobs gained compared to the revised figure of 13,500 positions added in September.  Last month's largest private sector job gains were in professional, scientific, and business services (9,700), leisure and hospitality (4,900), and educational and health services (4,900).  BLS estimated that Massachusetts gained 197,200 jobs between October 2020 and October 2021.