Senate President Karen Spilka plans more legislation to address issues at Soldiers’ Home
Matt Murphy | State House News | May 27, 2021
BOSTON — Senate President Karen Spilka said Thursday she expects to see legislation filed to address the failed governance of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home that led to the deaths of 77 veterans from COVID-19, but she did not call for Gov. Charlie Baker to be forced to testify before the Legislature.
Spilka issued her statement three days after a special legislative committee tasked with reviewing the March 2020 Holyoke Soldiers’ Home outbreak filed its report blaming the Baker administration for failing to address the poor leadership of former Superintendent Bennett Walsh.
Walsh’s hiring was not something fully explored in an outside investigation by former federal prosecutor Mark Pearlstein, who was hired by Baker. Spilka said she was “disturbed by the inconsistencies” in the Pearlstein report compared with other news accounts, but did not echo other lawmakers this week — including Sens. Jamie Eldridge and Eric Lesser — who said Baker should be called to testify.
“The Commonwealth — and especially the families of the veterans who died in the COVID-19 outbreak — deserve answers to those questions. With several active investigations currently ongoing, we expect Governor Baker and his Administration to be forthcoming on the legitimate questions that are being asked,” Spilka said.
The Democratic leader also said the Senate “remains fully focused on dramatic, drastic, and swift governance reform to our veterans’ services to ensure the tragedy that occurred in Holyoke never happens again.”
“We expect to file, and hold a public hearing on, a reform bill with expediency. We look forward to hearing from, and working with, stakeholders to ensure these vital reforms become law,” Spilka said.
Earlier in the week, House Speaker Ron Mariano similarly said he did not think it necessary to call Baker to testify.
“I don’t think there’s any need for us to do another hearing, to go over and regurgitate the same facts. I think our report stands for itself,” the Quincy Democrat has said.
Rep. Linda Dean Campbell, who helped lead the legislative inquiry, said she and he co-chair Sen. Michael Rush have started drafting legislation based on their report, which recommended, among other reforms, ensuring that the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home superintendent to be a licensed nursing home administrator.
Baker recommended reforms last session, but lawmakers opted not to act on them while they were exploring the wider set of issues involved in the Holyoke Home outbreak and the home’s management and oversight.
During a press conference at Barnes Air National Guard Base on Thursday, Baker dodged a question by a reporter with The Republican asking specifically whether he planned to offer formal testimony on the matter.
“I drew many of of the same conclusions as the Pearlstein report and made several of the same recommendations,” Baker said. “I have a feeling that because we do need to move forward with some of the reforms — both the ones that were recommended by us and Pearlstein and the ones that were recommended by the Legislature … I fully expect we’re going to continue to be discussing this thing going forward.”
The Republican’s Jim Kinney contributed reporting.