Beyond a mask mandate, Baker should focus on increasing the state’s vaccination rate and access to free COVID testing, the lawmakers — led by state Sen. Becca Rausch — said in a letter to Baker on Wednesday afternoon. The goal is to protect frontline workers who have been disproportionately impacted by the virus, the lawmakers wrote, and ensure that in-person learning can continue for young students.

Rausch’s testimony was about a bill (S 723) that would require all insurers in Massachusetts to offer coverage for preventive well child visits once a calendar year rather than annually, which is the practice of many insurers and which Rausch said translates in practice to 12 months plus one day. She said it was a problem before the pandemic that has turned into an even bigger problem now.

Rep. Sena and Sen. Rausch both testified before the Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight on behalf of the bills they filed (H 3233 / S 2105) to bring transparency to the civil forfeiture process.

Rausch said Massachusetts “still has much work to do” to ensure all eligible residents are immunized. Disinformation and scare tactics have fueled vaccine hesitancy, in addition to the systemic racism that’s stymied vaccine uptake in communities of color.

Senator Rausch discusses the VOTES Act, an election reform bill designed to make voting safer and easier during the pandemic and expand ballot box access.

State lawmakers toured four farms in Hampshire and Franklin counties on Friday to better understand the challenges facing farming communities in western Massachusetts.

“I also hope that the stories of people’s lived realities, of giving birth in the Commonwealth, hopefully both before and during the pandemic, will show up in the commission’s report.”

Senator Rausch filed a bill requiring K-12 teachers, students, and school administrators to wear masks within school facilities. “With less than a month before our children head back to school, this administration choses to play Russian roulette with the health of Massachusetts students and families,”

"Kids, parents, teachers and school committees have been through enough; they deserve better than weak, unenforceable, nonbinding guidelines that further endanger their health and safety."

Senator Rausch advocates for consistent state-wide guidance on mask wearing in schools in lieu of comprehensive and robust masking policy from the Baker Administration.