LYNN — House Speaker Ronald Mariano and Senate President Karen E. Spilka announced Monday that the Massachusetts State House will reopen to the public on Feb. 22, and Lynn lawmakers said they welcome the return to Beacon Hill.
State Rep. Daniel Cahill (D-Lynn) said he was glad to return to Boston and that the public could once again enter the building.
“It will be exciting to meet newly elected officials face to face,” said Cahill. “Any time there is a return to normalcy it is a welcoming and exciting feeling.”
Visitors and staff are required to wear a mask and show proof of vaccination or receive a negative-test result to enter the State House.
Cahill, who serves on the working task force to reopen the State House, said he and other representatives spoke with public-health officials and studied COVID-19-case data to come up with the requirements for public visitors and State House officials entering the building.
He also said the task force deliberated to ensure that showing proof of vaccination was a constitutional practice.
“The data on vaccinations and infections are trending in the right direction,” he said. “We consulted with officials on not just health issues, but constitutional issues that allow for proof of vaccination at the State House.”
State Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) said he thought the mask and vaccination mandates were fair and ensured lawmakers’ and visitors’ safety.
“We have had staff at the State House for quite some time,” Crighton said. “I welcome the reopening and the ability to come back safely.”
Though Lynn lawmakers approve of the requirements, Gov. Charlie Baker told reporters on Monday that he disagreed with the vaccine requirement but still wanted to open the building to the public.
“Every other state building in the commonwealth is open for business. I think this one should be open, too,” Baker said. “I don’t think this building needs a vax mandate, but I’m in a different position than my colleagues.”
The Massachusetts State House closed to the public in March 2020 to coincide with the state’s shutdown of schools and businesses due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lawmakers and staff worked from home throughout the year and in-person hearings transitioned to a virtual format.
In the summer and fall of 2021, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont began to open their capitol buildings to the public once more — due to an initial decrease in COVID-19 cases at that time.
Massachusetts kept its capitol building closed throughout the year, even as municipal buildings in Lynn, Peabody and Boston reopened earlier that year.
The State House remained closed to the public for more than 700 days. During that period, Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin held external tours of the building while he and Baker called upon the House and Senate to draft a reopening plan.
The lack of public access raised questions about transparency and led to a protest on Feb. 9, when nine individuals peacefully entered the Ashburton Park entryway of the building to protest the restrictions.
State Rep. Peter Capano (D-Lynn) said he would have liked to return to the State House back in 2021, but he was happy that hearings on legislation have become more accessible online.
“People can navigate online all the hearings now,” he said. “I’m not going to judge what other people think. I think it is reasonable to check for vaccination proof when they visit the State House.”
