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Mass. bill would create permanent emergency stockpiles for PPE, meds and tests
Summary
Rep. Richard M. Haggerty filed legislation on Jan. 17, 2025, that would require the Department of Public Health, working with MEMA and other agencies, to establish and manage three separate strategic stockpiles for healthcare settings, education settings and the general public and to report regularly to legislative leaders.
Representative Richard M. Haggerty of Woburn filed a bill on Jan. 17, 2025, that would direct the Department of Public Health, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency and other state agencies, to establish a permanent strategic stockpile of emergency readiness supplies such as personal protective equipment, medications and testing kits for use during public health emergencies.
The bill, House Bill No. 884 (House Docket No. 3695), would require the department to conduct demand planning and stockpile modeling and to create three separate stockpiles: one for healthcare settings (including hospitals, emergency rooms, outpatient treatment centers and primary care offices), one for education settings (public and private pre-K, K–12, technical schools, colleges and universities) and one for the general public to be used during major local, regional, state or national disasters.
Under the proposal, the department must produce a set of recommendations that include the types of supplies to hold in each stockpile, anticipated demand across public health scenarios, recommended quantities, anticipated procurement and maintenance costs, methods to rotate supplies to reduce expiration risk, access mechanisms for municipalities and schools, distribution planning (including emergency dispensing sites and potential mobile distribution programs) and cost‑reduction strategies such as vendor‑managed inventory programs.
The bill sets reporting and oversight deadlines: no less than one year after enactment the department must file a report of its findings to the House speaker, Senate president, the chairs of the joint committee on public health, the chairs of the joint committee on COVID‑19 and emergency preparedness and management, and the clerks of both legislative chambers. Every two years thereafter the department, with MEMA and other stakeholders, must reassess the scenario planning and modeling. The bill also requires quarterly reports to the speaker, the Senate president and relevant joint committees on current supplies and funds on hand for the stockpile.
The legislation directs the department to seek to maximize available federal and state funding for the program and names the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as collaborators for planning and modeling when necessary.
House Bill No. 884 was filed with the House on Jan. 17, 2025, and lists Emergency Preparedness and Management as the committee reference. The bill text notes a similar matter filed in the 2023–2024 session (House No. 732).
