State Treasurer And Auditor Mandate Vaccines Or COVID Tests For Employees

State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and Auditor Suzanne Bump will require all state employees under their authority to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or be subject to weekly virus testing, becoming the first statewide elected leaders to implement stricter vaccination rules for state employees as they return to the office.

"It's very clear that the Delta variant is unlike anything we've seen before and because of that, but also because we would like to go into our hybrid work environment, we want to ensure that everyone's safe," Goldberg told GBH News Thursday.

Goldberg said the order will alleviate employees' anxiety and fears about returning to the workplace without knowing the vaccination status of their colleagues.

"This is not a decision that was taken lightly, but is one that we believe is necessary to uphold our value of keeping the well-being of staff members a top priority," Bump wrote to her Auditor's office employees in an internal email.

Gov. Charlie Baker has said he opposes mandatory vaccinations for state employees, while Attorney General Maura Healey, a potential Democratic opponent next year, has called for vaccinations for state employees who deal with the public.

Asked if the rest of state government's leaders should follow her lead, Goldberg said she "would rely on them to make those determinations themselves."

"But of course the more people who are masked and the more who are testing, the better off we all will be," Goldberg said.

The Treasury consists of Goldberg's central staff, the Lottery, the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, Asian American Commission, Massachusetts School Building Authority, State Retirement Board, Clean Water Trust, pension investment board and several other divisions.

"We want to network, we want to interact with each other, but we also want to ensure a safe environment," Goldberg said.

Goldberg said the Centers for Disease Control's newest facial covering guidance, which recommends masks indoors for vaccinated and unvaccinated people in high-transmission areas, lead to her decision to mandate vaccines or testing in her own nearly 800-person staff.