| | | | |  | | By Kelly Garrity and Mia McCarthy | NO-BLAME GAME — Massachusetts’ Democratic leaders are walking a fine line with the Biden administration when it comes to asking for help with the state's migrant surge. Last week, Gov. Maura Healey implored federal officials to begin expediting work permits for asylum-seekers, describing the situation in the Bay State as “a federal crisis of inaction that is many years in the making” in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. But Healey was careful to avoid calling out President Joe Biden by name during the press conference where she declared a state of emergency over the influx of migrants. Just look at what could happen if she did: New York City Mayor Eric Adams said this spring that “the president and the White House have failed” the city over the migrant crisis. Now Adams — who, like Healey, had been tapped as a surrogate for the president’s reelection campaign — is on the outs with Biden world. He admitted last week that he hasn’t spoken to the president once this year. For Healey, a new Democratic governor who’s been building her relationship with the Biden administration through her liaisons and several trips to Washington, following Adams’ lead could be damaging. The Biden administration has barely budged on the politically thorny issue, casting the situation as a national immigration problem that requires a congressional solution. But Sen. Elizabeth Warren is also pressuring the executive branch to speed up the work authorization process. “We have people here in Massachusetts who desperately want to work. … They want to support themselves,” Warren said during an interview on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large.” “Matching that, we have employers desperate for those workers, who are saying ‘I need them, I’ll send a van over to pick them up, can they start now?’” Yet Warren blamed the work permit woes on good old-fashioned government bureaucracy. Mayorkas, who Warren said she calls so often “I’m beginning to think we’re on speed dial over this,” is facing budgetary and staffing limitations as his team tries to manage immigration issues — including work authorization — nationwide. “But even so, this is one of those — we could make lives better,” Warren said. “We can make our economy better, if we could just get the paperwork freed up and let people get to work.” GOOD MONDAY MORNING MASSACHUSETTS. TODAY — Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Rep. Richard Neal and state and local officials attend a groundbreaking ceremony at the Holyoke Veterans Home at noon. Neal attends the opening of Valley Springs Behavioral Health Hospital at 10:30 a.m. PROGRAMMING NOTE: Lisa is taking a well-deserved vacation (enjoy the beach Lisa!) so we'll be in your inbox for the next week. Tips? Scoops? Birthdays? Weird Dunkin' orders? Email us at kgarrity@politico.com and mmccarthy@politico.com and give us a follow at @KellyGarrity3 and @Reporter_Mia.
| | | | A NEW PODCAST FROM POLITICO: Our new POLITICO Tech podcast is your daily download on the disruption that technology is bringing to politics and policy around the world. From AI and the metaverse to disinformation and cybersecurity, POLITICO Tech explores how today’s technology is shaping our world — and driving the policy decisions, innovations and industries that will matter tomorrow. SUBSCRIBE AND START LISTENING TODAY. | | | | | |  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | — TAX HAUL SHORTFALL: “After years of surpluses, Massachusetts collected roughly $600 million less in taxes over the past fiscal year than it expected, state officials said Friday, greatly reducing a planned deposit into the state’s savings account and leaving a potential nearly $180 million budget gap to plug," the Globe’s Matt Stout writes. “The vast majority of the shortfall, roughly $593 million, involved lower than expected capital gains taxes, a volatile revenue source. The shortfall will drive down planned deposits into the state’s emergency savings account, a retirement trust fund, and pension liability fund, with the biggest hit coming to the first one — the so-called Rainy Day Fund — which will get a $750 million infusion.” The revenue shortfall could throw a wrench into tax relief talks. But for now, neither the House nor the Senate is signaling how the lower tax haul will play into the negotiations. “While negotiations are ongoing, the House remains committed to providing taxpayers of all income levels with responsible, permanent relief,” a spokesperson for House Speaker Ron Mariano told Playbook. And on the Senate side: “The conferees are continuing their work on the tax relief bill and we look forward to a report that provides tax relief to workers, families, and residents all across the Commonwealth,” a spokesperson for Senate President Karen Spilka said in a statement. — “As Healey built her administration, the executive branch workforce swelled,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “The headcount at the agencies and departments under the governor’s control has ballooned by hundreds of employees since the Democrat took office in January and by nearly 1,700 in the state fiscal year that ended in June, the largest one-year spike within the executive branch in at least a decade, according to a Globe analysis of state data.” — “Lawmakers Pushing For Override of Guv’s “‘Needlessly Cruel” Budget Veto,’” by Alison Kuznitz, State House News Service (paywall): “Lawmakers who championed state support for a suicide prevention program for young people are lobbying their colleagues to restore funding that Gov. Maura Healey slashed from the fiscal 2024 budget, calling the governor's cut ‘needlessly cruel’ and its impact ‘unnerving.’” — “State Funding Aids Mental and Physical Health in Marblehead,” by Ryan Vermette, ItemLive: “The Marblehead Counseling Center and Redd’s Pond have each received $25,000 in funding after the Massachusetts fiscal year 2024 budget was passed last Thursday.”
| | | FROM THE HUB | | | — “Tour of Roxbury’s Clifford Playground: A no-show from Boston City Council,” by Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald: “The city’s Parks and Recreation Department led residents from Roxbury and other nearby neighborhoods through a two-hour tour of Clifford Playground on Saturday, but no members from the City Council attended.”
| | | | DON’T MISS POLITICO’S TECH & AI SUMMIT: America’s ability to lead and champion emerging innovations in technology like generative AI will shape our industries, manufacturing base and future economy. Do we have the right policies in place to secure that future? How will the U.S. retain its status as the global tech leader? Join POLITICO on Sept. 27 for our Tech & AI Summit to hear what the public and private sectors need to do to sharpen our competitive edge amidst rising global competitors and rapidly evolving disruptive technologies. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | The Race for City Hall | | — FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Unite Here Local 26 has endorsed Enrique Pepén for District 5 Boston city councilor, over incumbent Ricardo Arroyo and challengers Jean-Claude Sanon and Jose Ruiz. The hospitality workers union backed Arroyo in the Suffolk County district attorney’s race last year, but pulled its endorsement amidst the resurfacing of decades-old sexual assault allegations that Arroyo denied.
| | | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES | | — “More than a year after T cut service because of overworked dispatchers, MBTA remains short of hiring goals in Operations Control Center,” by Laura Crimaldi, Boston Globe: “The staffing problems for heavy rail dispatchers reached a critical point last June when the MBTA reduced weekday service on the three lines to Saturday levels after the Federal Transit Administration found dispatchers were sometimes working 20-hour shifts. The ranks soon dwindled when three veteran heavy rail dispatchers retired last summer, according to MBTA Retirement Fund records. The T responded by mounting an aggressive campaign to recruit dispatchers for heavy rail. But after 14 months and a reduction in the job qualification requirements, the agency remains short of its hiring goals for the control center.” — "Massachusetts’ goal to reduce driving lags behind other states,” by Talyor Dolven, Boston Globe: “Electrifying cars will not be enough to avoid the worst effects of climate change; we also need to drive less. And yet Massachusetts’ goal for reducing driving is less ambitious than those of other states, according to a Globe analysis.”
| | CAMPAIGN MODE | | — “Kamala Harris visits Martha’s Vineyard for two fund-raisers,” by Samantha J. Gross, Boston Globe: “Vice President Kamala Harris swung through deep-pocketed Martha’s Vineyard this weekend, hitting two fund-raising events, then enjoying an overnight stay on the island.”
| | | DELEGATION | | | — “McGovern’s PLANT Act would increase research, production in plant-based food industry,” by Alex MacDougall, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Saying that now is the time to embrace the ‘enormous potential that plant-based foods have to strengthen our economy and our food system,’ U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern has introduced a bill in Congress that aims to strengthen the American plant-based food industry, including in western Massachusetts.”
| | MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS | | — “CCC Ready to Take Input on Rewritten Cannabis Industry Rules,” Sam Drysdale, Statehouse News Service (paywall): “A swath of regulatory changes are coming to Massachusetts' cannabis industry, including measures to clear the way for people with past criminal records to work in marijuana shops and to allow all cities and towns to eventually host cannabis cafes.”
| | FROM THE 413 | | — “Work to start on $483 million veterans’ home rebuild in Holyoke; big investment spurred by COVID-19 tragedy,” by Jim Kinney, MassLive: “Gov. Maura T. Healey and others will gather Monday in Holyoke to celebrate the start of work to erect a new Holyoke Veterans’ Home, kicking off five years of demolition and construction at the facility that used to be called the Soldier’s Home.” — “Debating Main Street redesign: Despite criticisms, city says project in the best interest of the community,” by Alexander MacDougall, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Dubbed by current and former city officials a ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity, an ambitious plan to redesign Main Street that began more than three years ago continues to be met with skepticism by several business owners and residents who worry that the project will hurt downtown more than help it.” — “Northampton police incident sparks rally at City Hall,” by Juliet Schulman-Hall, MassLive: “An incident in which a Northampton police officer pulled a 60-year-old woman, Marisol Driouech, from her car and tackled her to the ground sparked a protest outside Northampton City Hall.”
| | | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | | — “One insurer is pulling back here after Mass. voters said dental insurers must pay more to dentists. Will others follow?” by Jon Chesto, Boston Globe: “Guardian is informing customers that it will no longer sell dental insurance to Massachusetts businesses with fewer than 25 employees after Dec. 31, though it will continue to provide them with other insurance products.” — “Harvard, UMass, Tufts update college applications after Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action,” by Hilary Burns, Boston Globe: “Newly barred from considering race in admission decisions, Harvard University and other selective universities have revamped the essay portion of their application process to allow applicants to show how culture, experiences, and community have influenced their identities, world views, and ambitions.” — “Maura Healey, Kim Driscoll view North Andover flood damage,” Melanie Gilbert, Lowell Sun: “Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll visited North Andover on Friday, to tour small businesses that suffered property damage from Tuesday’s torrential rainstorm that led to catastrophic flooding in both homes and businesses.”
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