News: Beacon Hill returns to unfinished business

Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Beacon Hill returns to unfinished business

Sep 05, 2023

With help from Kelly Garrity

ENDLESS SUMMER VACATION — Lawmakers appear in little rush to return to their unfinished business on Beacon Hill, even after their slow start to this session just got Massachusetts labeled the least effective state Legislature in the country.

Massachusetts lawmakers introduced the third-highest number of bills of any state in 2023, according to FiscalNote’s report on the most effective state legislatures.

But they've enacted fewer laws than any other state this session. In fairness, the report doesn’t appear to take into account that Massachusetts legislative sessions run for two years and that lawmakers stuffed major policy changes into the state budget.

Still, legislators left some big-ticket items on the table when they broke for August recess. Here’s where they stand:

— BUDGET VETOES: Lawmakers in both chambers are pushing for override votes on some of the $205 million in spending Gov. Maura Healey vetoed from the budget, including money for nonprofit security grants, prostate cancer research, community action agencies and the Samaritans-run youth mental health text line “Hey Sam.”

Legislative leaders appear open to restoring at least some of that funding. “We’ll certainly have discussions with the House,” Senate President Karen Spilka told Playbook in an interview. “‘Hey Sam’ is important. Mental health has been a really important issue for me. I think that program has been successful. … The security grants are also important.”

— TAX RELIEF: Lawmakers left a $581 million hole in the budget for an eventual deal on tax breaks as talks dragged through a second summer. Spilka said tax relief is “top on my agenda” and she’s “hoping that we can get it done and get it to the governor’s desk as soon as possible.”

But that appears to be the only deadline direction that Democratic leaders have given the negotiating teams led by House and Senate Ways and Means Chairs Aaron Michlewitz and Michael Rodrigues. Spilka wouldn’t say whether she wants a deal done by the time formal sessions end for the year on Nov. 15 (though she did tell WCVB’s “On the Record” that she thinks it can happen).

Michlewitz also wouldn't commit to a timeline "because it's an open negotiation” with talks expected to ramp up post-recess. “We all want to see it finished as quickly as possible," he told Playbook. "But there are still some differences that we have to iron out.”

— GUN RULES: House Speaker Ron Mariano’s push to pass sweeping new firearms regulations before August break fell apart after a procedural stalemate with the Senate and concerns from within his own caucus about the contours of the legislation. He told Playbook in a statement that “the House will continue to pursue a comprehensive update to the Commonwealth’s gun safety laws” in the fall.

But the Senate is now crafting its own gun bill. At Spilka’s direction, Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Stone Creem has been meeting with members and activists to solicit input on potential legislation. Spilka said senators are “taking a look” at strengthening regulations around “ghost” guns and devices that can turn semiautomatic weapons automatic, as well as how to “strengthen our data collection” on gun crimes and the sources of firearms.

Public opposition to the original House bill is growing. Cheshire’s select board and police department slammed the proposed legislation as “an unjust persecution of our mutual constituents” in a letter late last month. Gun Owners’ Action League signs urging people to contact their state representative to “STOP BILL HD.4420” have popped up on lawns from North Adams to Somerville.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Fall election season kicks off today with preliminary city council and school committee contests in Worcester and special primaries for Rhode Island’s open congressional seat.

Keep an eye on the Ocean State, where 13 candidates are running to replace former Rep. David Cicilline. The 11-way Democratic contest has made headlines for its scandals, from Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos’ potentially fraudulent nominating signatures to WPRI’s reporting on alleged inappropriate conduct by Don Carlson that led him to drop out last week. But it’s also reignited longstanding divisions on the left in Rhode Island. Whoever wins the Democratic primary will likely be the next representative in this safe blue seat.

TODAY — Spilka and state Sen. Lydia Edwards talk tuition equity programs at 7:30 a.m. on “El Mundo Boston.” Rep. Lori Trahan highlights federal funding at noon at Fitchburg City Hall.

Tips? Scoops? Help get us back up to speed on all things #mapoli after our summer hiatus: lkashinsky@politico.com and kgarrity@politico.com.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

Gina Fiandaca

Outgoing Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca speaks at a Sumner Tunnel press conference with Gov. Maura Healey and other government officials. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO

WHILE WE WERE OFF — The Sumner Tunnel reopened. Gov. Maura Healey announced she's losing a Cabinet member. Here’s what you missed:

— Gov. Maura Healey activated up to 250 National Guard members to help provide basic services to families, including migrants, who are staying at hotels serving as emergency shelters. The governor is also launching regional response teams to help oversee overburdened shelter sites, the Boston Globe’s Matt Stout and Sean Cotter report.

— Healey's transportation secretary, Gina Fiandaca, is leaving after just seven months on the job for an unknown destination, CommonWealth’s Bruce Mohl reports. Fiandaca steps down Sept. 11 but will remain in an advisory role through the end of the year. Monica Tibbits-Nutt, the Department of Transportation's second-in-command, will take over the top job on an acting basis. Neither Healey nor Fiandaca would answer reporters’ questions about why the latter is leaving and where she might be going next at a press conference on the reopening of the Sumner Tunnel last week. Healey did, however, thank Fiandaca for “an intense and great seven months.”

— Out-of-state housing advocacy group Housing Is A Human Right donated $50,000 to the ballot question committee behind the new effort to repeal the decades-old ban on rent control, the Boston Herald’s Chris Van Buskirk reports. Attorney General Andrea Campbell is set to certify tomorrow which ballot questions can proceed.

— The state’s highest court said former Assistant Attorney General Anne Kaczmarek should be disbarred over the state drug-lab scandal, per WBUR’s Deborah Becker.

— Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the rise, per the Boston Herald’s Rick Sobey.

— Boston Mayor Michelle Wu launched a Substack blog.

— Former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is outspending nearly every person running for mayor across the commonwealth, even though the former labor secretary and current NHLPA head isn’t on the ballot, the Boston Globe’s Matt Stout writes.

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— ALSO ON THEIR AGENDAS: Senate President Karen Spilka wants to give legislation expanding access to early education and child care another go. Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano want to tackle high health care costs. But neither would commit to Playbook to bringing forward bills on those issues before the end of formal sessions on Nov. 15.

— “Gov. Healey’s ethics disclosures offer more details on out of state trips this year,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “In 13 disclosures filed between February and July, Healey outlines areas where various organizations paid for her travel, lodging, and entrance to events. In one of the disclosures, she details actions she would take to prevent a conflict of interest with her brother, who is employed at Cisco Systems.”

— “Governor Healey seeks pardons for four more, continuing her early flex of clemency power,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “Governor Maura Healey on Thursday recommended four more people be pardoned for convictions including drunken driving, robbery, and assault, adding to what was already the most recommendations in the first year of a governor’s term in four decades."

FROM THE HUB

— MASS AND CASS MESSAGE: Four Boston city councilors are calling on Mayor Michelle Wu to declare a state of emergency in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard to give the city "more flexibility to respond" to worsening conditions there.

The Wu administration’s response: pass the ordinance the mayor filed that would make it easier for the city to clear tent encampments in the troubled corridor. The Boston Globe’s Daniel Kool has more.

— “City, firefighters reach tentative contract agreement, Wu says,” by Sean Cotter, Boston Globe: “Mayor Michelle Wu and the city’s firefighters union hammered out a new labor contract, the mayor announced Monday in a surprising move following an acrimonious process to wrap up one of the last major open labor agreements."

A notable nugget from the Dorchester Reporter’s Gintautas Dumcius: The deal was reached Sunday night in the back room of Brendan Behan Pub in Jamaica Plain.

Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of the first episodes in September – click here.

THE RACE FOR CITY HALL

— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Former Rep. Joe Kennedy III is endorsing his former district coordinator, Enrique Pepén, to be Boston’s next District 5 city councilor. Pepén “has always put the needs of the people he seeks to serve first,” Kennedy said. Pepén has been pulling in big-name endorsements in the run-up to next week’s preliminary election, with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and the Boston Globe editorial board backing him over embattled incumbent Ricardo Arroyo and challenger Jose Ruiz.

— ENDORSEMENT CORNER: The JP Progressives steering committee is recommending its members endorse Councilor Kendra Lara for a second term despite "concerns" over the late June car crash for which she faces charges.

“We ultimately believe that Councilor Lara understands the gravity of the mistakes she made and has expressed to us appropriate remorse, and we are trusting in her commitment to making amends,” steering committee members wrote in a memo to the larger group, which has until Friday night to vote on whether to follow their recommendation. Lara, they wrote, is still “the best choice to represent our progressive priorities" in the District 6 race.

— Rep. Lori Trahan has endorsed Haverhill City Councilor Melinda Barrett for mayor, calling her a “tireless advocate and relentless fighter” for city residents. Barrett has also been endorsed by Auditor Diana DiZoglio, state Rep. Andy Vargas and former state Rep. Linda Dean Campbell as she vies to be Haverhill’s first female mayor and first new mayor in two decades.

— “Attleboro school committee candidates differ on student book policy,” by Jim Hand, The Sun Chronicle: “Three candidates in contested races for the school committee want to impose restrictions on student access to library books that may contain sexual or homosexual content."

— “All-white City Council in diverse [Revere] could see shakeup in election,” by Tréa Lavery, MassLive.

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Brockton superintendent said he ‘overspent’ schools budget, but defends handling of finances,” by John Hilliard, Boston Globe: “The Brockton schools superintendent Sunday defended his handling of the city’s schools budget — after local leaders learned of a roughly $14 million shortfall in last fiscal year’s budget just days before classes resume — denied any fraud, and said he was acting in the best interests of students and staff."

— More: “'Madness has got to stop': Brockton school board launches investigation of $14.4M deficit,” by Chris Helms, Brockton Enterprise.

— “Lawrence officials troubled by scam $2.7M payment, lack of details,” by Jill Harmacinski, Eagle-Tribune: “The payment, believed to be related to two multi-million [dollar school] building projects in the city, is now under investigation by local and federal authorities, officials confirmed this week. It’s unclear if the city will be able to get the money back.”

— “Mass. Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira again denied pretrial release in leaked document case,” by Phil Tenser, WCVB.

— “DPH rejects UMass Memorial plan, delays closure of Leominster maternity ward,” by Isabel Tehan, Worcester Business Journal.

— “Child labor at Dunkin’ highlighted in Mass. AG’s Labor Day work violations report,” by Will Katcher, MassLive.

— “Police chiefs ‘disappointed’ in POST Commission disciplinary list omissions, inaccuracies,” by Peter Currier, Lowell Sun.

— “The mayor and the felon; two Springfield stories intertwine over the social impact of state’s bail system,” by Stephanie Barry, Springfield Republican.

MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

— CORNER-OFFICE CONTEST: Republican state Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut said he won’t run for New Hampshire governor in a Union Leader op-ed.

— FITN FIX: Vivek Ramaswamy and former Vice President Mike Pence got creative in avoiding each other at the Salem GOP Labor Day Picnic yesterday as their debate-stage discord spills onto the campaign trail, Adam Wren and I report.

And former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is picking up support — from Democrats. Mia McCarthy and I have more on that.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Molly Sullivan starts as VP of government affairs at MassCPAs.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Nicole Herendeen of Benchmark Strategies, Michael Ratty, Jen Flanagan and Guillermo Samuel Hamlin.

HAPPY BELATED — to John Cruz of Everytown for Gun Safety, who celebrated Aug. 31, and to Roger Reed and Emily Armstrong, who celebrated Monday.

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