| | | | |  | | By Lisa Kashinsky and Kelly Garrity | FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Diana DiZoglio’s push to audit the Legislature lives to fight another day. The ballot question that could give the auditor explicit authority to probe the Legislature’s practices and procedures has enough certified signatures (more than 94,000) to continue advancing toward the 2024 ballot, DiZoglio confirmed to Playbook. It’s expected to be on the list of certified ballot questions that Secretary of State Bill Galvin submits to the Legislature today. “This was only able to be accomplished thanks to people rolling up their sleeves and courageously taking action — despite some legislative leaders’ bullying tactics to try and get them to back down,” DiZoglio said in a statement to Playbook.
|  Auditor Diana DiZoglio, a former lawmaker, says she's trying to increase transparency in the chambers in which she once served. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO | “To those Beacon Hill insiders who seem to think this fight is with the auditor’s office: You’re not fighting us,” she continued. “You’re now fighting people from the neighborhoods you claim to represent.” Those lawmakers could again stand in DiZoglio’s way. Top Democratic legislative leaders — whose refusal to comply with DiZoglio’s initial attempt to crack open their books prompted the ballot question — will now have four months to decide whether to pass the measure (highly unlikely) or take no action on it (more likely). Or they could try to negotiate an alternative to keep the ballot question from going before voters. That’s what lawmakers did in 2018 when they struck a deal to raise the minimum wage, require paid family and medical leave, and mandate a summer sales-tax holiday. This crop of Democratic legislative leaders doesn’t have a great track record with deadlines. But while auditing the Legislature might seem like lower stakes than, say, bumping people’s pay up to $15 an hour, top lawmakers who’ve dismissed DiZoglio’s proposed probe as unconstitutional and a waste of taxpayer dollars might consider it worth the effort to meet her at the negotiating table. To that, DiZoglio said, “My door is always open.” The Legislature might not be DiZoglio’s only hurdle. If lawmakers stand down, the auditor and her unlikely coalition of political opposites would have to collect another 12,429 signatures to get on the ballot. And the effort could still draw legal challenges, as ballot questions are wont to do. GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Tips? Scoops? Planning to challenge a ballot question in court? Email us: lkashinsky@politico.com and kgarrity@politico.com. TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll have no public events. DiZoglio attends Methuen’s municipal inauguration at 5:30 p.m. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is on “Java with Jimmy” at 9 a.m.
|  | MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | | GETTING TO WORK — The number of migrants in the state's emergency shelter system who are authorized to work in the U.S. more than tripled from Dec. 12 to 28, the Healey administration said in its biweekly report to lawmakers. Some 2,713 adults who entered the state as migrants, asylum seekers or refugees reported that they’ve been approved to begin working here, a jump from 813 a month ago. It's an early sign of the success of the work authorization clinics the state and the feds ran here in November. More than 1,390 families have applied for emergency shelter since the state hit the Healey administration's self-imposed 7,500-family capacity limit for the system on Nov. 10. There are 391 families on the waitlist.
| | | BIDEN TIME | | | HEALEY LENDS A HAND — Gov. Maura Healey is headlining an organizing call Thursday evening for the campaign to write in President Joe Biden’s name on New Hampshire’s presidential primary ballot. Biden’s allies are banding together across state lines to convince potentially tens of thousands of voters to jot down the president’s name later this month after he passed on participating in the primary amid an intraparty spat over the nominating calendar. Healey, a New Hampshire native, is the latest Biden surrogate to throw her political weight behind the effort, after Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and California Rep. Ro Khanna. She’ll help recruit Bay Staters to help in New Hampshire on primary day during the virtual event organized by Massachusetts-based Democratic operatives Joe Caiazzo and Nick Clemons, who are aiding the grassroots effort stood up by Biden’s allies in New Hampshire. Reps. Seth Moulton and Bill Keating have also sent emails promoting the event.
| | FROM HARVARD YARD | | GAY RESIGNS — Claudine Gay is stepping down as Harvard University's president after facing accusations of plagiarism and backlash over her controversial testimony during a contentious House hearing on antisemitism on college campuses. Gay’s historic six-month run atop Harvard — she's the first Black woman to lead the university, and her tenure is now the shortest in the school’s history, according to The Harvard Crimson — was beset by controversies over the Israel-Hamas conflict. Gay was one of three university presidents whose congressional testimony on antisemitism on college campuses went viral after they each equivocated over whether calls for genocide against Jews violated their schools’ codes of conduct. Only one of the presidents, MIT's Sally Kornbluth, remains in her post. But it was the plagiarism accusations — dug up and promoted by conservative activists — that ultimately became Gay’s undoing. While conservatives in Congress and beyond cheered Gay’s departure, Massachusetts’ Democratic leaders with Harvard ties — many of whom condemned Gay’s testimony last month but stopped short of calling for her ouster — were silent yesterday. — “Who is Alan Garber, Harvard’s interim leader?,” by Daniel Kool and Elizabeth Koh, The Boston Globe: “Alan M. Garber, a physician and economist who as provost helped guide Harvard University through the COVID-19 pandemic, was named interim president Tuesday.” — "Harvard governing board, activists say former president was a victim of racism," by Bianca Quilantan, POLITICO.
| | 2024 WATCH | | | | 
Secretary of State Bill Galvin determined the ballot orders for Massachusetts' presidential primary in a random drawing. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO | LUCK OF THE DRAW — Chris Christie and Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) will have top billing on the state’s Republican and Democratic presidential primary ballots, respectively. Biden and self-help guru Marianne Williamson will follow, in that order, on the Democratic ballot. Christie is followed on the Republican side by Ryan Binkley (“whoever that is,” Secretary of State Bill Galvin said), Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. It’s unlikely all of these candidates will still be in the running by Super Tuesday. But Trump, who continues to crush the GOP field in early state and national polls, is expected to be. And Galvin predicted he’d make it onto Maine’s ballot, too, despite Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows' decision to dump him from the primary slate — thanks to a law that requires states to mail absentee ballots to overseas and military voters at least 45 days before federal elections. In order to print and send them on time, Bellows needs to finalize the ballots within the next seven to 10 days, Galvin told reporters yesterday. And so it’s unlikely Maine will be able to keep Trump off the ballot, given that his campaign has appealed the decision. ANGLING FOR A REMATCH — Mara Dolan is making another run for Governor's Council after narrowly losing a fraught 2022 Democratic primary to incumbent Marilyn Devaney, a longtime member of the board that vets judicial nominees.
| | FROM THE HUB | | — “Boston City Council starts new year with pay hike to $115,000,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “The Boston City Council is kicking off the new year with an $11,500 raise, a bump that will increase each council member’s salary from $103,500 to $115,000. The raises were approved by the City Council in November of last year, but only became effective on Jan. 1, per state ethics laws, which dictate that all pay hikes have to go into effect after the next election for a given position.”
| | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES | | — “Gina Fiandaca no longer employed by Healey administration, official confirms,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Former Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca is no longer employed in Gov. Maura Healey’s administration, ending a roughly three month run as a senior adviser, a position she took on after unexpectedly stepping down from her cabinet-level post.”
| | FROM THE DELEGATION | | — “Massachusetts Democrats call for removing Cuba from terror list,” by Rafael Bernal, The Hill: “A majority of the Massachusetts congressional delegation is pushing President Biden to remove Cuba from a list of governments that sponsor terrorism, a designation issued in the waning days of the Trump administration.”
| | | THE RACE FOR CITY HALL | | | A LOOK BACK AT PACS — More than a dozen super PACs poured $815,014 into local races last year as outside groups tried to exert influence over municipal contests. Nearly a third of that total was spent by Forward Boston PAC, seeded mostly by New Balance Chair Jim Davis. The PAC spent $279,171 last year, mainly to support the more moderate candidates on the ballot in Boston’s City Council election. Bold Boston PAC, funded by a quartet of unions, spent another $93,432 on the race — the third most out of the super PACs that played in last year’s municipal elections — helping lift three Mayor Michelle Wu-backed candidates to victory. Hispanic Latino Leaders NOW, a super PAC funded primarily by former Springfield School Committee member and East Longmeadow businessman Cesar Ruiz, spent the second most, distributing $159,892 mainly among candidates in Springfield and Haverhill. More on HLLN from Matt Szafranski at Western Mass Politics and Insight.
| | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — “Simmons and McGovern return as mayoral team after Cambridge inaugural is disrupted by protest,” by Marc Levy, Cambridge Day: “The New Year’s Day inaugural for the Cambridge City Council brought city councillor E. Denise Simmons back as mayor after a six-year gap and councillor Marc McGovern as vice mayor, as he was for Simmons in that 2016-2017 term. The ceremonies … were interrupted by a 20-minute protest about the Middle East that came just as the first councillor was headed to the dais to take the oath of office.” — "Springfield City Councilor Tracye Whitfield a no-show at New Year’s Day inauguration," by Stephanie Barry, Springfield Republican: "City Councilor Tracye Whitfield, often at odds with Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and some of her council colleagues, opted to be sworn in at City Hall earlier Monday morning before the mass swearing-in at the nearby venue." — “Western Massachusetts loggers, environmental activists await state forest management policy,” by Bella Levavi, Greenfield Recorder.
| | MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE | | SWITCHING IT UP — Christie has lost a member of his New Hampshire steering committee to Haley. Tom Boucher, a prominent restaurateur who was named as one of Christie’s top supporters in the Granite State just last month, said Tuesday on “Fox & Friends” that he’s now with Haley. “Love Christie” but “I want a winner,” Boucher said in an email to Playbook. Boucher’s defection isn’t totally surprising — he’s an ally of New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who’s backing Haley. But it’s not a good sign for Christie — who’s already facing calls from attendees at his campaign events to drop out and get behind Haley — with just three weeks until the primary. Christie’s campaign brushed off Boucher’s flip as just one voter.
| | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | TRANSITIONS — Paul T. Dacier has joined Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, as partner in Boston. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to former MA-03 candidate and former state Sen. Barbara L’Italien, Ralph R. Isberg, Taylor Bolton and Ana Victoria Morales. Happy belated to Andrew M. Weiss, who celebrated Tuesday. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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