| | | | |  | | By Kelly Garrity | MORE MONEY & MORE PROBLEMS — The state’s migrant and shelter crisis overshadowed much of Gov. Maura Healey’s first two years in office. Now it's clearly poised to play a major role in year three, as lawmakers weigh the latest suite of changes her administration is seeking tied to a request for another $425 million to keep the shelter system running. But this time Healey is approaching the issue under changed circumstances, with her decisions now being viewed through the lens of a potential reelection bid as she crosses the two-year mark in office, and under the threat of President-elect Donald Trump’s promised immigration crackdown. And she appears to be changing with them. Healey on Monday ordered an inspection of all state shelters and a “full review” of the state’s intake process, after an undocumented migrant who was staying at a Revere motel that was serving as a shelter site was arrested on gun and drug charges last week. “It’s outrageous that this individual took advantage of our shelter system to engage in criminal activity,” Healey said in a statement Monday, calling for federal action “to prevent criminals from entering our communities.” It’s a markedly stronger response from the governor compared to the one that followed an incident last year in a Rockland shelter, when a Haitian man, who officials said entered the country through a federal program, was charged with raping a teenager. Healey also officially rolled out her latest slate of policies aimed at cutting the still steep cost of the shelter system, hitching plans to phase out the use of hotels and slash the time limits for longer-term stays for families from nine months to six — changes officials hope will bring the total cost for the system down to close-to-normal levels — to the supplemental budget she filed. An earlier proposal to bump up the HomeBASE rental stipend families would be eligible for from $15,000 a year to $25,000 a year didn’t make the cut. Those changes, along with the $425 million she wants to pull from a reserve account to plug the budget gap lawmakers left in shelter funding, will need legislative approval. Whether legislators, who aren’t operating under quite the same level of political pressure as the first-term governor, get on board remains to be seen. A spokesperson for House Speaker Ron Mariano said the House “looks forward to reviewing the Governor’s proposal in a manner consistent with our continued focus on ensuring that [the] shelter system can remain financially viable in the long-term,” while the Senate is waiting to review the spending bill until it makes its way to the chamber, according to a spokesperson for the Senate president. GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Republicans, meanwhile, still want to see the state's right to shelter law amended. "The only real path forward to ending the migrant crisis," said Logan Trupiano, a spokesperson for the MassGOP, "is through amending the right to shelter law to include residency requirements to qualify for emergency shelter." TODAY — Healey is on GBH’s Boston Public Radio at 11 a.m. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com.
|  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | AUDIT BATTLE GETTING UNDERWAY — Days after the ballot question went into effect and in response to a letter from state Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s office, the Senate on Monday moved to create a new subcommittee tasked with taking on the audit effort. The new panel, led by state Sen. Cynthia Creem, will “focus exclusively on the Auditor’s letter of January 3, 2025 and Chapter 250 of the Acts of 2024, and the serious constitutional questions raised thereby,” according to a letter Senate President Karen Spilka sent the Senate clerk. DiZoglio meanwhile started the countdown toward a likely legal battle, submitting requests for specific records from the House and the Senate, for which she’s looking for a response within 72 hours from Monday. “Hopefully, House and Senate leadership will choose to respond [to] our office in a timely manner with responsive records,” DiZolglio said via text. “Right now it seems legislative leaders are instead conspiring to violate the law that nearly 72% of voters passed via ballot initiative.” — “Audit faults agency for lack of Steward oversight,” by Christian M. Wade, The Eagle-Tribune: “Massachusetts hospitals are not being properly monitored by the independent state agency responsible for oversight of their fiscal health, according to a new audit. The report by state Auditor Diana DiZoglio found that the Center for Health Information and Analysis failed to collect audited financial statements from 10 acute care hospitals including bankrupt Steward health Care System, during a two-year period and didn't assess more than $1.6 million in fines from the hospitals for not filing the reports.” — “MassGOP calls on Cape Cod Democrat Rep. Chris Flanagan to resign amid federal probe,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald. — “Massachusetts State Police Capt. smashes OT ceiling with $584K total pay,” by Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald.
| | FROM THE HUB | | — “Chinatown residents fear displacement as a 25-story building proposal moves forward,” by Magdiela Matta, GBH News: “The Asian population of Chinatown has been in decline. In 2000, the neighborhood was 69% Asian, according to U.S. Census data. By 2020, the Asian population had dropped to 56%. [Bingxiang] Ma, a native of Taishan, China, has seen that population shift while living in Chinatown over the past decade. He says a proposal for a 25-story hotel in the heart of the neighborhood is going to push even more longtime residents out.” — “BPS recommending closure of Excel School in South Boston,” by Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald: “The Excel High School in South Boston is being eyed to shut down next year, according to a notification BPS sent out to the school community Monday night. … The school closure may only be one of several impending. [Superintendent Mary] Skipper said the announcement is part of a “package of proposals that includes a number of school closures, a merger, and plans for grade reconfigurations, which, if approved, would go into effect for the 2026-2027 school year.” — “Boston police refused to act on 15 detainer requests from ICE last year,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said the department refused to act on all 15 civil immigration detainer requests submitted by federal authorities last year, citing a city law that shields noncitizens from deportation under certain circumstances. Cox, in a letter to the city clerk filed Monday with the City Council, said the 15 requests were ‘not acted upon per the Boston Trust Act,’ which prohibits BPD and other city departments from cooperating with the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), when it comes to detaining immigrants on civil warrants.”
| | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES | | — “Transportation funding task force nears finish line,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Beacon: “A week after missing its deadline, the governor’s task force on transportation funding is scheduled to hold its final meeting on Tuesday with both Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll in attendance. … It’s unclear whether task force members will take a vote on the report or merely provide feedback. Administration officials have been meeting with some members regularly to refine the language and the scheduled meeting suggests a consensus is forming.”
| | DAY IN COURT | | — “Jan 6. rioters could look forward to pardons with new Trump administration,” by Sarah Betancourt, GBH News: “Extremists who took part in protesting President Donald Trump’s election loss on January 6, 2021, may get an olive branch when the 45th president returns to power. ... Some of those getting a second chance could include more than 40 people in New England arrested in connection to the siege.” — “New rules aim to protect low-income people in Mass. small claims courts,” by Jenifer B. McKim, GBH News: “Tens of thousands of people facing lawsuits from debt collectors in small claims courts in Massachusetts will soon have more protections to assure they aren’t being forced to spend money they can’t afford. New regulations, which go into effect on Feb. 3, require courts to hold payment hearings to make sure low-income people aren’t tapping into legally protected income like disability payments or social security to pay their creditors.” — “Mass. court orders three insurers owned by UnitedHealthcare to pay $165 million over deceptive practices,” by Dana Gerber, The Boston Globe: “Suffolk Superior Court Justice Hélène Kazanjian ruled on Dec. 31 that the companies, HealthMarkets Inc., and two subsidiaries, The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company and HealthMarkets Insurance Agency, must pay $50 million in restitution for Massachusetts consumers and $115 million in civil penalties to the state. The charges are a result of violations to a previous settlement agreement and Massachusetts law.”
| | FROM THE DELEGATION | | — “‘They get to applaud. We had to evacuate.’ Jake Auchincloss reflects on two very different Jan. 6s,” by Jim Puzzanghera, The Boston Globe: “The certification of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential victory proceeded routinely Monday in the House chamber, a methodical announcement of each state’s electoral votes so unexciting that Representative Jake Auchincloss leaned back in his seat at one point and appeared to nod off. ‘Dignified and boring,’ the Newton Democrat said after the 30-minute exercise before a joint session of Congress presided over by Vice President Kamala Harris. ‘Just like it should be.’”
| | MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS | | IN THE WEEDS — Travis Ahern, the new executive director of the embattled Cannabis Control Commission, spoke with Chris Farone, editor in chief of Talking Joints Memo, about social consumption, lab testing, his view on the role within the commission’s hierarchy and more. Link. — “South Shore marijuana dispensary sues town over contested fees. What the seller claims,” by Peter Blandino, The Patriot Ledger: “A medical marijuana dispensary is suing Hanover, claiming the town improperly collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in "community impact fees" without identifying specific impacts or documenting how it spent the money, as required under state regulations.”
| | FROM THE 413 | | — “Springfield School Committee discusses adding asst. Superintendent,” by Jeanette DeForge, MassLive. — “Christopher J. Donelan announces retirement as Franklin County sheriff,” by Domenic Poli, The Greenfield Recorder: “There’s about to be a new sheriff in town. Christopher J. Donelan has announced he will retire at the end of the month, ending a 14-year tenure that saw the Franklin County Jail and House of Correction transform from a typical facility focused on incarceration to one with a trauma-informed treatment model.” — “We may be seeing 'a lot of little snowstorms,' but they're still eating up Berkshire snow removal budgets,” by Jane Kaufman, The Berkshire Eagle.
| | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — “Gaza ceasefire petition on Tuesday's Worcester City Council agenda,” by Toni Caushi, Telegram & Gazette: “A petition calling for a Gaza ceasefire will be on the City Council agenda Tuesday, about a month after the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts sent city officials a letter expressing concern that council rules had been unlawfully applied to keep the petition off the agenda in October.” — “Fishermen may not like offshore wind, but some work for it,” by Anastasia E. Lennon, The New Bedford Light: “A fishing boat named Saints and Angels sat docked at Leonard’s Wharf after a recent fishing trip. Ice covered some of the deck as a man cut into the boat’s steel side to create a door for scientific buoy deployment. Nearby vessels were being worked on, some with anti-offshore-wind flags whipping in the wind. Just the American flag flew on the Saints as Tony Alvernaz climbed up to the wheelhouse.” — “Fire chiefs: EMS response in N. Central Mass. 'on verge of collapse' after hospital closing,” by Henry Schwan, Telegram & Gazette: “Calling the situation a crisis, fire chiefs in the Nashoba Valley area of northern Worcester County are calling on Gov. Maura T. Healey to lend a helping hand. They want Healey's administration to include $9.6 million in the state’s forthcoming supplemental budget to help pay for emergency medical response stretched thin since the Aug. 31 closure of Nashoba Valley Medical Center.” — “Salem reevaluates crowd safety measures in wake of New Orleans terror attack,” by Michael McHugh, The Salem News.
| | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | TRANSITIONS — Matt Chilliak is joining state Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s office as an external affairs officer. He previously served as campaign manager for Rep. Seth Moulton and director of Moulton’s Serve America PAC. — Susan Elsbree has been promoted to executive vice president of public relations and Brian Domoretsky was elevated to executive vice president of public affairs at Benchmark Strategies. — Former Boston School Committee member Mary Tamer, who most recently served as executive director of Democrats for Education Reform MA, has launched a new education policy and advocacy organization dubbed MassPotential. She’s serving as the group’s executive director. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Yohannes Abraham and Jeff Gulko. Happy belated to Ashley Bittner, who celebrated Monday. 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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