| | | | |  | | By Kelly Garrity | FOR YOUR PLANNER — January is shaping up to be a busy month in politics on Beacon Hill and beyond. The Legislature returned last week, kicking off the new session in a New Year’s day ceremony that offered a preview of some of the priorities legislative leaders will push over the next two years. The voter-approved law giving state Auditor Diana DiZoglio the power to audit the Legislature took effect Friday, and DiZoglio is giving lawmakers until today to respond to her request for records. And in D.C., members of Congress will meet later today (blizzard or not) to officially certify President-elect Donald Trump’s victory. Expect the process to be kind of a snooze compared to four years ago. There’s likely more newsy events on the way. Here’s a few more days to keep an eye on this month: Jan. 14 — Needham will overtake Milton as the new front-line for the MBTA Communities Act battle as voters head to the polls to vote on a new housing plan that complies with the zoning law. The town is currently considered “out of compliance” with the law, per the Needham Observer, making it ineligible for some state grants. The referendum only affects one town, but it’s worth watching for a couple reasons: It’s only the second referendum borne from pushback to the law – the other was the one in Milton, and that ended up sparking a legal battle that’s threatening to unravel the law. And it’ll be a test of the power of One Commonwealth Inc., the nonprofit Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll founded last spring to back policies that would help build new housing in the state. The group is organizing a phone banking session tonight and canvassing this weekend to get Needham voters on board. Jan. 15 — The date by which budget writers have to set the consensus revenue number – in other words, determine how much money they expect to have to divy up in their Fiscal Year ’26 budgets. It will offer a road map for them to follow as they set their priorities for the year. Jan. 16 — Healey marks the halfway point in her first term with her State of the Commonwealth address. Expect a preview of what policies might make it into the governor’s budget and maybe a victory lap to cap off her first full legislative session. The speech will also give Healey a platform to test an early draft of her campaign message – and rehash what she has accomplished in her first two years – ahead of a possible reelection bid next year. And it’s a chance for Republicans, who are planning to follow her speech with their own rebuttal, to remind people what she hasn’t accomplished – as they lay the groundwork (more on that below) to challenge her. Jan. 17 — The bill filing deadline in the Legislature. Another round for legal happy hour? The revival of rent control legislation or a housing transfer tax? Lawmakers will have until 5 p.m. to file (or refile) the bills they hope might make it through this session. Jan. 20 — Trump returns to the White House. The former president has laid out policies he says he plans to enact on “day one” — including mass deportations, pardons for people convicted in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. Jan. 22 — The deadline for Healey to file her budget, one that could address several of the financial questions the state is facing: the MBTA’s looming budget crisis, uneasiness over future federal funding (plus $2.5 billion in unemployment insurance the state may owe the feds) and the future of funding for the still costly shelter system. GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Former MassGOP Finance Chair and potential gubernatorial candidate Mike Kennealy has stepped down from his role chairing the party’s legislative support fund as he “transitions to explore other opportunities to advance our values and policies across the Commonwealth,” the party announced in an email to supporters over the weekend — an early step in the long road toward a possible campaign launch. Former MassGOP Party Chair Jennifer Nassour, who already took over Kennealy’s role as finance chair, will also now steer the legislative support fund, according to the email. TODAY — Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll speaks at Peabody’s mid-term inaugural ceremony at 7 p.m. at Peabody City Hall. 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 | | — “Feds investigating Cape Cod Democrat for ‘potential criminal activity,’ local police say,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Federal prosecutors are investigating a Democratic state representative from Dennis Port and his election campaign after local police received a report that alleged ‘potential criminal activity,’ the Barnstable Police Department said in a statement Friday. The Barnstable Police Department said it received a report alleging ‘potential criminal activity’ involving Chris Flanagan and the ‘Chris Flanagan for State Representative for the 1st Barnstable District’ campaign in October 2024.” — “Are the Berkshires delegation to the Statehouse taking the new 11 percent pay raise? We asked all four,” by Heather Bellow, The Berkshire Eagle: “Members of the Massachusetts Legislature are about to get a raise. All four members of the Berkshire delegation say they will not refuse the 11.39-percent salary bump for lawmakers ordered by Gov. Maura Healey effective Jan. 1. The raises will increase their $73,655 base pay from last year up to $82,044 in 2025. State Sen. Paul Mark, as well as state Reps. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, John Barrett III and newly elected Leigh Davis told The Eagle that they will accept the raise and the boost to the expense and travel stipends that are part of it.” — “State weighs sliding scale for vet tax breaks,” by Christian M. Wade, The Eagle-Tribune: “Massachusetts boasts some of the most generous benefits for disabled veterans and their families, including state and local tax breaks, yearly annuity payments, tuition assistance and hiring preference. Those benefits are set to be expanded even further under a bill signed into law in August by Gov. Maura Healey, which also allows local governments to double property tax exemptions for qualifying disabled veterans without legislative approval.” — “Boys talk’ in the bathroom: Ex-state employee’s legal fight amid sexual misconduct allegations,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “State Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s office is embroiled in a lawsuit with a former employee who claims he was forced to resign amid threats to his life but attorneys for the state say sexually harassed a coworker, court documents show. At the heart of the dispute is a Sept. 27, 2024 meeting between the employee, Kehinde Olatunji Adedeji, and two officials from DiZoglio’s office, General Counsel Michael Leung-Tat and Executive Deputy State Auditor Stephen Lisauskas, that ended with Adedeji’s departure. In court documents filed in Suffolk County Civil Court, Adedeji alleges he was coerced into resigning his position as an auditor because he suspected the two officials ‘may kill me on that day in the office at One Ashburton Place.’”
| | | FROM THE HUB | | — “Boston Family Days program kicks off at Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum,” by Alexa Coultoff and Ava Berger, The Boston Globe: “Boston Family Days, a program offering students in grades K-12 free admission to some of the city’s top cultural and historic institutions twice a month, kicked off Sunday at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. … The Gardner is one of three new institutions, along with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and the Museum of African American History to take part in the program, which marks an expansion of the BPS Sundays program enacted last year.” — “‘Serious ethical violations’: Former Cannon-Grant attorney suspended after ‘failure’ to meet responsibilities,” by Flint McColgan, Boston Herald. — “Boston police sergeant fired after antivax protests sues city, alleging wrongful termination,” by Camilo Fonseca, The Boston Globe.
| | MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | |
— “Trump staff accuse Gov. Healey of ‘lawlessness’ on immigration,” by Samuel Gelinas, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Pro-immigrant nonprofits, organizers, and politicians from across the state are bracing for a second Trump presidency as they seek to protect the state’s undocumented population — and a letter recently addressed to Gov. Maura Healey may give glimpses into the reality of challenges ahead, which may include lawsuits and jail time for those disregarding federal immigration laws. In a six-page email dated Dec. 13, the conservative legal group America First Legal, founded in 2021 by Trump’s incoming deputy chief of staff and Homeland Security advisor Stephen Miller, accuses Healey of ‘lawlessness,’ warning that the governor and members of her administration are ‘at significant risk of criminal and civil liability,’ due to what it sees as the commonwealth’s intent to blatantly violate federal law.”
| | | THE RACE FOR CITY HALL | | | — “City Councilor Sweeney announces run for mayor,” by Paul Leighton, The Salem News: “City Councilor Brendan Sweeney announced Thursday that he is running for mayor, kicking off the new year with an early challenge to longtime mayor Mike Cahill.”
| | | DATELINE D.C. | | | THOU DOTH NOT PROTEST — Dozens of House Democratic members boycotted Trump’s first inauguration back in 2017. But some who protested the president-elect’s ceremony the first time around are reversing course this year, POLITICO’s Ally Mutnick reports this morning. Among the initial boycotters planning to attend the ceremony this time around: Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, who rose to leadership between Trump’s two terms.
| | IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN | | — “Vineyard Wind meets one 2024 deadline, misses another,” by Anastasia E. Lennon, The New Bedford Light: “Vineyard Wind made mixed progress on its wind farm at the end of the year, meeting one deadline while missing another. It installed the last of 62 foundations for its wind turbines, a new map shows, pounding the remaining pieces into the seafloor before a New Year deadline, when pile driving is restricted through May. But the project missed its former goal of being fully operational by 2024, and has quite a bit of work ahead in 2025.”
| | FROM THE 413 | | — “Springfield School Committee selects new vice chair,” by Jeanette DeForge MassLive: “The School Committee voted in a change in leadership with members unanimously selecting LaTonia Monroe Naylor as their new vice chairwoman. Monroe Naylor, who has been an at-large member since 2018, replaces Joesiah Gonzalez, who decided not to run again. Gonzalez nominated his fellow board member for the position.”
| | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — “Framingham is step closer to getting regional justice center. Here's what happened,” by Tom Benoit, The MetroWest Daily News: “Framingham officials took to the State House on Friday to celebrate progress on a regional justice center and to raise a new flag that recognizes Framingham's status as a city. Mayor Charlie Sisitsky signed over the former Danforth Art Museum building on Union Avenue to the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance in order to make way for construction of a regional justice center.” — “South Coast Rail will soon connect Fall River, New Bedford to Boston, but some are wary of the impact,” by Akanksha Goyal, The Sun Chronicle.
| | WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD BE READING | | — “Here’s one chain that won’t be on the new Mass. Pike menu: Chick-fil-A,” by Jon Chesto, The Boston Globe: “Tom Menino would be smiling about this situation with the Mass. Pike rest areas, if he were still alive to enjoy it. Buried deep in rules for bidders looking to redevelop the Pike’s 11 service plazas, and seven others, is this provision: All restaurants in the repurposed rest areas will need to open for business seven days a week. Presumably aimed at ensuring travelers don’t go hungry, the language effectively blocks one of the biggest fast-food chains in the country: Chick-fil-A, after all, stays true to the traditional values of the family that owns it, and keeps its locations closed on Sundays.” — “Cambridge body camera program moves forward 2 years after police shooting of Sayed Faisal,” by Tori Bedford, GBH News.
| | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | TRANSITIONS — Alec Scicchitano is joining the British Consulate General in Boston as head of politics, press, and public affairs. He was previously a legislative aide for now state Sen. Dylan Fernandes. Meredith Coolidge is the new political director at the Massachusetts Charter Public Schools Association. She previously served as campaigns manager for Democrats for Education Reform. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Sarah Blodgett, communications director for state Senate President Karen Spilka; Natalie Boyse, Âri de Fauconberg, Sean Costello and Mark Hyman. 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.
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