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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Happy Tuesday! I hope you got some time off yesterday.
KENNEDY AND MARKEY TO MEET ON DEBATE STAGE — Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III will meet on the debate stage for the first time tonight in Brighton. The prospect of a blockbuster Senate race shocked political watchers here when Kennedy announced his campaign in September, but the contest has faded into the background with the presidential primary in full gear. That's certain to change tonight.
The Kennedy-Markey debate comes after months of discreet maneuvers — a tweet here, an endorsement there. And both candidates have at times tried to paint themselves as scrappy underdogs, while racking up support from key colleagues in the House and Senate. Playing the part of the underdog, Markey called on Kennedy to debate him in the fall, holding a climate-focused forum with former Senate candidate Shannon Liss-Riordan, which Kennedy declined to attend.
Over the weekend, Kennedy pointed to his second-place performance in the state's first wave of Democratic caucuses, which his campaign says typically favor incumbent lawmakers. That's true, but as a member of the state's beloved political dynasty, and who has a double-digit lead in early polls, Kennedy is no ordinary primary challenger.
When Kennedy and Markey square-off tonight, two topics to listen for are climate change and money in politics. Markey is the co-author of the Green New Deal resolution, which he has made a centerpiece of his campaign. His advocacy has helped him draw the support of young, passionate Democratic activists. But Kennedy has signed onto the Green New Deal and introduced an environmental justice bill in the House last week, so keep an ear out for his response on the environment.
On the issue of money in politics , Kennedy and Markey for months have disagreed over how to handle outside spending in the Senate primary, which could be one of the most expensive primaries in the country in 2020.
Kennedy is needling Markey again this morning, hours before they meet on the debate stage. Kennedy released a new video , first reported in Playbook, calling on Markey to sign a so-called People's Pledge to limit outside spending in the Senate race before the debate begins. Markey was a proponent of the pledge when he first ran for Senate back in 2013.
"We're just a few hours away from our first debate here in Massachusetts for the Senate race and I couldn't be more excited," Kennedy says in the video. "I'm calling on Sen. Markey to once again sign the People's Pledge, the same pledge that he signed in 2013 and 2014 to keep dark money out of politics."
Kennedy has pressed Markey to sign the pledge for months — he even held a signing ceremony with Liss-Riordan before she dropped out, which Markey declined to attend. Markey countered with a pledge that would allow groups deemed to be positive voices, like environmental or reproductive justice groups, to spend money on a candidate's behalf.
"When we start coming up with carve outs for voices we like, it means that you create carve outs for voices you don't. Massachusetts is better than that," Kennedy says in the video. "I hope Sen. Markey will sign that pledge."
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — Boston Mayor Marty Walsh speaks at The Base in Roxbury, speaks at the Age Strong Commission's Black History Month celebration, and visits Chinatown for lunch and a business walk. Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III debate at WGBH in Brighton. Rep. Jim McGovern holds a round table in Webster.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Hands-free law in Massachusetts: Patrols, educational outreach planned but no 'stings' like law enforcement has done in other states," by Scott J. Croteau, MassLive.com: "The hands-free law in Massachusetts begins Feb. 23 and police across the state are prepared to enforce it. Motor vehicle drivers who are 18 years old and over can only use electronic devices and mobile phones in hands-free mode and can only touch the devices to activate the hands-free mode. Drivers are not allowed to hold the phone or touch the phone to text, email, use an app or search the internet. Drivers under the age of 18 cannot use any electronic devices and all phone use while driving is illegal including hands-free mode."
- "State suspending farm food benefits program," by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: "AT A MONTHLY WINTER FARMERS market run by Roots Rising in Pittsfield, shoppers can buy apples, canned tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, onions, and winter squash. A shopper using SNAP benefits can spend $1 to buy $2 of produce under the state's Healthy Incentives Program, or HIP. But as of Feb. 24, shoppers on public benefits will no longer get that extra money. The state is suspending HIP for the winter, with plans to restore it May 15. State officials say the program - which doubles the impact of SNAP benefits when produce is bought from a participating farm - is a victim of its own success and has outgrown its budget."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "In Dorchester, he's Frank. In increasingly progressive City Hall, call him Councilor No," by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: "He's the District 3 city councilor from Dorchester, the go-to guy to get your streets plowed, your parks cleaned. Frank Baker won a competitive campaign for office in 2011 with a platform of putting constituents first, and since then has coasted through four re-elections. Lately though, the 52-year-old has found himself in the minority — sometimes totally alone — amid an unprecedented surge of progressivism on the Boston City Council. He spoke out against rent control, voted against regulating the short-term rental industry, and opposed a new tax on high-end real estate deals."
- "Roxbury's Dudley Station To Be Renamed Nubian Station," by Fausto Menard, WBUR: "MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak has accepted a recommendation to change the name of Dudley Station in Roxbury to Nubian Station. Poftak ordered MBTA staff to develop a schedule and plan to update station signage, MBTA maps and schedules, and the MBTA's website in the coming weeks and months at the recommendation of the T's Station Naming Commission. The name change follows a November ballot question in Boston in which residents were asked whether to change the name of Dudley Square to Nubian Square."
- "Union chief who supported Walsh gets new post, and hefty raise," by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: "The firefighter who nurtured Mayor Martin J. Walsh's close relationship with the politically powerful firefighters' union has quietly assumed a new Fire Department post — with a hefty pay raise. Richard Paris, the former head of Local 718 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, was named the Fire Department's director of OSHA compliance last spring. The position pays $171,082 a year, more than other, more high-profile city posts, including Walsh's chief of staff. And it far exceeds the $108,374 Paris was paid in 2018 as an advance technician for the Fire Department."
- "'Dim Sum Brunch': Hundreds Gather To Support Boston's Chinatown Amid Coronavirus Fears," by Quincy Walters, WBUR: "The China Pearl restaurant in Boston's Chinatown was packed with nearly 400 people having a "dim sum brunch" in an effort to allay fears about the coronavirus. Nearby businesses have been seeing a decline in patronage, but you wouldn't have known that at Saturday's gathering. "We're going to educate others on what to do to be safe," said Nina Liang, president of the Quincy City Council. The brunch was a joint effort between the two cities, Quincy and Boston."
- "High Boston rent following tenants to Malden, Newton and beyond," by Erin Tiernan, Boston Herald: "If it seems like the high rents that are driving tenants out of Boston are following them to outlying communities, you're not mistaken — Malden and Revere saw some of the area's steepest rent hikes last year, studies show. "It makes sense. There is a definite demand for Boston and when prices get too high in Boston, people move to the next communities," said Greg Vasil CEO & president of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. Boston is now the third most expensive city in the nation to live in, according to market research firm Zumper."
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| PRIMARY SOURCES |
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- "Markey edges Kennedy in first weekend of Dem caucuses," by Ted Nesi, WPRI: "Ahead of their first televised debate this week, incumbent U.S. Sen. Ed Markey won bragging rights over Democratic primary challenger Congressman Joe Kennedy III in the opening weekend of caucuses to elect delegates for the state party convention. The local caucuses, which will continue into March, pick delegates to attend the Massachusetts Democratic Party nominating convention on May 30. A candidate must receive the support of at least 15% of convention delegates in order to appear on the September primary ballot, and the convention will endorse the candidate who receives a majority."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Congresswoman Pressley pushes for Warren campaign," by Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe: "Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley rallied enthusiastic crowds of Elizabeth Warren supporters Monday as the campaign deployed a formidable ground game in pursuit of a much-needed win in the senator's looming home state primary. Pressley, a co-chair of Warren's campaign, spoke to volunteer canvassers and callers in an office near Fresh Pond on Monday morning and in Jamaica Plain's Hyde Square in the afternoon, touting the candidate's focus on inequities of power and privilege and her practice of listening to people close to the issues and crafting solutions collaboratively."
- "Elizabeth Warren's struggles put Massachusetts 'in play' on Super Tuesday," by Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald: "Elizabeth Warren's weak performances in Iowa and New Hampshire have put Massachusetts into play in the race for the Democratic nomination, according to operatives and supporters of rival campaigns that are staffing up and mobilizing droves of volunteers as they look to dent her home-state advantage in the Super Tuesday primary. Warren sits a distant third in the delegate race that will decide the party's presidential nominee, behind former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, but ahead of U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former Vice President Joe Biden."
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| FROM THE DELEGATION |
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- "Warren And Markey Demand CBP Withdraw Plan To Deploy Heavily Armed Officers," by Fausto Menard, WBUR: "Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren are demanding that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) withdraw a plan to deploy agents -- including some that are specially trained in SWAT-like tactics -- to Boston and other American cities that have chosen not to cooperate with President Trump's immigration policies. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official in Boston has confirmed that some of those officers are already working in Boston with local U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials."
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| ALL'S WELD THAT ENDS WELD |
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- "Vermont Gov. Phil Scott endorses Bill Weld for Republican presidential nomination," by Evan Semones, POLITICO: "Vermont Gov. Phil Scott on Saturday said he'll back Bill Weld for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination, an endorsement the Weld campaign touted as the first sitting Republican governor to publicly oppose President Donald Trump's reelection. In a press conference, first reported by Vermont's WPTZ, Scott announced his decision to back the fellow Republican and former Massachusetts governor."
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| IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN |
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- "Green Party co-founder, presidential candidate rallies local supporters," by Chris Goudreau, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "Green Party 2020 presidential contender and party co-founder Howie Hawkins spent Sunday evening meeting with more than a dozen members of the Pioneer Valley chapter of the Green-Rainbow Party in Northampton in the community room of the Lumber Yard Apartments. Hawkins, who was one of the co-founders of the party in 1984, told local party members that prior to late May, when he announced his Green Party bid for U.S. president, he'd been working 12-hour shifts for his job at a post office in his home state of New York."
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| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
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- "From chefs to chemists, Massachusetts' burgeoning marijuana industry is creating jobs that use a wide range of skills," by Melissa Hanson, MassLive.com: "When Gene Ray was studying biology at Fisk University in Nashville, he started to use marijuana regularly. At the time, he wasn't thinking that if combined, his scientific expertise and interest in cannabis could make a career. While studying medicinal plant extracts in Hawaii later, it was the first time Ray, a pharmaceutical chemist, thought that his skills could apply to marijuana."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "SERIOUSLY, JOHN HENRY?" — Globe: "FLOCKING TO A PHENOMENON," "Effects of virus felt beyond patients." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "Baker's plan to hike Uber, Lyft fees worries some in Berkshires," by Damian Burchardt, Berkshire Eagle: "Berkshire County lawmakers are concerned that Gov. Charlie Baker's proposed fee increase for ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft might unfairly bill Western Massachusetts residents for the state's attempts to find new revenue streams for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. In his annual budget plan unveiled in late January, Baker called for an increase in the per-trip fees for transportation network companies from 20 cents per ride to $1 per ride. The legislation also would change the way revenue from the fee is shared between the state and municipalities."
- "As Mass. East-West Rail Debate Heats Up, Day Trip Tests Existing Transit Options," by Alden Bourne, NEPR: "There's been a lot of debate about a new study from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation on expanded rail service between the eastern and western parts of the state. The study says the cheapest option would have about 36 daily riders, and the most expensive just over 800. Those figures have been widely criticized by proponents. But there are transit options available now to travel across the state by train and bus. On a recent snowy morning, a half-full Peter Pan bus left Springfield's Union Station."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Plymouth Rock spray-painted red, vandalized ahead of anniversary celebration," Associated Press: "The iconic Plymouth Rock and other sites were covered in red graffiti Monday during a vandalism spree discovered at the site marking the landing of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts 400 years ago. Officials in Plymouth discovered the vandalism early in the morning. Workers had removed the red spray paint, which included the letters MOF and the numbers 508, from the rock before noon. Authorities say no arrests have been made and the site was open to tourists."
- "Turning the tide: South Shore legislators are on the front lines of climate change," by Shannon Larson, Patriot Ledger: "Seas are rising, oceans are warming and coastlines are eroding. The effects of climate change are becoming increasingly clear, especially on the South Shore. But despite the storms and the damage, residents of the South Shore, which is one of the state's few conservative enclaves, tend not to view unmitigated climate change as a "serious" threat, in contrast with their more liberal neighbors in the Boston area, according to a new report from MassINC Polling Group. For lawmakers representing coastal counties, however, the survey doesn't reflect what some legislators called one of the most prominent concerns they have heard from constituents: the potential losses if action is not taken to protect the environment."
- "Even after delay, time changes at issue," by Genevieve DiNatale, Eagle-Tribune: "While Andover won't be changing school start times in the upcoming year, officials say they're still moving forward with the idea. "I am disappointed, but I thinks it's realistic. The budgetary resources are just not there to make the change next school year," said School Committee Chair Joel Blumstein. "It doesn't protect all children the way we would like to. For me, it is an unfortunate reality that we cannot do this next year." Superintendent Sheldon Berman and Blumstein announced the delay in an email sent to the Andover Public School community Feb. 11, citing budgetary reasons."
- "There's a whole mess of crows in Lawrence again," by Dugan Arnett, Boston Globe: "They arrive, every evening, by the thousands, descending upon a quiet stretch of riverbank near a noisy highway overpass. Crows resting on tree branches. Crows circling high above the Merrimack River. Crows relieving themselves on the footpaths near the water. It is like something Alfred Hitchcock would've dreamed up, some residents say, except that it is real and — as those who have stumbled upon the birds' bizarre nightly roosting ritual can attest — somehow even stranger than it sounds."
- "Worcester schools see uptick in dropout rate," by Scott O'Connell, Telegram & Gazette: "Compared to just about every other large urban school district in the state, the Worcester schools have a low dropout rate. But it's rising, recent data shows. Last school year, Worcester had a dropout rate of 2.6% - the highest since 2013, when 3.4% of students dropped out, according to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's records. Since falling to a low of 1.7% in 2015, the dropout rate has increased incrementally every year."
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY - to Shaynah M. Barnes and Robert G. Swan, who celebrated Saturday; and Massachusetts first lady Lauren Baker, who celebrated Sunday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to the Boston Herald's Rick Sobey, and Joe Caiazzo on Rep. Joe Kennedy III's campaign.
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