GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
CLARK'S NEW CHILDCARE RECOVERY BILL — Rep. Katherine Clark is introducing a new bill today that aims to make reopening the childcare sector safer and easier for providers and parents. Across the country, 60 percent of childcare providers were forced to close as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, leaving both care centers and parents in an "impossible situation," Clark says.
Many childcare centers were already operating on tight budgets before the crisis, and months of lost revenue are making it even more difficult for the industry, which is 96 percent women-owned and operated — 40 percent of whom are women of color. And if childcare centers remain closed or go out of business as the economy reopens, parents, many of them women, risk being pushed out of the workforce.
Clark's new legislative package would create a new grant program, which includes addressing renovations or other changes to childcare facilities to align with coronavirus safety guidelines. It would also authorize $10 billion over the next five years to invest in the nation's childcare infrastructure, among other proposals. Clark will announce the bill at a virtual press conference this morning with childcare providers and parents.
"The pandemic shook an already fragile system and now, as the nation looks to reopen, parents and providers face an impossible situation in which neither has the resources needed to get back to work safely,” Clark said in a statement. “By providing grants to renovate child care facilities and loans to support the training and financial stability of early educators, we can help to revitalize this industry and start honoring its role as an essential part of our economic infrastructure.”
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — Former Gov. Michael Dukakis is a guest on JALSA’s “Schmoozefest” on Zoom. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh speaks at the Boston Municipal Research Bureau annual meeting. Sen. Ed Markey holds a livestream with state Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis, Newton City Councilor Holly Ryan; Arline Isaacson, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus and Tanya Neslusan, executive director of MassEquality.
Rep. Katherine Clark unveils a new bill to help childcare facilities reopen during a press conference. Rep. Joe Kennedy III hosts a broadcast with Adrianne Haslet, a Boston Marathon bombing survivor, on vote by mail.
HAPPENING TODAY at 12 p.m. EDT/9 a.m. PDT: A VIRTUAL INTERVIEW WITH LOS ANGELES MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI: Los Angeles is grappling with a rising number of Covid-19 cases and a wave of protests for racial justice after the killing of George Floyd. California Playbook authors Carla Marinucci and Jeremy White will find out how Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is dealing with these twin crises during a virtual interview TODAY. REGISTER HERE.
 | THE LATEST NUMBERS |
l– “Mass. reports 87 new coronavirus cases, 23 new deaths as key metrics continue to fall,” by Jaclyn Reiss and Martin Finucane, Boston Globe: State officials reported Monday that the coronavirus death toll in Massachusetts had risen by 23 to 7,647 and that the number of people testing positive for the virus had climbed by 87 to 105,690, as four key metrics the state is monitoring during the reopening process continued to show the state is making progress in battling the outbreak.”
| DATELINE BEACON HILL |
– “Baker: Demonstrators Should Get Tested For Coronavirus This Week At Pop-Up Sites Set Up By State,” by Lisa Creamer, WBUR: “Gov. Charlie Baker urged Massachusetts residents who took part in recent demonstrations against police brutality to get tested for the coronavirus at one of 52 ‘pop-up testing sites’ across the state this week. The pop-up sites will test protesters this Wednesday and Thursday.”
– “State eases regulations for reopening camps and child-care centers,” by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: “State officials have eased some of the guidelines for reopening child-care centers, in-home programs, and summer camps after fielding complaints that their regulations would be ruinous to small businesses and unworkable with small children. The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care has decided to encourage — but not mandate — the use of masks for children older then 2 and to eliminate a requirement that every child undergo a temperature check at the entrance before participating.”
– “Medical offices face reopening challenges,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “After months of consulting patients by phone and video, primary care doctors and specialists are resuming office visits, but many face hurdles convincing people it's safe to return. Under the state's phased-in reopening plans, hospitals and health care providers may resume some routine care and elective surgeries, which have been on hold since mid-March to free up space for COVID-19 patients.”
| FROM THE HUB |
– “Boston has regularly touted the effectiveness of ‘community policing.’ Does it work?” by Dugan Arnett and Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: “For years, city leaders and police commissioners have described it as the guiding principle of Boston’s approach to law enforcement — a seemingly simple two-word catch phrase that describes a progressive new approach: community policing.”
– “Data show Boston police stop Black people most often,” by Gal Tziperman Lotan, Boston Globe: “Boston police overwhelmingly singled out Black people for street investigations in 2019, department records show, a disparity that has persisted even as the number of reported stops, searches, and observations has decreased over the last decade. Released for the first time in three years, the data quickly became part of the city’s urgent discussion of the role that race and racism play in policing.”
– “Mayor Walsh is proposing reallocating $12 million of the police budget. Here’s where it’s going,” by Brittany Bowker, Boston Globe: “Mayor Marty Walsh submitted Monday a revised $3.61 billion budget for the next fiscal year, which includes a newly announced plan to reroute $12 million in the Boston Police Department’s overtime spending — about 20 percent of its overtime budget — to social services amid widespread protests against racism.”
– “Harvard Planning To Reopen Campus, Keep Most Classes Online,” by Fred Thys, WBUR: “Harvard University is planning to reopen its campus to some degree even as it plans most courses will remain online. In an email Monday to Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which includes the undergraduate college, Dean Claudine Gay said the university is considering three scenarios for the fall.”
– “Harvard drops standardized test requirement for 2021,” by Laura Krantz and Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: “In a pivotal decision that will likely ripple across higher education, Harvard University announced on Monday that it will not require next year’s undergraduate applicants to submit standardized test scores. The decision comes amid fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and growing criticism that standardized test requirements unfairly penalize students of color.”
– “Soldiers' Homes Resume Visits After Virus Outbreaks,” The Associated Press: “Massachusetts’ two state-run soldiers’ homes are resuming visits this week after they became hot spots for the coronavirus. The Chelsea Soldiers’ Home will begin allowing visits outdoors starting Monday while the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home will begin allowing them Tuesday.”
– “Massachusetts police crack down on fireworks surge,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “Massachusetts police departments are cracking down on fireworks as many cities report a surge in the lighting of fireworks, especially late at night. The Chelsea Police Department is increasing impact patrols to address the rise of fireworks complaints, Chief Brian Kyes told the Herald on Monday .”
– “Boston’s Christopher Columbus statue has an Italian American group calling on Mayor Marty Walsh for its return,” by Douglas Hook, MassLive.com: “The Italian American Alliance in Boston is planning to meet with Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh to discuss the replacement of the statue that had its head removed. Erected in 1979, the statue, which has been damaged before, was beheaded early on June 10.”
| PRIMARY SOURCES |
– FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: “Brookline Select Board Member Raul Fernandez Endorses Jordan Meehan for State Representative,” from the Meehan campaign: “Today, Brookline Select Board Member Raul Fernandez is proud to announce his endorsement of Jordan Meehan for State Representative. Dr. Raul Fernandez is the Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Boston University’s College of Education and Human Development.”
| PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES |
– “MBTA approves 4-year Keolis extension,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack vowed in early 2017 that the MBTA’s $2.6 billion contract with Keolis Commuter Services would not be renewed when it expires in 2022, but on Monday the T oversight board unanimously approved a four-year extension along with some tweaks to the remaining two years on the existing deal.”
– “Taxpayers Foundation: T facing existential crisis,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “Battered by a coronavirus pandemic that has slashed fare revenue and soured Beacon Hill on providing additional funding for new initiatives, the MBTA is facing a financial crisis worse than the one it encountered during the snowmageddon of 2015, according to a report released by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.”
| DAY IN COURT |
– “Bay State Lawmakers Cheer LGBTQ Worker Rights' SCOTUS Ruling, But Demand Broader Legislation,” by Kimberly Atkins, WBUR: “Congressional lawmakers from Massachusetts hailed Monday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Title VII’s prohibition of employment discrimination on the basis of sex also applies to gay and transgender workers. But they also pressed for the Senate to take up broader protections for LGBTQ individuals.”
– “‘We are going to crush this lady’: Six former eBay employees charged in federal cyberstalking case targeting Natick couple,” by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: “It was a modest newsletter published by a suburban couple, hardly something that seemed likely to draw the ire of a Fortune 500 company. But eBay executives were growing weary of the bloggers’ pointed criticism, federal prosecutors said Monday, and they vowed reprisal. ‘We’re going to crush this lady,’ one eBay executive texted another in April 2019, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Boston that alleged a bizarre intimidation campaign against a Natick couple by the online juggernaut.”
– “Massachusetts gun rights cases for next term, including one on right to carry restrictions, rejected by Supreme Court,” The Associated Press: “The Supreme Court on Monday passed up several challenges to federal and state gun control laws, over the dissent of two conservative justices. Gun rights advocates had hoped the court would expand the constitutional right to ‘keep and bear arms’ beyond the home.”
– “SJC orders judges to specify what they mean when they continue cases without a finding,” by John R. Ellement, Boston Globe: “Judges were told by the state’s highest court Monday to lay out specific requirements that defendants must meet before their criminal charges can be wiped out under the legal process of continuing a case without a finding, which is used in district courts statewide. The Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled in three companion cases that some district court judges were violating state law in the way they resolved criminal charges.”
| WARREN REPORT |
– “Biden Fundraiser With Elizabeth Warren Nets $6 Million,” by Tyler Pager, Bloomberg: “Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden pulled in his largest single-event fundraising haul Monday night, collecting $6 million with Elizabeth Warren as a co-host. ‘This is the biggest fundraiser we’ve ever had and it’s all because of you,’ Biden said to Warren and the more than 600 attendees at the virtual gathering.”
– “Warren allies send letter urging Biden to pick her as running mate,” by Sean Sullivan, The Washington Post: “More than 100 liberal activists, leaders and celebrities signed a letter urging Joe Biden to select Sen. Elizabeth Warren as his running mate, intensifying pressure on the presumptive Democratic nominee from the left as he faces competing demands to pick a black woman.”
| MARKEYCHUSETTS |
– “Markey, Western Mass. black leaders weigh solutions to systemic racism,” by Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle: “Joining U.S. Sen. Ed Markey for a video discussion on racial justice Friday, four black leaders from Western Massachusetts said it is imperative that the U.S. reckons with the deep roots of systemic racism in the nation.”
– “Sen. Ed Markey calls for further coronavirus monthly stimulus checks of up to $2,000 to be given to everyone until the pandemic ends,” by Douglas Hook, MassLive.com: “U.S. Sen. Ed Markey is calling for monthly stimulus checks to be given to anyone that earns under $120,000 per year to be continued through the coronavirus pandemic to aid people who are falling behind in rent and help those out of work.”
– “Ed Markey slammed for disrespecting the American flag,” by Hillary Chabot, Boston Herald: “U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, currently in a heated re-election battle against U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III, scrambled to downplay outrage after the Malden pol publicly posted a photo showing the American flag sitting on his porch floor. The campaign reacted quickly once the flag issue was raised last week, replacing the picture with a similar photo where the Star Spangled Banner was nowhere to be found.”
| ABOVE THE FOLD |
— Herald: “STAR-SPANGLED STUMBLE,” — Globe: “Harvard halts requirement to take SAT for admission," "Key civil rights law protects LGBTQ workers, justices rule.”
| FROM THE 413 |
– “Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno defends roundtable meeting on race relations as NAACP president, city councilors reject invitation,” by Peter Goonan, Springfield Republican: “Mayor Domenic J. Sarno on Monday defended his arrangement of a roundtable discussion on race relations after learning that some community leaders have rejected the invitation to participate .”
| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
– “Mitchell appoints members of Commission on Police Use of Force Policies,” SouthCoast Today: “Mayor Jon Mitchell has appointed members of the Commission on Police Use of Force Policies that was announced last week after his signing of the Obama Foundation’s ‘Mayor’s Pledge,’ which included the formation of the commission to review the police department’s policies on the use of force.”
– “Half of Cape Cod legislative races are uncontested,” by Geoff Spillane, Cape Cod Times: “The coronavirus pandemic will likely lead to a muted summer season on the Cape and Islands this year, but the local election cycle could be quiet, too. The final day for candidates to file nomination papers with the Massachusetts secretary of state’s office was June 2, and the ballots have been set for the fall primary elections. Four members of the Cape’s eight-member legislative delegation will run unopposed for reelection in the fall.”
– “While polls indicate opposition to defunding, Worcester meetings suggest otherwise,” by Nick Kotsopoulos, Telegram & Gazette: “Some national polls came out last week showing pretty strong opposition to efforts to defund the police and reallocate money for police to support more mental health, public health, social service and education programs. … But if you have followed the past two Worcester City Council meetings one would have to wonder just how accurate those polls are.”
– “Newton mayor calls for civilian review of police after officers, with gun drawn, stop Black resident,” by John Hilliard, Boston Globe: “Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller said Monday she would form a civilian review board to examine the city’s police department, amid growing calls for reform after a Black resident was stopped by Newton officers, one of whom had his gun drawn. Fuller also said police would ban chokeholds and require officer intervention in cases of excessive force, and she will reallocate plus $200,000 from the police budget to hire a consultant to help the independent Newton Police Reform Task Force do its work.”
TRANSITIONS – Pam Johnston will be the new general manager for WGBH News. Johnston succeeds Phil Redo, who is retiring at the end of June.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY – to Alexandra Chandler, who celebrated Monday (h/t Betsey Gardstein).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY – to Tom Fleming, MassINC’s Richard Parr, Nicholas McCool and Bill Shaner.
NEW EPISODE: RENT – On this week’s Horse Race podcast, hosts Jennifer Smith, Steve Koczela and Stephanie Murray speak with MassINC COO Juana Matias, former state lawmaker and candidate for Congress, about racial inequity in the Legislature. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud.
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