GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF!
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: KENNEDY'S LGBTQIA+ ENDORSEMENTS — As Pride month comes to an end, Rep. Joe Kennedy III is rolling out a list of more than 100 supporters in the LGBTQIA+ community this morning. Kennedy is chair of the Congressional Transgender Equality Task Force, and he was also chair of the "Yes on 3" ballot question campaign in 2018, which prevented the state from rolling back protections for transgender residents.
Kennedy's endorsement list includes a few early Kennedy supporters — lawyer Jamie Hoag and Ethos CEO Valerie Frias — who supported a push to draft Kennedy to run for Senate. Also on the list are Democratic donor and event planner Bryan Rafanelli, Massport's John Affuso, Ken Brissette, former aide to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh; and Boston chef Tiffani Faison. The list.
MARKEY’S ONLINE AD BLITZ — There's an old saying: You have to spend money to make money. It looks like that's exactly what Sen. Ed Markey is doing.
The Malden Democrat is making a large fundraising push with digital ads on Facebook and Instagram this week. Over the last several months, Rep. Joe Kennedy III has spent more than Markey on digital ads. But the dynamic flipped this month.
Part of the reason is that the final campaign finance deadline before his primary against Kennedy is on June 30, and Markey has raised less money than his opponent every quarter.
Markey has spent $11,300 on Facebook and Instagram ads over the last seven days, according to the social network , while Kennedy has spent $3,400. In the ads, Markey makes a direct-to-camera plea for contributions before the filing deadline to "send an unmistakable message to the pundits and political insiders" ahead of the Sept. 1 primary.
Markey does have less money in the bank than Kennedy, but he also has some outside help. A pro-Markey super PAC ran digital ads to support him this month. The Environment America Action Fund spent around $14,000 for pro-Markey ads on Facebook and Instagram this week.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — Attorney General Maura Healey holds a virtual fundraiser with comedian Lea DeLaria to celebrate Pride. Sen. Ed Markey hosts a livestream concert with Boston bands to raise money for the Boston Black Hospitality Coalition. Rep. Katherine Clark speaks on the House floor in support of a bill to designate the Pulse Memorial in Orlando, Fla. as the Pulse National Memorial. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is a guest on WGBH. Senate President Emerita Harriette Chandler and state Sen. Michael Moore host a digital town hall on the restaurant industry and Covid-19.
FOR CRITICAL NEWS AND CONTEXT YOU NEED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS, LISTEN TO POLITICO DISPATCH: Coronavirus cases continue to spike as states take steps to reopen. Americans are demanding action from lawmakers to address racial injustice and police reform. How do you keep up with the never-ending news cycle? For quick analysis on the essential news of the day, listen to POLITICO Dispatch, our short daily podcast that keeps you up to date on the most important news affecting your life. Subscribe and listen today.
 | THE LATEST NUMBERS |
– Massachusetts coronavirus deaths up 25, with 226 new cases,” by Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald: “Massachusetts reported another 25 deaths from COVID-19 and 226 new cases Thursday, as hospitalizations dropped and the governor called the state’s progress in curbing the novel virus ‘encouraging.’ The 25 new deaths, including one probable case, were down from 48 on Wednesday — a spike after two days of reports in the teens. The state’s COVID-19 toll is now 7,963.”
| DATELINE BEACON HILL |
– “Baker takes heat for not pushing to require Holyoke Soldiers’ Home superintendent be licensed,” by Matt Stout and Hanna Krueger, Boston Globe: “In their gut-wrenching report on the state-run Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, investigators pointed to a clear gap in the facility’s management: Its superintendent was not licensed to run a nursing home, nor was he required to be. But in detailing several proposals Thursday to overhaul supervision of the facility, Governor Charlie Baker did not recommend rewriting state law to change that standard.”
– “Pressure builds on state government to help businesses deal with the pandemic,” by Jon Chesto, Boston Globe: “The federal government has pumped billions of dollars into the Massachusetts economy to help businesses and workers cope during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, it is the state government’s turn. The Legislature’s economic development committee will hold a public hearing on Friday to review a stimulus bill filed by the Baker administration mere weeks before the pandemic abruptly closed much of the state’s economy.”
– “Parents Struggle With Uncertainty As Massachusetts Schools Begin Reopening Plans,” by Tori Bedford, WGBH News: “Schools in Massachusetts will open in September — but whether that means online classes, in-person learning, or a hybrid of both is still up in the air. That’s according to Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey Riley, who met with hundreds of parents from around the Commonwealth to address concerns and questions around the state’s initial guidelines for reopening schools, unveiled by Governor Charlie Baker on Thursday.”
– RELATED: “State: Students low risk for COVID-19,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “In crafting a back-to-school plan for the fall, the Baker administration is relying on nascent medical research suggesting children under 20 are less likely to both contract COVID-19 and transmit it to others. Dr. Sandra Nelson, an infectious diseases specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital who worked with the Baker administration on its guidance for reopening schools, said the available evidence suggests children are less likely to get COVID-19, less likely to become seriously ill if they do contract the virus, and less likely to transmit it to others.”
– “Massachusetts has had ‘thousands of attempts to steal money’ through unemployment scam, Gov. Charlie Baker says as laid off workers await benefits,” by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: “Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker still won’t answer questions about how much the state has lost through a nationwide scam targeting unemployment systems, but he said the state is seeing ‘thousands and thousands of attempts to steal money from the unemployment trust fund.’”
– “Takeout cocktails could be a huge boost for restaurants. If they’re allowed.” by Eric Twardzik, DigBoston: “Massachusetts is often considered a leader on national issues. But on one timely topic, the Commonwealth is demonstrably lagging: allowing for the sale of takeout cocktails during the COVID-19 pandemic. As some stakeholders explain, it’s one of many measures that are needed to help lift the hospitality sector.”
| FROM THE HUB |
– “Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announces creation of ‘equity and inclusion’ cabinet amid debate over police reform,” by Tanner Stening, MassLive.com: “Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced on Thursday the creation of an Equity and Inclusion cabinet charged with tackling issues of systemic racism within city government. The new cabinet will work to dismantle systemic racism and to achieve racial equity in all city ‘planning and operations,’ Walsh said during his daily press briefing.”
– “When it comes to Boston Police reforms, unions are often the sticking point,” by Andrew Ryan and Matt Rocheleau, Boston Globe: “Law enforcement body cameras have a simple premise: Their video evidence can protect both police and the public by preserving a record of what occurred during any tussle, arrest, or use of force. But in 2016 Boston’s patrolmen’s union fought the new equipment, filing a lawsuit to block what the union described as a ‘miscarriage of justice’ that violated members’ collective bargaining agreement.”
– “Andover pharmacy reaches $11M settlement over alleged illegal prescriptions,” by Jessica Bartlett, Boston Business Journal: “An Andover pharmacy has agreed to an $11 million settlement after Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey accused the pharmacy of illegally dispensing controlled substances to injured workers around the country.”
– “Whole Foods workers sent home for wearing Black Lives Matter masks,” by Katie Johnston, Boston Globe: ““When you click on the Whole Foods corporate website, the first thing you see are the words, ‘Racism has no place here.’ But neither, apparently, do Black Lives Matter face masks.”
– “‘This sculpture has got to go’: Boston Art Commission hears public input on the future of Lincoln statue,” by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: “Residents, scholars, and artists told the Boston Art Commission Thursday evening that a controversial statue of Abraham Lincoln standing next to a barely clothed freed slave should be removed from its location in Park Square. ‘This sculpture has got to go,’ Darrell Ann Gane-McCalla, a sculptor and art teacher, said at the virtual public hearing. ‘It’s degrading, it’s ahistorical.’”
| PRIMARY SOURCES |
– “Ed Markey losing to Joe Kennedy, needs game-changer to catch up,” by Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald: “U.S. Sen. Edward Markey appears headed for a bruising defeat unless he can turn around his struggling campaign in the next two months — a difficult ask for a 73-year-old incumbent running against a well-funded young heir to a political dynasty. The latest developments are not good for Markey — and we’re not even talking about his staggeringly stupid decision to pose on his porch with an American flag on the floor.”
| PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES |
– “MBTA board would stay in place another year under Beacon Hill deal,” by Adam Vaccaro, Boston Globe: “The five members of the MBTA’s board of directors said goodbye and even read a letter of advice to their successors at their final scheduled meeting Monday, after five years of emergency oversight. That farewell, it turns out, may have been premature.”
| DAY IN COURT |
– “SJC won’t take up case to overturn eviction moratorium,” by Jon Chesto, Boston Globe: “A Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court judge has handed a setback to landlords who had hoped for a quick end to the state’s temporary moratorium on evictions. Associate Justice David Lowy on Wednesday transferred a complaint challenging the moratorium to Suffolk Superior Court, although he didn’t provide a reason for the transfer in his three-page decision.”
– “UMass settles lawsuit with PETA over research monkeys,” by Jacquelyn Voghel, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “The University of Massachusetts has settled a lawsuit with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), following a two-plus-year public records dispute over video footage showing caged monkeys that were studied by a UMass researcher.”
FOR MORE:
FOR MORE:
The monkeys in the videos were housed at four different national primate research centers, and footage and primate hair samples from these centers were sent to Melinda Novak, then a professor in the UMass department of psychological and brain sciences working on a project titled “Self-Injurious Behavior and Primate Well-Being.”
The full 40 hours of video footage, which the university agreed to turn over with images of researchers redacted, show “deeply distressed monkeys housed in small metal cages, pacing endlessly, tearing out their hair, and even poking their thumbs into their own eye sockets,” PETA spokesperson Tasgola Bruner said in a statement.
Novak was once the head of the Behavioral Primatology Unit at the New England Primate Research Center at Harvard Medical School, according to the UMass website. The center, which closed in 2015, was credited with medical advances, but was federally investigated after several monkeys died, the Boston Globe reported. | WARREN REPORT |
– “Young Voters Want Elizabeth Warren as Biden’s VP,” by Kara Voght, Mother Jones: “Joe Biden doesn’t really have any electoral weaknesses, according to the latest New York Times/Siena College poll. The results, released Wednesday, put Biden 14 points ahead of Trump, beating him across every demographic except among non-college-educated white voters. If any shortfalls were to be gleaned, it would be a lack of excitement for the former vice president’s candidacy among young voters.”
| TRUMPACHUSETTS |
– “Cape employers struggle to find summer workers amid visa ban,” by Ethan Genter, Cape Cod Times: “Foreign seasonal workers help keep the Cape’s economy running come summer, when thousands of visitors flood the region to enjoy its sandy beaches, hotels and restaurants. So, in an already punishing year, it was devastating to many Cape businesses when President Donald Trump issued a proclamation earlier this week that extended a ban on two types of visas the Cape relies on to supply those workers.”
| FROM THE DELEGATION |
– “Ed Markey and Ayanna Pressley are proposing a federal ban on facial recognition technology,” by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: “A day after the Boston City Council passed an ordinance to ban the city from using facial recognition technology, Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley are pushing to do the same at the national level. The two Massachusetts Democrats, along with Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkeley and Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, introduced legislation Thursday to prohibit federal agencies from using biometric technology.”
– “Ayanna Pressley calls for a quarter-trillion dollars to support transit agencies — and subsidize fares — in the wake of the pandemic,” by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: “Congress has allotted $25 billion to support public transportation systems battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. And House Democrats have proposed an additional $15 billion in relief funds. According to Rep. Ayanna Pressley, they need much more.”
– “A lack of child care is keeping women on unemployment rolls,” by Megan Cassella and Elanor Mueller, POLITICO: “A lack of safe and affordable child care amid the coronavirus pandemic is keeping many working parents from returning to the office as more companies call employees back to their jobs — threatening to extend the economic crisis and erode decades of gains for women in the workplace.”
| ABOVE THE FOLD |
| FROM THE 413 |
– “Northampton police cut 5 full-time officers after city council votes to cut department’s budget by 10%,” by Jackson Cote, MassLive.com: “Following a vote by the Northampton City Council last week to cut hundreds of thousands of dollars from the police department’s budget, the agency will now eliminate five full-time positions. Northampton Police Chief Jody Kasper announced the decision Wednesday, noting that the changes stemmed from the agency’s 2021 budget being slashed by 10%.”
– “Springfield to reallocate $125,000 in police funding; councilor says mayor has ‘tendency to coopt issues and ideas,’” by Elizabeth Román, Springfield Republican: “Mayor Domenic J. Sarno has allocated $250,000 for a new Street Outreach Workers Program to promote better communication between police officers and community members — a recommendation also made to him by three Springfield City Councilors who were not mentioned in the announcement.”
| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
– “Central Mass. school officials on board for reopening, but money an issue,” by Scott O’Connell, Telegram & Gazette: “School officials in the region are ready to take on the challenge of opening this fall, even if they’re not completely sure yet how they’ll afford to. The state’s release on Thursday of long-awaited guidance on how schools, which closed their doors in mid-March due to the coronavirus, can safely reopen at the end of summer didn’t come as a complete surprise, they said, after getting regular updates for the education department this spring.”
TRANSITIONS – Zauyah Waite was appointed vice president of student affairs and dean of students at Hampshire College. Waite previously worked at Chatham University in Pittsburgh.
– Thomas Woelper has started as the founding head of school at New England Innovation Academy in Marlborough. He most recently was the head of school of Far Hills Country Day School in New Jersey and is also an alum of the Hotchkiss School.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY – to Mora Segal, who celebrated Thursday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY – to Capitol Diner owner and former Lynn state Rep. Robert Fennell, Southwick Rep. Nicholas Boldyga, Gloucester Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, and Mattapoisett Rep. William Strauss, former MassGOP spokesperson Emmalee Kalmbach, Democratic strategist Adam Webster of Castle Point Partners, and Adam Zieminski of Cafe Adam in Great Barrington.
HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND – to Saturday birthday-ers Winthrop state Sen. Joe Boncore, Lexington state Sen. Michael Barrett, Plymouth state Rep. Mathew Muratore and Paul Tencher, a Sen. Ed Markey alum. And to Moses Marx, chairman of Berkshire Bank, who celebrates Sunday.
HAPPY 39th ANNIVERSARY – to Dr. David Lippman and Honey Sharp of Great Barrington, Mass., who celebrate this weekend.
NEW EPISODE: SCHOOLHOUSE ROCKED – On this week’s Horse Race podcast, hosts Jennifer Smith and Stephanie Murray speak with MassINC’s Maeve Duggan about a new poll on school reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud.
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