GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
MORE DEM CANDIDATES PLAN TO RELEASE TAXES — Three weeks after a Democrat running to replace Rep. Joe Kennedy III released her tax returns, several other candidates in the primary race say they’ll do the same. Jesse Mermell, a former aide to Gov. Deval Patrick, released her tax returns in June.
It's not unheard of for a congressional candidate to release their tax returns during a primary race, though the practice is more common in a presidential election. Transparency around tax returns has become a rallying cry among Democrats under President Donald Trump, and can function as a way for candidates to stand out in a crowded primary race. Candidates running for office are required to file personal financial disclosures.
At the same time, it's not clear whether voters — who are 60 percent undecided, according to an internal campaign poll — will be interested in campaign finance ahead of the Sept. 1 primary. In the state's recent open-seat House primary, won by Rep. Lori Trahan in 2018, candidates did not release their tax returns. Questions around Trahan's personal finances became the subject of several complaints with the Federal Election Commission and Office of Congressional Ethics after she won.
Newton City Councilor Becky Grossman plans to release her tax returns after she files for this year, campaign manager Alex Vuskovic said Tuesday. The tax deadline was pushed to July 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic. City Year co-founder Alan Khazei, of Brookline, will release his taxes "in the near future," his campaign said last week. And former White House aide Dave Cavell’s campaign will release his returns “as soon as we can,” an aide said.
The other Democrats running in the 4th District were less clear on their plans. Newton City Councilor Jake Auchincloss did not say he will release his tax returns, though a spokesperson said he is a "strong advocate for transparency in campaign finance" and pointed to his financial disclosure forms. Ihssane Leckey, a former Wall Street regulator, is the only candidate who has not filed a personal financial disclosure this cycle. The Leckey campaign didn't return a request for comment on whether she'll release her tax returns.
Ben Sigel, a Brookline attorney, said he'd "happily release my tax returns when the other candidates have agreed to do the same" and Dr. Natalia Linos is "open to releasing her tax returns in the coming weeks," a spokesperson said, but declined to offer a more specific timeline. The Chris Zannetos campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
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TODAY — Rep. Jim McGovern speaks at a Zoom webinar on governing and campaigning that will be moderated by strategist Roger Fisk and hosted by WGBH. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh speaks at a Boston Globe forum with activist Monica Cannon-Grant and Black Economic Council of Massachusetts Executive Director Segun Idowu, moderated by Globe columnist Adrian Walker.
Sen. Ed Markey, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu hold a “walking discussion” in Mattapan Square. Rep. Katherine Clark joins State of the Students for a Virtual Pizza and Politics panel. Rep. Joe Kennedy III announces a new “Kennedy Jobs and Justice Initiative” at IBEW Local 103 in Dorchester, then tours Black-owned businesses.
HAPPENING TODAY AT 12 PM EDT - HOW IS MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ APPROACHING THE COVID-19 SPIKE IN MIAMI? A rapid spike in coronavirus cases has forced Miami to scale back reopening plans. What will come next? Join POLITICO Nightly author Renuka Rayasam and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez for a conversation about the next steps, including plans to handle the virus' resurgence, measures that will take shape when schools reopen, and how a city reliant on tourism can recover from the devastation wrought by the pandemic. REGISTER HERE.
 | THE LATEST NUMBERS |
– Coronavirus data trends positively in Massachusetts while other states’ ICUs are at capacity,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “Massachusetts’ coronavirus positive test rate stayed low on Tuesday, while most states in the country are experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases and hospitals’ ICUs are packed at capacity. Bay State health officials reported 15 more people have died from the virus and 140 new cases on the second day of Phase 3 of the state’s reopening.”
| DATELINE BEACON HILL |
– “State commissioner for the deaf allegedly wore KKK-like robes, was part of now-suspended college fraternity,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “The state’s chief advocate for the deaf and hard of hearing allegedly told staff members that he wore robes resembling Ku Klux Klan garb and made apparent Nazi salutes while he was a member of a controversial college fraternity three decades ago, according to employees and union officials.”
– “After 9/11, officials ordered a lengthy investigation. State lawmakers want the same for the pandemic response,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “Beacon Hill Democrats are preparing legislation that would create a commission to broadly investigate the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, including the disproportionate impact on people of color and Governor Charlie Baker’s decisions to close schools, businesses, and other sectors of Massachusetts’s economy. The bill, which state Senator Eric P. Lesser and Representative Jon Santiago plan to file Tuesday, models the seven-person panel after the federal 9/11 commission formed to examine the 2001 terrorist attacks, which killed about 3,000 people.”
– “Massachusetts recovers $158 million after getting 58,000 fake unemployment claims in nationwide scam during coronavirus pandemic,” by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: “Since announcing in late May it was targeted by a nationwide scam, the Massachusetts unemployment systems received at least 58,000 fraudulent claims, nearly losing $158 million. Ernst & Young, who was contracted by the state Department of Unemployment Assistance to conduct a forensic accounting investigation, detected 58,616 fraudulent claims between the traditional unemployment system and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.”
– “State Bracing For High Number Of Mosquito-Borne EEE Cases,” The Associated Press: “Massachusetts officials on Tuesday said they’re bracing for another summer with a high number of cases of Eastern equine encephalitis, a rare but severe neurological illness transmitted by mosquitoes that hit the state particularly hard last summer.”
– “Massachusetts’ new mail-in voting law slams into dispute over postage costs,” by Chris Van Buskirk, State House News Service: “Disagreements over funding to mail ballot applications for the upcoming election cycle spilled into the public eye Tuesday after the state’s top election official and election reform advocates differed on the permissible use of federal money.”
– “‘A challenging area:' Baker administration acknowledges hurdles associated with reopening plan that restricts youth football, basketball, soccer from competing in games,” by Michael Bonner, MassLive.com: “Gov. Charlie Baker acknowledged on Tuesday the bumps and hurdles associated with each new reopening stage as Massachusetts entered Phase 3 on Monday. The acknowledgement came as Baker addressed guidelines that were released Monday for youth sports and adult amateur sports .”
– “Charlie Baker, campus leaders slam ICE for ‘premature’ decision to expel foreign students if colleges move online,” by Erin Tiernan, Boston Herald: “Gov. Charlie Baker and campus leaders from across Massachusetts slammed ICE’s ‘premature’ decision to expel foreign students from the United States should colleges and universities move classes online amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.”
| FROM THE HUB |
– “At the high-ranked Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, a troubling pattern on issues of race,” by Hayley Kaufman, Boston Globe: “The questions came from parents, from alumni, from the president of the class of 2020. How would Mystic Valley Regional Charter School, known for rigorous academics and ranked a top high school in Massachusetts, address a long and alarming list of concerns about diversity, inclusion, and the treatment of students of color?”
– “Black businesses in Mass. received fewer PPP loans,” by Jessica Bartlett, Boston Business Journal: “An overwhelming majority of federal Paycheck Protection Program recipients in Massachusetts who disclosed race self-identified as white, according to new data on the program. But 90% of companies chose not to disclose race at all. The Small Business Administration published the data on Monday after the Business Journal’s parent company, American City Business Journals, and other media organizations filed a lawsuit demanding the information under public records law.”
– “Early childhood education and care professionals say coronavirus reveals need for more public funding, systemic overhauls,” by Benjamin Kail, MassLive.com: “With the coronavirus pandemic shaking up an already-struggling early childhood education and care industry that lacks the infrastructure of the K-12 system, Massachusetts professionals, advocates and lawmakers on Tuesday called for an infusion of public funding and a reimagining of how the state and employers support working families and child care facilities.”
– “Mayor Walsh, Police Commissioner Gross condemn recent violence in Boston,” by Travis Andersen and Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: “Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Boston police Commissioner William G. Gross on Tuesday condemned the city’s recent wave of violence that left seven people dead in the past week, including a 15-year-old boy who was fatally shot July 2 in Roxbury.”
– “MIT Will Welcome Seniors Back To Campus This Fall,” by Liam Knox, WBUR: “The university will only welcome back two groups of students among its undergraduates to its Cambridge campus: Rising seniors who wish to return and ‘a relatively small fraction of other students whose circumstances require special consideration.’”
– “Boston could be the first city that ‘truly recovers’ from coronavirus, Marty Walsh says,” by Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald: “Mayor Martin Walsh says Boston could be the first major city that ‘truly recovers from COVID-19’ as he looks to bring tourists back to the Hub while coronavirus cases remain low in Massachusetts. Acknowledging the pandemic’s massive hit on the city’s tourism industry, which is just now starting to come back to life, Walsh said Tuesday that Boston could again become a travel destination if people continue to follow public health guidelines to keep infections under control.”
– “‘I feel disappointed and blindsided’: Boston Public Schools moves forward with new exam school test, despite calls to suspend it,” by Meghan E. Irons, Boston Globe: “On a Zoom call early last week, a Boston Public Schools task force focused on equity and opportunity unanimously voted to recommend suspending the city’s exam school admissions test this year because of the pandemic, which has disproportionately hurt Black and brown communities. But two days later Superintendent Brenda Cassellius, who joined a portion of the meeting and did not speak as the task force voted, announced plans to create and administer a new exam school test this fall.”
DO NOT MISS! POLITICO Magazine Justice Reform: The Prison Conditions Issue, presented by Verizon : The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the difference between "inside" and the rest of society. With overcrowding, inadequate funding, and substandard medical care, prisons have become hotbeds of the outbreak - with substantial costs on the outside. POLITICO Magazine's latest Justice Reform package looks at efforts to improve prisons and how the epidemic has affected them. READ THE FULL ISSUE.
| PRIMARY SOURCES |
– “New progressive group will hit Neal in Massachusetts,” by Ally Mutnick, POLITICO: “A group of progressive operatives with ties to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Justice Democrats is launching a new organization this week aimed at condemning politicians with close ties to corporate interests. Their first target: Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.”
– FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: “Alan Khazei, City Year Co-founder And Democratic Candidate For Congress, Launches Franklin For Khazei Co-chaired By State Representative Jeff Roy And Robert Dellorco With Comprehensive Local Leader Endorsements: “ Alan Khazei, City Year Co-Founder and Democratic Candidate for Congress, today announced the launching of Franklin for Khazei, a coalition in Franklin, Co-Chaired by State Representative Jeff Roy and Robert Dellorco and led by a diverse, wide-ranging group of local leaders who are endorsing Khazei. This launch is part of Khazei’s grassroots effort to bring voters of the district into the discussion and include their voice in the policy process.”
– “Biggest Mass. teachers union backs Mermell for Kennedy seat,” by Ted Nesi, WPRI: “Democrat Jesse Mermell has landed another major labor endorsement in the crowded primary to succeed Congressman Joe Kennedy III, picking up the support of the state’s biggest teachers union. The Massachusetts Teachers Association — which says it has about 110,000 members in nearly 400 locals statewide, including in Fall River, Taunton and Attleboro — announced its endorsement on Tuesday.”
– “Markey, Kennedy visit jail, address criminal justice concerns,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “By the time someone gets to jail, in many cases, there are myriad societal problems that led them there – and those need to be addressed. That was the premise voiced by US Sen. Ed Markey and his challenger in the Democratic primary for Senate, US Rep. Joe Kennedy, in back-to-back question and answer sessions with inmates inside the Suffolk County House of Correction on Tuesday.”
| DAY IN COURT |
– “Robert Kraft and Florida Massage Workers Are Still Fighting Unconstitutional Surveillance Video,” by Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Reason: “Florida is advocating for a dangerous narrowing of due process in its quest to justify surveillance video recorded at Asian massage parlors. The state is arguing that it didn't violate the Fourth Amendment in letting secretly-installed cameras run for weeks on end—making no attempt to limit recordings to particular activity or suspects—as part of prostitution stings in Palm Beach and Indian River counties, an endeavor that yielded solicitation charges for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.”
– “Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts issues rules for entering courthouses ahead of July 13 reopening date,” by Jackson Cote, MassLive.com: “As officials look to reopen courthouses across the commonwealth next week, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued an order Tuesday laying out what accessing court facilities will look like during the coronavirus pandemic.”
| TRUMPACHUSETTS |
– “Trump Calls Harvard’s Reopening Plan 'Ridiculous,’” by Camille G. Caldera and Michelle G. Kurilla, The Harvard Crimson: “Amid a push to reopen schools nationwide, U.S. President Donald J. Trump called Harvard University’s plan for the fall semester ‘ridiculous‘ at a panel at the White House Tuesday. Harvard College announced Monday that just 40 percent of the student body — including all freshmen and a select number of sophomores, juniors, and seniors who receive approval — will be allowed to live on campus in the fall semester.”
| KENNEDY COMPOUND |
– “Kennedy defeats Norcross-backed Harrison in New Jersey’s 2nd District House race,” by Matt Friedman, POLITICO: “Amy Kennedy, a former school teacher and member of one of the nation’s most famous political dynasties, defeated political science professor Brigid Harrison on Tuesday to win the Democratic nomination for Congress in New Jersey’s 2nd District — a victory for the state’s progressives and Gov. Phil Murphy and a stunning blow to the powerful but beleaguered South Jersey Democratic machine.”
| MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE |
– “Ghislaine Maxwell and New Hampshire were an odd pair,” by Zoe Greenberg, Boston Globe: “The residents of this 1,700-person town disagree over the last major event that had everyone talking. There was the electrical fire that ravaged a house just before Christmas. There was the lawsuit alleging that the fire chief was conspiring against the owner of the local bed and breakfast. Surely, one resident mused, someone must have run off with someone else’s wife. But everyone can agree that the drama accompanying the recent arrest of longtime Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell by a swarm of FBI special agents on a remote road at the edge of town surpassed all that.”
| IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN |
– “Mass. becomes dirty word in Maine referendum fight,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “Corporate surrogates for Massachusetts have spent close to $17 million so far battling a referendum question in Maine that seeks to block the importation of hydroelectricity from Quebec using a power line running through wilderness areas in the western part of the state. The referendum battle is in some ways the dark underbelly of a push for clean energy in Massachusetts.”
| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
– “State seeks help: What to do with 619,000 unsellable marijuana vapes?” by Dan Adams, Boston Globe: “Massachusetts has a problem: What to do with more than 619,000 marijuana vapes that have been gathering dust and taking up space at cannabis facilities around the state for nearly a year? The quandary is a result of the state’s ban on vape sales, implemented in September by Governor Charlie Baker amid an outbreak of lung ailments linked to the popular battery-powered drug-inhalation devices.”
| ABOVE THE FOLD |
— Herald: “BRAGGING RIGHTS” — Globe: “A lavish N.H. hideout? It's news to them," "Colleges up in arms over new rule for foreigners.”
| FROM THE 413 |
– “UMass pledges ‘resolute’ support to foreign remote-learners facing possible deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” by Jim Russell, Springfield Republican: “As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement moves to deport international students who are assigned online learning only as classes resume in the Fall, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on Tuesday pledged ‘resolute’ support and strong advocacy to the students.”
| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
– “Newton police investigate after man interrupts protest, speeds through crowd,” by Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe: “Newton police are investigating after a white man interrupted a peaceful, youth-led Black Lives Matter demonstration outside City Hall Tuesday afternoon, argued with high school students and their teachers, then sped away in a pickup truck — passing close by young protesters. The unidentified man, who wore a surgical mask, shouted down a 15-year-old speaker at the protest, yelling out, ‘Do all Black lives matter?’ When the crowd responded yes, he shouted, ‘What about the unborn Black babies?’ according to video posted online and eyewitness accounts.”
– “Former town accountant accused of stealing more than $729,000 from Uxbridge, Monterey and Millville,” by Michael Bonner, MassLive.com: “The former accountant for the town of Uxbridge has been charged in with stealing more than $729,000 from multiple municipalities, including more than $650,000 from Uxbridge, Attorney General Maura Healey announced Tuesday. Justin Cole, of Harvard, is also accused of stealing $24,597 from Monterey and $47,600 from Millville.”
– “Mayor denounces 'racism' in unauthorized parade,” by Paul Leighton, The Salem News: “City officials are denouncing residents who held an unauthorized ‘Horribles’ parade in Beverly Farms on July 4 featuring signs that officials called ‘racist’ and ‘sexist.’ The annual parade had been canceled by organizers due to the coronavirus pandemic, but some residents went ahead with one on their own.”
– “Methuen mayor hospitalized since Sunday,” by Bill Kirk, Eagle-Tribune: “Methuen Mayor Neil Perry has been hospitalized twice in the last two weeks for a gastrointestinal illness, he said. For the second time in as many weeks Mayor Neil Perry checked himself into the hospital for treatment of a gastrointestinal illness, he said Tuesday.”
TRANSITIONS – Patricia Rojas-Ungar joins SMI, a federal marketing and government affairs firm, as vice president.
– Mariah Philips joins Venn Strategies as a lobbyist. Philips worked for Amnesty International and is a former aide to Rep. Joe Kennedy III.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY – to Amy Sennett, Samuel Weinstock, Andy Flick, William LaRose and Maddie James, who turns 27.
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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