| | |  | BY STEPHANIE MURRAY | Presented by Uber Driver Stories | GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. HOW BALL PITS GOT ON THE REOPENING LIST — When Gov. Charlie Baker laid out his economic reopening plan for the summer, most of the steps were predictable. The outdoor mask mandate loosens tomorrow, and larger gatherings will be allowed in May. But the governor also shined a spotlight on a particular industry that left some scratching their heads. Slated to open Aug. 1 are nightclubs, saunas, hot tubs, steam rooms, health clubs, indoor water parks — and ball pits. It quickly became a sort of #mapoli inside joke. A reporter even asked the governor at his Tuesday press conference if he was going to a ball pit. Baker answered, “I have not.” Is there someone lobbying for ball pits? How did they end up in a prominent spot on the reopening list? A search through the state lobbying database indicates there is not a ball pit lobbyist. I reached out to dozens of Beacon Hill insiders — lawmakers, administration officials, and others, and a couple of ball pit operators. Nobody knew. “Forgive me, what the hell is a ball pit?” one lawmaker said. “I can assure you I have not heard from the ball pit people,” texted another. “That wasn’t a type-o?” said a third. If someone is lobbying for the ball pit industry, they’re running a covert operation. A group that represents recreational businesses, the Alliance of Massachusetts Amusement Businesses & Attractions, said it does not count ball pit operators among its members, though they do work with carnivals, water parks and arcades. A lobbyist for McDonald’s said they weren’t involved in the ball pit negotiations, but had weighed in on food court reopening. The Chuck E. Cheese corporate headquarters didn’t respond to a request for comment. Obviously, this is not the most pressing issue facing Massachusetts. But it does offer a glimpse into how the economic reopening plans are made, and how niche industries do, or don't, get on the administration’s radar. For the past year, businesses, lobbyists and industry groups have spent hours on conference calls with the Baker administration, pleading for the green light to reopen. Others send frequent (and lengthy) emails. From there, officials run the requests by health experts and draw up the reopening guidance. The results can sometimes seem to defy logic. Ice rinks were allowed to open last year, for example, while roller rinks were not. It helps to have a strong industry group on your side, like the Massachusetts Restaurant Association or the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, business owners say. Smaller industries, like arcades, laser tag and roller rinks, resorted to lawsuits. For their part, the governor’s office pointed out ball pits have been on various reopening lists for a while. And the Massachusetts ball pit rules even caught the attention of the Washington Post last year. One reason why ball pits might have a particular spot on the list is because they’re particularly gross. Ball pits are difficult to clean and were covered in germs even before the pandemic. ONE LAST TIME — If you’ve ever wanted to be the source on a Mass Playbook scoop, we’ve got one more day together. Reach me at smurray@politico.com. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com. TODAY — Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey visits businesses in Chinatown. The Job Training Alliance hosts a Boston mayoral forum. Candidate for Boston City Council Alex Gray holds a fundraiser with former Sen. Chris Dodd. | |
A message from Uber Driver Stories: Meet Olivia. Because of her multiple sclerosis (MS) and fibromyalgia, Olivia has trouble standing for long periods of time. A traditional 9-to-5 job just won’t work for her. Driving with Uber gives Olivia the flexibility to decide when to work, when to spend time with her family, and when to focus on rest. Watch her story in her own words below. | | | | |
| | JOIN TUESDAY FOR A CONVERSATION ON SMALL BUSINESSES POST-COVID-19: About one in six small businesses closed their doors since the pandemic began. The small businesses that remained open are getting by with fewer employees after laying off workers or a hiring freeze. What is ahead for small businesses in 2021 as they try to weather the ongoing economic uncertainty? And how does President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package intend to support small-business owners? Join POLITICO for a virtual conversation on what small businesses need to survive and thrive beyond the Covid economic crisis. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | |  | RECOVERY LAB |
| – MISSING CONNECTIONS: POLITICO’s Recovery Lab today looks at how closing the digital divide in schools is more nuanced than simply connecting kids to computers and the internet. Connecticut was the first state in the nation to provide every needy student a remote learning device. But it wasn’t enough: Thousands of Connecticut’s students did not log onto remote classes, even after the state allotted tens of millions of federal aid dollars for its ambitious remote learning program. Educators and parents, what academic challenges are your students facing during the pandemic? Tweet @politico with what you’re seeing using #RecoveryLab. | | THE LATEST NUMBERS |
| – “COVID hospitalizations, active infections continue steady decline as Massachusetts approaches 50% of population with at least one vaccine dose,” by Tanner Stening, MassLive.com: “Active COVID cases continued their steady decline on Wednesday, dropping from 28,043 yesterday to 27,321, according to the latest data from the Department of Public Health. State health officials confirmed another 1,392 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.” | | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
| – “Senators mull amendments ahead of debate on $600 million bond bill for Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, Massachusetts veterans’ services,” by Stephanie Barry, Springfield Republican: “It’s been a short and winding road for the bond bill, born of a COVID-19 outbreak at the Soldiers’ Home that claimed the lives of at least 77 veterans last year. After clearing three legislative committees and the full House, the bill is now scheduled for debate before the Senate. Depending on the outcome, the bill could be headed for another hearing committee or straight to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk.” – “Watchdog group seeks delay on millionaires' tax vote,” by Christian M. Wade, The Salem News: “A Beacon Hill watchdog group wants lawmakers to delay voting on a constitutional amendment to tax the state's wealthiest residents. In written testimony, the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation asks legislative leaders to postpone a second and final vote on the proposed amendment, which seeks a 4% surtax on the portion of an individual's annual income above $1 million.” – “Teachers unions call for Mass. school board member’s resignation after ‘demeaning’ comment,” by Felicia Gans, Boston Globe: “The presidents of two local teachers unions echoed calls for state education board member Michael Moriarty to resign on Wednesday, saying his ‘inflammatory remarks’ during a public meeting last week were insulting.” – “Business groups hope for full reopening before August,” by Greg Ryan, Boston Business Journal: “Some Massachusetts business leaders are calling on Gov. Charlie Baker to consider lifting all Covid-19 restrictions before the Aug. 1 date announced Tuesday or allowing for a greater loosening of capacity limits ahead of a full reopening.” | | FROM THE HUB |
| – “Boston City Council passes tear gas, rubber bullet limits on second attempt,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “The city council has passed heavy limitations on crowd-control agents like tear gas and rubber bullets, taking a second crack at a bill vetoed by the previous mayor. The council passed the bill on Wednesday by a 7-5 vote. Councilors Frank Baker, Annissa Essaibi-George, Michael Flaherty, Ed Flynn and Matt O’Malley voted against it.” – “New student representative Xyra Mercer to join Boston School Committee,” by Alexi Cohan, Boston Herald: “The Boston School Committee is welcoming a new student representative following the resignation of the previous member who left the board citing disrespect. Xyra Mercer, a junior at the Dr. William W. Henderson K-12 Inclusion School in Dorchester, was sworn in Tuesday at City Hall and participated in her first school committee meeting on Wednesday night where she received a warm welcome.” – “As most Mass. middle schools reopen fully for in-person learning, some feel like they’ve ‘time-warped into September,’” by Naomi Martin and Felicia Gans, Boston Globe: “The mood was festive on a street corner here Wednesday, as two smiling sisters joined thousands of middle-schoolers across the state in returning to school for the first time since the pandemic began.” – “New coalition forms to fight Mass. General Brigham's $2B expansion,” by Jessica Bartlett, Boston Business Journal: “A coalition of community groups, local health care providers and for-profit companies has formed to oppose the planned $2 billion expansion by Mass General Brigham, saying it would threaten the viability of local hospitals and health systems and raise health care spending .” – “Investors Mine For Profits In Affordable Housing, Leaving Thousands Of Tenants At Risk,” by Beth Healy and Christine Willmsen, WBUR: “Charles Clark moved to Boston’s South End when he was a young musician, just getting by. Forty years later, he lives in the same historic brownstone, even as rising wealth has pushed many people out of the neighborhood.” | | THE RACE FOR CITY HALL |
| – “Boston Pushing Preliminary Election Up One Week To Sept. 14,” by Saraya Wintersmith, GBH News: “The Boston City Council voted Wednesday to move the 2021 preliminary election up a week to Sep. 14. A spokesman for the acting Mayor Kim Janey said she intends to approve the move. The change, originally requested by former Mayor Marty Walsh, would give the city elections department an additional week to certify votes and prepare the next batch of ballots between the preliminary and the November general election.” – “Proposals seek to make same-day registration, vote-by-mail the norm for Boston elections,” by Christopher Gavin, Boston.com: “Two home rule petitions introduced to the Boston City Council Wednesday seek to expand voting rights in city elections by establishing same-day voter registration and making permanent the vote-by-mail option used in elections last year.” | | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES |
| – “Traffic is getting worse in Massachusetts (but it’s not back to pre-pandemic levels... yet)” by Emily Sweeney, Boston Globe: “Traffic in Massachusetts has been increasing in recent months but hasn’t reached pre-pandemic levels, at least for now. From March 29 to April 11, statewide traffic volumes were down between 5 and 14 percent from 2019, according to the state Department of Transportation. That’s quite a jump when compared to April 2020 when traffic levels plummeted by about 60 percent, officials said.” – “Sumner Tunnel fix to cause commuting headaches,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “At nearly a century old, the Sumner Tunnel is set for a major facelift, and motorists can expect detours and delays when the project gets underway in two years. The renovation, which is scheduled to begin in 2023, will involve a complete rebuilding of the mile-long tunnel's infrastructure and roadway, as well as technology upgrades to modernize the dilapidated gateway to downtown Boston.” | |
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| | | | | DAY IN COURT |
| – “'Lousy businessman with great ideas': Unpaid bills, confusion over leadership plagued SnoOwl,” by Jo C. Goode, Linda Murphy, Dan Medeiros and Lynne Sullivan, The Herald News: “Even before Jasiel Correia II was sworn in as mayor in 2016, money was running out at his app company SnoOwl, his staff wasn’t getting paid and investors were getting nervous. The new mayor was becoming increasingly disinterested in the start-up he founded.” – “‘Incredible challenges’: When COVID hit, Massachusetts courts found themselves in new territory,” by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: “This virtual setup is a familiar scene for attorneys, judges and citizens in Massachusetts waiting out the COVID-19 pandemic. Masked judges and video proceedings are one facet of the seismic shift the SJC made in its 329-year history, a transition the latest SJC justices are navigating.” – “Convicted murderer Raymond Gaines freed after 46 years amid new evidence,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “Nearly 46 years after Raymond Gaines was sent to prison for murder, a Suffolk Superior Court judge on Wednesday ordered his release after new evidence raised questions about his guilt, and about potential misconduct by the Boston police who investigated the case.” | | WARREN REPORT |
| – “Elizabeth Warren and other Democratic senators demand to know how US pharmaceutical companies plan to share vaccine technology as COVID-19 devastates India,” by Charles Davis, Insider: “In the next few weeks, more than half of Americans will have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. In much of the developing world, if current trends hold, people will be lucky to get a shot by 2022 — all the more reason, a group of US senators say, that pharmaceutical companies should be sharing their know-how and hastening the end to this global health crisis.” | | DATELINE D.C. |
| – “Senate confirms Samantha Power to be U.S.A.I.D. administrator.” by Pranshu Verma, The New York Times: “The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Samantha Power, a human-rights activist and President Barack Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations, to lead the U.S. Agency for International Development.” | | IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN |
| – “Coastal Seniors And Climate Change: Retirement Dreams Threatened As Coastal Living Increasingly Risky,” by Eve Zuckoff, GBH News: “Retiring to the shore is a deep-rooted American dream. In fact, more older Americans are living in coastal communities than ever before, with census data showing that the coastal population over age 65 rose by 89% over just a few decades. Many of those seniors want nothing more than to stay in their homes, but experts say threats from climate change could make it harder for them to do that.” – “Study: Northeastern U.S. Has Widest Tree Cover Disparities In The Country,” by Jesse Remedios, WBUR: Low-income neighborhoods have less tree cover in 92% of urban areas across the U.S. — with the widest disparities in the Northeast — according to a new study from The Nature Conservancy.” | | ABOVE THE FOLD |
| — Herald: “GO TIME," "THIS IS A HOLDUP!” — Globe: “In Duxbury, winning comes with a dark side," "100 days in, Biden outlines more plans for a new America.” | | FROM THE 413 |
| – “‘We had to go big’: US Rep. Richard Neal, Massachusetts House Speaker Ron Mariano lay out path to recovery at Springfield Chamber event,” by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: “Thirteen months ago, the ill-understood threat known as COVID-19 loomed over the Springfield Regional Chamber’ annual Outlook luncheon. The event at the MassMutual Center ballroom included hastily set-up hand sanitizing stations — the first time those had been seen locally.” – “Franklin County shuts ICE detention center,” by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: “The Franklin County Sheriff’s office shut down its detention center for immigrants, saying the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was not steering enough detainees its way. The 80-bed facility at the Greenfield jail dropped from an average of 65 immigrant detainees to an average of 20 in the past couple of years. On the final day of the contract, the facility held only nine detainees.” – “A $20,000 bill: Woodstar Café owner braces for doubled unemployment taxes if state lawmakers don’t find a fix,” by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: “Employers earned a last-minute reprieve when the state’s quarterly tax bill deadline was postponed a month to June 1, buying legislators time to respond. But the possibility of a massive bill, indirectly born out of a collective shutdown to reduce infections, hovers over Massachusetts business owners.” | | THE LOCAL ANGLE |
| – “In Duxbury, a celebrated football team with a boorish underside,” by Hanna Krueger and Elizabeth Koh, Boston Globe: “For years, Duxbury High’s football players have leaned on a three-word motto: Strength, Honor, Liberty, the last word a tribute to the daughter of a former Duxbury student who died in combat in Afghanistan in 2011. It was often shortened to a simple ‘SHL’ in hashtags and yearbooks inscriptions. But in the affluent town on Massachusetts’ South Shore, another mantra entirely was widely used as a pregame pump-up slogan: ‘MFB,’ for ‘murder f---ing b--ches.’” – “Council approves creation of Worcester Ballpark Commission for Polar Park,” by Steven H. Foskett Jr., Telegram & Gazette: “The City Council Tuesday approved the creation of a Ballpark Commission to oversee the general operation of Polar Park. As with previous council discussions about creation of the commission, it wasn't without debate, and it wasn't without another attempt to send it back to City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. for further revisions.” – “Fairhaven Selectman: As Recall Moves Forward, ‘I Will Resign,’” by Tim Weisberg, WBSM: “It appears as though the chairman of the Fairhaven Board of Selectmen is about to resign his seat rather than face a recall election. Dan Freitas is the subject of an effort by a group of citizens calling themselves Recall Dan Freitas, which started a petition to force a recall election in an attempt to oust the controversial selectman from office.” TRANSITIONS – Tufts University renames the Tisch College Distinguished Speaker Series in honor of retiring Dean Alan Solomont and his wife Susan Solomont. The program is now the Susan and Alan Solomont Distinguished Speaker Series. Link. CONGRATS! – Auditor Suzanne Bump’s office received the National State Auditors Association Special Projects Award for its report on police training and accountability. HAPPY BIRTHDAY – to Quentin Palfrey, acting general counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce; Karen Dynan, Peter Diamond and Lauren Janes. NEW EPISODE: THE GIF THAT KEEPS ON GIVING – On this week’s Horse Race podcast, hosts Jennifer Smith, Steve Koczela and Stephanie Murray discuss redistricting in Massachusetts and across the country. Friend of the pod and Law360 reporter Sarah Betancourt breaks down gun regulations in Massachusetts. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud. 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. | |
A message from Uber Driver Stories: When Olivia was diagnosed with MS in 2017, it became clear to her that having a regular job would no longer be possible.
“I drive with Uber because I love to drive,” she says. “It just puts the MS far out of my head. There’s no way I could work a regular 9-5.”
With Uber, Olivia can choose when, where, and how long she wants to drive. This flexibility lets Olivia be there for her daughter and for her own health needs.
If she’s not feeling well, or her daughter needs her, she doesn’t have to worry about asking her boss or requesting time off—she can take the time she needs to focus on herself and her family.
To see more stories like Olivia’s, click here.
*Driver earnings may vary depending on location, demand, hours, drivers, and other variables. | | | | |
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