Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Liss-Riordan calls for a climate debate

Thursday, April 7, 2022

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Liss-Riordan calls for a climate debate

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: HOT TOPIC — State attorney general hopeful Shannon Liss-Riordan is challenging her Democratic rivals to a climate debate ahead of the party’s June convention.

“We can all agree on the urgency of this issue,” Liss-Riordan said in a statement. “I hope Andrea Campbell and Quentin Palfrey will join me in this important discussion to highlight how we must act as a Commonwealth, country and global community to save our planet.”

Liss-Riordan wants to debate this month — in honor of “Earth Month” — or in May, per an invitation her team sent to Campbell and Palfrey’s campaigns that was obtained by Playbook. In the letter, her campaign manager says a climate debate is a “no-brainer” given the new IPCC report that says countries aren't doing enough to curb global warming.

Liss-Riordan is no stranger to climate debates. She answered Sen. Ed Markey’s call for a climate-focused forum during the 2020 Senate primary, which then-Rep. Joe Kennedy III skipped. (Markey has endorsed Campbell in this contest.)

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Gov. Charlie Baker has been pushing lawmakers to act on his bills to revamp the state’s criminal dangerousness statute and outlaw “revenge porn.” Now he’s launching a full-court press with a team of survivors.

Baker’s office is rolling out a series of new interviews on social media featuring people who have participated in the administration’s roundtables on the bills or who have testified before the Legislature in support of them. The first clip, posted just minutes ago, features Sara Malley, a woman who emotionally recounted to the governor at a December roundtable how she was abused by her ex-husband.

“Domestic violence is homicide in slow motion,” Malley says as she wipes away tears. “And I feel that this bill is like a miracle for us. It just gives us more tools, because we have none right now.”

Baker’s latest effort to pass the thrice-filed bills coincides with “Victim Rights Month.” It also comes ahead of the judiciary committee’s April 15 deadline to report on Baker's bill that would expand the list of offenses that can be used to hold a defendant as a dangerous person, among other reforms.

Lawmakers' attention will be divided today. Senate President Karen Spilka is unveiling her chamber's latest efforts to address climate change at a 1 p.m. press conference; senators are set to debate marijuana legislation; and members of the conference committee tasked with hashing out voting reform bill differences hold their first meeting at 2 p.m.

TODAY — Baker announces the release of the 2021 Clean Energy Industry Report at 10 a.m. at the MassCEC Wind Technology Testing Center in Boston and joins GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” hosts at 1 p.m. for an interview with Juliette Kayem about her new book and to take listener calls. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito makes a M2I2 grant announcement in North Andover at 1:30 p.m. Rep. Ayanna Pressley hosts a virtual press conference to unveil legislation to help those with “long Covid” at 10 a.m. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks at a student art exhibit reception at City Hall at 5:30 p.m. and at a youth basketball all-star game in Hyde Park at 7 p.m.

Tips? Scoops? Are you the person behind the Boston Globe Pitch Bot on Twitter? Email me: lkashinsky@politico.com","_id":"00000180-01d3-d5ef-ab93-dfdff2320000","_type":"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}">lkashinsky@politico.com. Apologies, it seems we're having link and layout issues again.

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CAMPAIGN MODE

— THE NUMBERS ARE IN: Here’s what you need to know about statewide candidates’ March fundraising totals.

BIG LENDERS — Chris Doughty loaned his campaign $87,000 in March, on top of the $500,000 he gave his gubernatorial bid when he launched. His campaign says he plans to increase advertising “shortly.” AG hopeful Shannon Liss-Riordan loaned her campaign $500,000.

IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS — AG Maura Healey now has more than $4.7 million in her gubernatorial war chest, leading not just her competitors but every other statewide office-seeker. There are only three candidates with more than $1 million in their campaign coffers: Healey, Secretary of State Bill Galvin with just over $2 million and state Sen. Eric Lesser, who’s running for lieutenant governor, with just over $1 million.

BURN BABY, BURN — AG hopeful Quentin Palfrey spent $80,703 in March, but he only took in $48,719. Geoff Diehl also spent nearly $30,000 more on his gubernatorial bid than he took in last month, including shelling out $12,500 for Corey Lewandowski’s consulting services.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK — Republican auditor candidate Anthony Amore raised $23,290 in his first month on the campaign trail. Jay McMahon, who’s running for AG again, raised $2,240. LG candidate and Doughty running-mate Kate Campanale brought in $7,619 in March. Numbers aren’t available for Diehl's running mate, Leah Cole Allen.

— CASH DASH: Nearly five-dozen women are hosting a “Women for Dempsey” virtual fundraiser for state auditor candidate Chris Dempsey at 8 p.m. tonight. The hosts include state Reps. Natalie Blais, Michelle Ciccolo, Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Pat Haddad, Natalie Higgins, Mary Keefe, Kathy LaNatra, Joan Meschino and Sarah Peake ; Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle and Governor’s Councilor Marilyn Petitto Devaney.

— ENDORSEMENT ALERT: Our Revolution Massachusetts has endorsed state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz for governor with 84 percent support from members. Healey had declined to seek ORM’s endorsement.

THE LATEST NUMBERS

— “Massachusetts reports 1,296 new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations drop,”

by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “State health officials on Wednesday reported 1,296 new coronavirus cases, a steady virus rate from last week as COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped across the region.”

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “State takeover of school districts no ‘silver bullet’,” by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine: “In the wake of moves by states to assert growing authority over struggling school districts, Beth Schueler, an assistant professor of education and public policy at the University of Virginia, and Joshua Bleiberg, a researcher at the Annenberg Institute for Education Reform at Brown University, recently set out to examine the impact of state takeovers of districts. They looked at the effect of state takeovers in the 35 districts, spanning 14 states, that were taken over by state authorities between 2011 and 2016. These included Lawrence and Holyoke, but not Southbridge, where 2016-17 was the first full school year under state control. ‘Overall,’ they wrote, ‘we find no evidence that state takeover improves academic achievement.’”

— “Gas tax suspension pushed again in Massachusetts as state revenues soar,” by Amy Sokolow, Boston Herald: “State revenues continued to soar above projections in March, prompting one conservative group to again call for the suspension of the gas tax. ‘March tax collections blew past their benchmark, the state has more money than they know what to do with, and yet for Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka, it’s still not enough,’ said Paul Diego Craney, spokesperson for the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.”

— “Republican accuses Dems of flipflopping on staff unionization,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “During a debate on on House rules in January 2019, Rep. Shawn Dooley, a Norfolk Republican, introduced an amendment that would allow House employees to unionize. The amendment was overwhelmingly rejected, 149-9. Just six Republicans and three Democrats voted for it. Now, as legislative staff are actually attempting to unionize, support for unionization has become far more widespread on Beacon Hill, with some of the same Democrats who opposed Dooley’s amendment vocally supporting unionization. Dooley calls that hypocritical. ... But some of those Democrats say the vote reflects the nature of Beacon Hill politics. They argue that there was a difference between an effort led by a GOP House member and one led by the staffers themselves."

VAX-ACHUSETTS

— COVID POSITIVE: Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark has tested positive for Covid-19 , she said Wednesday, joining a growing list of prominent D.C. figures, including Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the former Rhode Island governor, who have contracted the virus in recent days. Raimondo announced her Covid diagnosis after speaking at D.C.’s Gridiron Club dinner, which Clark didn’t attend.

FROM THE HUB

— “Boston Marathon bans athletes from Russia from competing in this year’s race,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “Russians who are living in Russia are banned from competing in this month’s Boston Marathon, the Boston Athletic Association announced on Wednesday. The Boston Athletic Association also said that Russians who were accepted into the BAA 5K as part of the open registration process will no longer be allowed to compete in the marathon weekend event. The same rules apply for Belarusians who are living in Belarus. In total, 63 athletes will be removed from the marathon and 5K.”

— “Boston councilors push for hundreds more liquor licenses in certain neighborhoods,” by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: “A trio of Boston city councilors are pushing for hundreds more liquor licenses in the city, specifically in neighborhoods of color where there is a paucity of restaurants that can legally serve booze."

— “Boston to spend $7M to electrify 20 school buses as city heads toward fleet electrification,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “The city’s moving toward electrifying its school buses, dropping $7 million on making 20 of them run on batteries as Mayor Michelle Wu seeks to do the same with the other 97.3% of them by 2030. … Officials said electrifying the buses costs $350,000 a pop, for a total of $7 million. This money is already budgeted from the schools’ operating budget and federal relief money, school officials said.”

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PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— “Feds end discrimination investigation into MBTA citing improvements in The Ride service for wheelchair users,” by Taylor Dolven, Boston Globe: “Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts said this week they had ended their investigation into alleged discrimination by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority after the transit agency made improvements in access to its paratransit service The Ride for people who use wheelchairs.”

HEALEY WATCH

— “Attorneys General Threaten to Investigate N.F.L.’s Treatment of Female Employees,” by Ken Belson and Katherine Rosman, New York Times: “The attorneys general of six states, including New York [and Massachusetts], have told the N.F.L. they have ‘grave concerns’ about allegations of workplace harassment of women and minorities and warned the league that unless it takes steps to address the problems it could face a broad investigation.”

ON THE STUMP

— NOT BY PARTY LINES: After Healey expressed support for safe consumption sites at a press conference earlier this week, her office told Playbook that the AG "supports allowing communities to decide what's best for their residents, including the option of setting up safe consumption sites."

Her gubernatorial rivals are split: Chang-Díaz said in a Progressive Massachusetts candidate questionnaire that she would “lean yes” toward supporting the legalization of safe consumption sites but said she wants to do a “more thorough review” of the sites to “learn what the best practices and pitfalls of implementation have been.” Diehl says he’s “open to discussing safe injection sites as an intervention tool.” Doughty said “safe injection sites are a stress on local communities and neighborhoods.”

— “No, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Chris Doughty doesn’t want to bring back toll booths — but he does oppose new tolls on Massachusetts highways,” by Alison Kuznitz, MassLive: “Republican gubernatorial hopeful Chris Doughty, who’s fiercely pushed for Massachusetts to temporarily suspend the state gas tax amid historically high prices, now wants to be seen as a ‘motorist-friendly’ choice for governor by pumping the brakes on new tolls for Massachusetts highways. Doughty, a Wrentham business owner, is not in favor of green-lighting the return of toll booths on Massachusetts highways — despite what an initial statement seemed to indicate.”

FROM THE 413

— “FBI arrests Chicopee schools chief Lynn Clark over threats,” by Dusty Christensen, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Chicopee’s superintendent of schools has been arrested on a charge of lying to the FBI, which has accused her of sending threatening text messages to a candidate for the city’s police chief job. On Wednesday, federal prosecutors and the FBI announced the arrest of Lynn Clark at her home in Belchertown. Clark, 51, faces one criminal charge of making false statements about using a ‘burner app’ to send some 99 threatening texts.”

— More: “Chicopee School committee puts Superintendent Lynn Clark on leave following FBI arrest,” by Jeanette DeForge, Springfield Republican: “The Chicopee School Committee voted to put Superintendent Lynn A. Clark on paid administrative leave about 12 hours after she was charged with lying to the FBI during a federal investigation into the apparent extortion of one of the candidates for police chief.”

— “Advocacy group seeks transparency ballot question in Pittsfield district of Massachusetts House,” by Berkshire Eagle staff: “Act on Mass, a left-leaning group that has led the pursuit of transparency-minded reforms, wants Pittsfield voters to weigh in on whether they want their representative to vote in favor of making committee votes public. State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, who co-chairs the House Progressive Caucus, represents the district that encompasses Pittsfield and is facing a challenge from Republican Gina Divola. The House previously has voted down rules changes backed by Act on Mass.”

— “Northampton’s John Vanasse announces candidacy for Hampshire County sheriff,” by Brian Steele, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “If elected sheriff of Hampshire County, John Vanasse of Florence said he wants to ‘leave a mark’ in areas including staff training at the county jail and community outreach — while vowing to serve a maximum of two six-year terms.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Mental health boarding continuing to rise,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “Hundreds of psychiatric patients are still being ‘boarded’ in emergency rooms across the state as they await beds in mental health facilities. As of last Monday, there were 750 patients – including 247 children – in awaiting beds in psychiatric facilities across the state, according to the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association's weekly report. That's the highest number of pediatric patients since the association began collecting the data last fall. While the number of boarders fluctuates from week to week, it's risen by about 15% in the past month.”

— “MIT graduate students vote to form union,” by Max Larkin, WBUR: “Graduate students at MIT have voted to form a union by a 2-to-1 margin. Organizers said the result was a response to the growing challenges facing students — who teach, conduct research and provide academic support on the Cambridge campus — and in keeping with the institute’s experimental spirit.”

— “Worcester City Council appoints Eric Batista acting city manager effective June 1,” by Steven H. Foskett Jr., Worcester Telegram & Gazette: “The City Council Tuesday night appointed Eric Batista acting city manager. … Batista, an assistant city manager, will replace outgoing City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr., who recently announced he will step down at the end of May.”

— “Worcester raises Pride flag over city hall in response to calls for removal of the flag at Nativity School,”by Kiernan Dunlop, MassLive: “The Worcester Human Rights Commission responded to calls for the removal of a Pride flag at a local Catholic school by requesting Worcester City Hall fly the Progressive Pride flag in solidarity. On Tuesday, the flag was already up and waving in front of City Hall.”

MEANWHILE IN RHODE ISLAND

— “And the new Rhode Island license plate is: Waves! Again!” by Brian Amaral, Boston Globe: “Out with the Wave plate. In with the Waves plate. The state of Rhode Island unveiled its new standard license plate Wednesday, and it’s an explicit homage to the one that’s been on Rhode Island cars for the past 26 years.”

COMMENCEMENT CHRONICLES — Former Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey will speak and receive an honorary degree at MassArt’s 2022 commencement on May 19.

10 OUT OF 10 — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu can add best-dressed to her list of mayoral superlatives. Route Fifty, a site for state and local government leaders, touted Wu as one of the 10 most fashionable mayors in the country.

TRANSITIONS — Chris Torri is House Speaker Ron Mariano’s new legislative and floor manager. Mariano has also promoted press secretary Ana Vivas to communications director and senior policy counsel Joe Masciangioli to general counsel and senior policy advisor.

— Ellen Fleming will take over the WWLP 22News State House Bureau from Jodi Reed in May. Fleming worked for WCVB’s “Chronicle” newsmagazine and was previously communications director for state Sen. John Keenan.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to POLITICO’s Daniel Lippman, NGP VAN's Jeremiah Thompson and Joe Nigro. Happy belated to Ricardo Sánchez, Rep. Ayanna Pressley's communications director, who celebrated Wednesday.

NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: GATEWAY CITIES TAKEAWAYS FOR THE U.K. — Peter Abbott, the British consul general to Boston, joins hosts Steve Koczela and Jennifer Smith to discuss what he learned from the U.K. Consulate’s recent visits to five Gateway Cities. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud.

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