Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: SCOTUS fight isn’t over for Markey

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: SCOTUS fight isn’t over for Markey

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FULLER COURT PRESS — Democrats’ jubilation over Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic U.S. Supreme Court confirmation is starting to give way to renewed calls to expand the bench as crucial decisions on abortion access and other key issues loom.

Ed Markey is asking his supporters to sign a petition calling on his Senate colleagues to abolish the filibuster and pass his Judiciary Act to add four seats to the nation’s highest court. Behind the scenes, he’s working with advocates and Senate colleagues including Elizabeth Warren and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) to elevate the issue in the national debate, a spokesperson said.

“The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide bedrock abortion and climate change cases that will impact the health and safety of millions of Americans,” Markey said in statement to Playbook. “It is critical we begin to repair the damage done to our judiciary by the Republican theft of two court seats.”

The popular progressive cause isn’t going anywhere fast. President Joe Biden’s SCOTUS commission punted on court packing in its December report, and Republicans attacked Jackson over the concept during her confirmation process. In the year since Markey and House lawmakers filed their Judiciary Act to expand the court, it’s gained just two Senate cosponsors — Warren and Smith — and 50 in the House, including Rep. Ayanna Pressley.

But some advocates say SCOTUS’ pending decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — a case about Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy through which justices could roll back or overturn Roe v. Wade — could galvanize supporters old and new. And they point to other once-fringe calls, like a wealth tax, that have now made it to the political fore as a sign of hope.

“We’ve seen a growing number of members of Congress and leading progressive institutions recognize that expansion is the only way to restore balance to the court,” Christopher Kang, chief counsel of Demand Justice, said in a statement. He added that SCOTUS’ upcoming decisions “will be a clear reminder that the only way to realize the promise of Judge Jackson’s nomination is to send her four new colleagues.”

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. While Gov. Charlie Baker sees the state’s surplus revenues as a means for providing tax cuts, House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz sees the plentiful coffers as an opportunity to invest in the middle class for long-term stability and equity.

The House will not propose tax cuts in the fiscal year 2023 budget that legislative leaders will unveil Wednesday, budget-writer Michlewitz told Playbook. But he said that doesn’t rule out discussions about tax cuts in future budget cycles.

“We’re very clear that we feel that the revenue growth that we’ve seen here is an opportunity to reinvest for FY ‘23,” Michlewitz told reporters after he, House Speaker Ron Mariano and their colleagues outlined their proposed investments in early education at a child care center yesterday.

“There’s going to be other pieces in the budget that come out on Wednesday that you’re going to see reinvesting in other sectors of our economy,” Michlewitz continued. Mariano also said “no” when asked whether there would be tax breaks in the budget.

TODAY — Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito participate in a ceremonial bill signing for Nero’s Law at noon at the Yarmouth Police Department. Baker testifies on his $9.7 billion infrastructure bill at 2:30 p.m. Polito speaks at a North Shore Realtors’ legislative breakfast at 8:30 a.m. in Haverhill.

Mayor Michelle Wu hosts a Boston Marathon press conference at noon at City Hall. Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Lori Trahan discuss federal school aid at UMass Lowell at 11 a.m. and Haverhill High School at 1 p.m. Markey highlights fare-free transit with a bus ride from Methuen to Lawrence at 3:15 p.m. State AG Maura Healey attends a Chamber of Central Mass South meeting at 12:30 p.m. in Southbridge, participates in WooSox opening day ceremonies at 2:30 p.m. at Polar Park and tours Worcester’s canal district at 3:45 p.m.

Tips? Scoops? Email me: lkashinsky@politico.com.

A message from PhRMA:

Thousands of scientists in Massachusetts are creating ground-breaking treatments to fight everything from the common cold to cancer. Gov. Charlie Baker’s bill would let the government set prices on medications, limiting the amount of research scientists can do to create cures. More importantly, it might make some medications harder to get. Gov. Baker: let the scientists do their jobs, don’t discriminate against patients, and stop threatening access to medications. Go to SupportMassCures.com to learn more.

CAMPAIGN MODE

— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins is formally launching his reelection bid with a two-minute video titled “Unfinished Business,” an endorsement from the National Association of Government Employees and a kickoff event featuring Sen. Elizabeth Warren at 5:30 p.m. on April 21 at the Stockyard restaurant in Brighton.

“From officer wellness to inmate rehabilitation to impactful community reintegration, I’ve stood side-by-side with clients in the community to help drive the conversation, provided long-term solutions and spurred definitive action on these issues,” Tompkins says in the video. “Together, over the past eight years, we’ve accomplished so much successfully making public safety work. But we still have more to do.”

Tompkins faces a Democratic primary challenge from Sandy Zamor Calixte, a former senior aide in the sheriff’s office. Calixte ended March with $26,042 in cash on hand, compared to Tompkins’ $79,160.

— NEW: Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi has been endorsed for a second term by two dozen elected officials including Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Agawam Mayor William Sapelli, West Springfield Mayor Will Reichelt, Chicopee Mayor John Vieau , Westfield Mayor Michael McCabe, Holyoke Mayor Joshua Garcia, Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni; state Sens. John Velis, Eric Lesser, Adam Gomez, Adam Hinds and Anne Gobi; and state Reps. Joseph Wagner, Bud Williams, Orlando Ramos, Angelo Puppolo, Carlos Gonzalez, Brian Ashe, Mike Finn, Jake Oliveira and Patricia Duffy.

— GETTING IN: Republican businessman and Townsend firefighter Andrew Shepherd is running for First Middlesex state representative, per a MassGOP press release.

— OPENING THE DOOR: Republican governor hopeful Geoff Diehl is opening regional campaign offices in Plymouth and Waltham.

THE LATEST NUMBERS

— “Boston-area COVID wastewater keeps climbing, Massachusetts reports 38% jump in new virus cases,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “The south of Boston’s COVID wastewater average has increased from the very low level of 92 copies per milliliter to now 414. The north of Boston’s average has gone up from 101 copies to now 397. The wastewater levels are still far below the omicron peak. Meanwhile, the state Department of Public Health reported a daily average of 1,333 COVID cases over the weekend, which was up 38% from the daily rate of 963 infections over the previous weekend.”

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “‘We have to begin somewhere.’ Facing system in crisis, Mass. House leaders propose boost for child care provider pay,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “Massachusetts House leaders on Monday released a plan to dedicate an extra $40 million toward bolstering the salaries of child-care providers in Massachusetts, a three-fold increase lawmakers say will help stabilize an industry where thousands of workers still toil in poverty. … The House proposal does not include measures that would substantially cut the prices with which many families grapple. Instead, it focuses largely on the industry’s workforce, by injecting new money into worker pay and shifting how some providers are reimbursed by the state by basing the subsidies on enrollment, not attendance — a change, lawmakers say, that would stabilize their revenue.”

— “Key lawmakers like Baker health care priorities,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “Key Beacon Hill lawmakers said on Monday they were supportive of Gov. Charlie Baker’s bid to tilt health care more toward behavioral and primary care, but they worried that the $1.4 billion spending mandate over three years would result in higher health care spending. At a hearing of the Legislature’s Health Care Financing Committee, Baker and Marylou Sudders, his secretary of health and human services, pushed for passage of legislation that would require health care providers to boost spending by 30 percent over three years on primary care, behavioral health, substance abuse treatment, and geriatric care.”

— “Senate hires one-time Rosenberg adviser to counsel position,” by Samantha J. Gross, Boston Globe: “Massachusetts Senate President Karen E. Spilka announced Monday that she has hired former Senate policy adviser James DiTullio to permanently fill the open role of Senate counsel. … It’s a wide-ranging role that has gained new importance in recent weeks, as Senate staff have announced their intent to form a union.”

— “Mass. lawmakers consider expanding definition of domestic abuse to include financial and mental abuse,” by Ally Jarmanning, WBUR: “Now there's a growing movement in state legislatures across the country, including in Massachusetts, to expand domestic abuse laws to help victims get help for controlling behavior and verbal abuse.”

— “Telehealth reimbursement rules pit insurers against doctors,” by Jessica Bartlett, Boston Globe: “When Governor Charlie Baker signed legislation in January 2021 mandating insurance coverage for telehealth appointments, the move seemed to resolve years of debate about how to pay for and adopt 21st-century health care technology. But delays in releasing regulations for that law have thrown insurers and doctors back into debate about which visits should be fully covered, and some say the resulting uncertainty could undo gains the industry has made in adopting telehealth over the course of the pandemic.”

— "Is a Cat Cafe Coming to Beacon Hill?" writes Marc Hurwitz. There better be, writes your Playbook scribe, who will henceforth conduct all meetings at said cat cafe should it exist.

VAX-ACHUSETTS

— “Massachusetts businesses not following COVID-19 sick time program, workers and advocates say,” by Mike Beaudet, WCVB: “Ariel Antonio Velazquez tried to call in sick to his job as a cook at a Boston restaurant in December, using the emergency paid sick leave program. ‘I wasn't able to get paid, even though I had written proof of COVID and a test,’ he said, speaking through an interpreter. He stayed home anyway and ended up losing his job. … Workers rights groups and attorneys say that and similar incidents should not have happened after the state passed the COVID-19 Temporary Emergency Paid Sick Leave Program.”

A message from PhRMA:

FROM THE HUB

— “Boston community members voice concern over possible state takeover of schools,” by Jenna Russell, Boston Globe: “The roster of Bostonians opposed to a state takeover of city schools grew longer Monday, as City Council members, academic researchers, parents and teachers, the head of the Boston Teachers Union and a former member of the state Board of Education testified against the prospect of state receivership [at a council committee hearing].”

— “Music, food, Dunkin’: Here’s how Wu wants to bring people back downtown,” by Catherine Carlock, Boston Globe: “Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston is hoping the draw of live music and street art, food trucks and free Dunkin’ coffee, lawn games, and an evening beer garden will bring workers out of rectangular Zoom boxes and downtown in real life this Wednesday, and gradually back for good.”

— “Research finds stark racial disparities in how Boston responds to unhealthy conditions that trigger asthma,” by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: “Unhealthy housing conditions that can trigger asthma are more commonplace in Boston’s poorer and more diverse neighborhoods, and the city is slower to address such problems, if at all, in those enclaves than in whiter areas, according to a striking new research paper.”

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— “A Boston man died after he got trapped in the door of a Red Line subway car. The T isn’t answering basic questions about what happened,” by Taylor Dolven and Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: “Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokesman Joe Pesaturo declined to say if Robinson Lalin was getting on or off the train. He declined to say if the T suspects the car, which was put into service more than 50 years ago, malfunctioned. He declined to say if officials think the operator — who is no longer driving trains as the investigation continues — might be at fault. The lack of information left Lalin’s family to describe a nightmarish turn of events. … Lalin’s death is the latest in a recent series of safety incidents on the MBTA system causing transit advocates to issue urgent warnings about the need for more funding and oversight of the sprawling system.”

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THE CLARK CAUCUS

— “How Congresswoman Katherine Clark Gets It Done,” by Andrea González-Ramírez, The Cut: “Assistant Speaker Katherine Clark doesn’t hesitate to outline the challenges members of Congress face: an unrelenting schedule, frustrating deadlocks in the legislative process, long periods of time away from family, threats on a regular basis, extreme political polarization, a steady diet of bad airport food — the list goes on. And yet, if she could travel back nine years ago, to when she first ran for Massachusetts’s Fifth Congressional District, she’d do it all over again.”

DATELINE D.C.

— “Kamala Harris, Marty Walsh and the unlikely bonds of politics,” by Matt Viser, Washington Post: “In what has become one of the more unusual pairings in the Biden administration, Vice President Harris and Marty Walsh, the secretary of Labor, have struck up a tight bond that started with policy and has evolved into a personal connection that has surprised those close to them. They talk on a weekly basis and Harris has spent more time one-on-one with Walsh than any other Cabinet member, according to aides in the vice president’s office. Walsh now has drop-in privileges at the VP’s office, allowed to swing by unannounced anytime he chooses. When Walsh recently told Harris that he was going to be a grandfather this summer, she expressed delight — and is now planning a baby shower at the U.S. Naval Observatory, her official residence, for Walsh’s stepdaughter.”

— SPOTTED: Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian at the White House on Monday as President Joe Biden unveiled new reforms aimed at curbing increasing gun violence.

A message from PhRMA:

Massachusetts is a booming biotech ecosystem. Its scientists and researchers are developing ground-breaking treatments to fight everything from the common cold to cancer.

Gov. Charlie Baker’s bill imposes government prices on medications, which would then limit the amount of research scientists can do to create lifesaving treatments. By setting medication prices, it also means politicians decide which patients and diseases are more important than others.

State bureaucrats should not be playing doctor. When the government imposes artificial prices from the top-down, some patients can lose access to their medications. Seniors, the disabled, and the chronically ill are most vulnerable to these policies.

Gov. Baker: let the scientists and doctors do their jobs, don’t discriminate against patients, and stop threatening access to medications. Go to SupportMassCures.com to learn more.

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— ABORTION ACCESS: As advocates prepare for the possibility that SCOTUS could disrupt abortion access, Reproductive Equity Now is rolling out its “New England Abortion Care Guide,” an online portal through which pregnant people can find information about abortion care across the six New England states. It’s the Massachusetts-based group’s first regional project since relaunching with a broader reach last year.

— “Fired Massachusetts State Police eye court to win jobs back,” by Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald: “Some of the dozen State Police officers fired for violating the governor’s vaccine mandate say they are lawyering up. … The list of staties let go includes the son of an officer tied up in the overtime scandal and others who have said in the past they dreamed of becoming troopers to follow in the footsteps of their kin.”

— “Two Starbucks stores in Boston area unanimously secure union wins, the first in Massachusetts,” by Tori Bedford, GBH News: “Joined by union organizers and supporters from around the state, baristas from Starbucks locations in Coolidge Corner and Allston erupted in cheers and embraced one another as election results were announced by an official from the National Labor Relations Board: 14-0 in Brookline and 16-0 in Allston.”

— “Grafton resident files federal lawsuit over alleged civil rights violations during talk at police HQ,” by Maureen Sullivan, Grafton News: “A complaint about flashing police cruiser lights has led to an accusation of civil rights violations and a lawsuit. … According to a report within the lawsuit, [Robert] Holmes said he found it ‘highly troubling’ that he was told by the dispatcher he could not speak to the on-duty police sergeant without providing identification, ‘...since I was not in custody and I was just a civilian [filing] a complaint against the department.’"

— “South Coast area colleges changing courses, shifting strategies to boost declining enrollment,” by Sawyer Smook-Pollitt, New Bedford Light: “Specific majors and departments at South Coast universities are seeing a decline in liberal arts enrollment while interest shifts to fields that have a more reliable track to the workforce.”

SPOTTED — Gov. Charlie Baker collecting signatures for fellow Republican Anthony Amore’s state auditor bid over the weekend.

TRANSITIONS — Allie Polaski is now press secretary and digital director for the House Rules Committee under Rep. Jim McGovern.

— Stephanie Bensadoun is now communications director for MassDems. Allison Mitchell, the previous comms director, has joined the attorney general’s office as digital director.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Kathryn Alexander, comms director/senior adviser for Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark, and Mike Brown, a dentist, welcomed Nolan Alexander Brown on April 2. Pic … Another pic

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Romneycare, Dan Manning and Ilya Rasner. Happy belated to the Boston Herald’s Meghan Ottolini, who celebrated Monday.

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