Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Debate day dawns

Wednesday, October 12, 2022

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Debate day dawns

SETTING THE STAGE — Maura Healey and Geoff Diehl will face off tonight in a debate that could jolt a sleepy election season but is unlikely to change the course of a gubernatorial contest the Democrat is heavily favored to win.

So why tune in?

— The candidates might actually have to answer the questions they’ve been avoiding. Neither Healey nor Diehl will say how they would handle more migrants arriving in Massachusetts through red-state governors’ transport programs. Neither candidate has detailed a plan for dealing with a possible Covid-19 resurgence this winter, beyond Diehl saying he would end vaccine mandates for state employees and rehire workers fired for not complying with them. And while Healey pledged to overhaul the MBTA’s leadership in her transportation plan, neither candidate has been pressed for specifics on how they would fix the beleaguered public transit system — and how they would stop the T from riding off a financial cliff.

— They’ll probably be asked to grade outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker’s job performance, which could make for some awkward television. Healey’s deference to Baker has been well documented, and she’ll likely be loath to criticize the popular governor in a primetime setting. Diehl has tried to walk the line between denouncing the governor’s pandemic policies and making sure voters know he supported Baker, who continues to poll well with independents and Democrats, in all three of the moderate Republican's campaigns for governor.

— There will likely be fireworks over abortion and former President Donald Trump. Diehl has pledged to uphold state laws surrounding abortion access. But the self-described “pro-life” Republican has dodged questions about whether he would support a federal abortion ban. Healey, who is pro-abortion rights, accused Diehl on WCVB’s “On the Record” of wanting to “defund abortion.” Her campaign also telegraphed its lines of attack over Diehl’s relationship with Trump and his false claim that the 2020 election was “rigged” in a press release earlier this week.

Diehl plans to draw his own contrasts with Healey over taxes, energy costs and more. He's been practicing with his campaign manager, Amanda Orlando, playing the attorney general. Healey’s campaign wouldn’t share who played the Republican in her debate prep. Watch the debate live at 7 p.m. on NBC10 Boston and NECN.

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. The U.S. Treasury Department says it’s looking into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ migrant transports and whether the Republican improperly used money connected to federal pandemic aid to facilitate the flights to Martha's Vineyard.

Sen. Ed Markey and Reps. Jake Auchincloss, Ayanna Pressley, Lori Trahan, Jim McGovern and Bill Keating, who represents Martha’s Vineyard, sent a letter to Treasury last month requesting the review. Deputy Inspector General Richard K. Delmar told the lawmakers that his office plans “to get this work underway as quickly as possible,” according to a letter released by Markey’s office yesterday.

The Treasury letter marks the first time federal authorities have said they’re looking into DeSantis’ charter migrant flights. Markey applauded the agency for confirming it would examine DeSantis’ “use of Covid relief funds to cruelly transport migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard under false pretenses and without any consideration for their personal dignity or basic needs.” More on the Treasury probe from myself and POLITICO Florida’s Gary Fineout.

TODAY — Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito address the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce at 6 p.m. in Haverhill. Polito chairs a Governor’s Council meeting at noon at the State House. Healey speaks at the AG office’s “People’s Law Firm Outreach Day” virtual summit at 10:30 a.m. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu attends the release of the Boston Common Master Plan at 10 a.m. Wu, House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz and MassDems Chair Gus Bickford host a fundraiser at 6 p.m. in Chinatown. Pressley participates in a virtual parents roundtable on canceling student loan debt at 11 a.m. Markey hosts a Twitter Spaces talk on trans health equity at 1:30 p.m.

Tips? Scoops? More questions the governor candidates haven’t answered? Email me: lkashinsky@politico.com.

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “Approval rating: Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker is most popular governor,” by Alison Kuznitz, MassLive: “Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is once again ranked as the most popular governor in the country, according to a new poll released Tuesday by Morning Consult. Some 74% of registered voters in Massachusetts say they approve of the two-term Republican who is not seeking a third term in office. Only 20% of voters disapprove of Baker, according to a poll spanning July 1 through Sept. 30. … Approval rankings for the other New England governors include 59% for New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, 58% for Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, 54% for Maine Gov. Janet Mills and 47% for Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee.” Only one Democrat, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, cracked the top 10.

FROM THE HUB

— “Wu may veto 20% Boston City Council, mayoral pay raises,” by Saraya Wintersmith, GBH News: “Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signaled Tuesday she is considering exercising her veto power to lower the scope of a recently approved pay raise for her own office and for the city’s 13 councilors. Last week, the council voted unanimously to boost their annual pay by 20% — from the current $103,500 to $125,000 — an increase that represents $10,000 more than what Wu originally proposed. The approved measure would also boost pay for the mayor’s office from an annual $207,000 to $250,000. That increase represents $20,000 more than what Wu proposed for the mayor’s office."

— “Boston tells do-gooders to stop bringing food to Mass and Cass,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “Do not cater the open-air drug party at Mass and Cass. That’s the message from city officials to would-be do-gooders whose food offerings to the people wandering the streets are contributing to issues in the troubled South End area that hosts a thriving drug market — and Boston’s sending out flyers to tell people to quit it.”

— "Tax on high-dollar real estate sales could have generated millions for Boston housing, study finds," by Diti Kohli, Boston Globe: "Boston would have at least $20 million more in its affordable housing funds from just five luxury condo developments, if Beacon Hill had passed a tax on high-dollar real estate sales three years ago, a new report found. The Institute for Policy Studies, a left-leaning think tank, published a study Wednesday quantifying the ramifications of the real estate transfer tax, a proposal that would tack a 2 percent fee on residential and commercial property sales above $2 million in Boston."

— "A new master plan could help transform Boston Common into a ‘better version’ of itself," by Spencer Buell, Boston Globe: "The popular playground on Boston Common, which draws children from across the city and beyond, would nearly triple in size. A revamp of the equally popular Frog Pond would include multiple fountains, while a soccer pitch would be added to the athletic fields. More restrooms, everywhere. And, a place to get a beer or glass of wine."

YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

— “In Healey’s bid for governor, she sounds a little bit like the Republican she’s vying to succeed,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “[Maura] Healey is vying to retake the governor’s office for Democrats. But in both policy and pitch, the attorney general has for months cited, echoed, and outright praised [Gov. Charlie] Baker, the lame-duck Republican at whom her party has for years lobbed arrows. She has called him a friend, and a ‘valued partner,’ particularly on efforts to fight the opioid scourge. In celebrating her gubernatorial nomination last month, Healey held Baker up as an example of governing ‘with respect.’ Her campaign has released a slew of plans for her would-be administration, but while some have lacked detail, they largely would build upon, not be at odds with, what Baker has done.”

— “Auditor candidate Anthony Amore endorsed by former White House chief of staff,” by Alison Kuznitz, MassLive: “The former White House chief of staff under President George W. Bush endorsed Anthony Amore for state auditor Tuesday, pitching the Republican candidate as an essential counterweight to a Beacon Hill climate in which ‘Democrats are going to [be] very domineering’ following the general election next month. Andrew Card, a former U.S. secretary of transportation who also served as a Massachusetts state representative from 1975 to 1983, lamented Democrats have controlled the state auditor role during his ‘entire political life.’”

DAY IN COURT

— “‘You are a monster,’ Jassy Correia’s mother tells man sentenced to life in prison for her kidnapping and death,” by Shelley Murphy, Boston Globe: “Jassy Correia kept a notebook with to-do lists and words of encouragement, detailing her plans for the life she would build with her 2-year-old daughter. On the cover, according to prosecutors, she wrote, ‘Life is My Favorite Adventure.’ On Tuesday, her relatives wept in US District Court in Boston as they confronted Louis D. Coleman III, the man who strangled Correia to death inside his car in 2019 after kidnapping her from outside a Boston nightclub where she was celebrating her upcoming 23rd birthday with friends. Coleman was sentenced Tuesday to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.”

— "Lawsuit says Mass. residents ‘unnecessarily institutionalized’ in nursing homes should have options for independent living," by Nick Stoico, Boston Globe: "The lawsuit filed in US District Court in Boston alleges Governor Charlie Baker and other top state officials have failed to provide adequate services and support to help individuals with physical or mental disabilities progress from a nursing facility, where they are segregated from the community, to more independent living, while still having access to medical care through the state’s Home and Community-Based Services programs."

MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS

— “Baker: Expungement Fastest Way To Address Marijuana Convictions,” by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service (paywall): “Expunging criminal records for simple marijuana possession would be the ‘fastest, easiest and quickest way’ to deal with those convictions, not pardons like President Joe Biden recommended, Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday.”

— “Pot boss Shannon O’Brien affiliated license up for final approval, recusal promised,” by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald: “The agenda for the state Cannabis Control Commission’s next meeting shows the pot-growing farm pitched in part by Chair Shannon O’Brien will soon appear before regulators for final license approval. … A group of self-proclaimed grassroots cannabis activists say they will be holding a protest of O’Brien’s apparent conflict of interest Wednesday afternoon at the State House, where according to organizers they will call for O’Brien’s resignation.”

FROM THE 413

— “Chicopee hit with new $65.2 million federal mandate to improve sewage treatment: $4.5 million grant awarded to fund 1st phase,” by Jeanette DeForge, Springfield Republican: “The city’s sewer department has been hit with another gigantic bill from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this time calling it to pay $65.2 million to reduce the amount of nitrogen it is dumping into the Connecticut River in its treated wastewater.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Trafficking Inc.: Forced labor in Massachusetts,” by Jenifer B. McKim and Sarah Betancourt, GBH News: “More than 180 people in Massachusetts have reached out to the National Human Trafficking Hotline reporting allegations of forced labor since 2016, according to the nonprofit’s most recent statistics. But advocates and government officials say those numbers are a vast undercount — that labor trafficking victims like Melba are all around us, hidden in plain sight, working in construction, hotels, restaurants and as domestic workers in private homes and offices. … Massachusetts lawmakers passed a human trafficking law in 2011 to help victims and to prosecute perpetrators. But there hasn’t been a single forced labor conviction since the law passed, an investigation by the GBH News Center for Investigative Reporting has found.”

— “UMass Chan Medical School calls for renaming of Plantation Street, citing connotation of slavery,” by Marco Cartolano, Telegram & Gazette: “Citing connotations of ‘oppression in our country,’ UMass Chan Medical School is petitioning the City Council to change the name of Plantation Street, Plantation Parkway and Plantation Terrace.”

— “Domino effect led Taunton City Council to take dramatic step of suspending public input,” by Daniel Schemer, Taunton Daily Gazette: “In response to a city councilor's being called out by name and portrayed in a negative light by a resident in open meeting, the City Council voted to suspend its public input period until further notice.”

— IN MEMORIAM: “Disability community mourns the death of ‘fierce’ advocate Paul Spooner,” by Meghan Smith, GBH News.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — NBC10 Boston and WCVB alum Phil Lipof is now a full-time, New York-based correspondent for ABC News.

— Sydney Simon has been promoted to comms director for Rep. Seth Moulton. She most recently was his deputy comms director.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Mary Campbell, Kate Nocera and Mass Cultural Council Public Affairs Director Bethann Steiner.

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.

Follow us on Twitter