Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: The Big 3 huddle up

Monday, January 9, 2023

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: The Big 3 huddle up

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LEADING THE WAY — Today’s first leadership meeting between Gov. Maura Healey, Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano will offer an early look at the dynamic between the Democrats who run Beacon Hill.

MASS GOP has spent the last several years creating divisive issues and offering nothing constructive. Their numbers are so inconsequential, BRAVO TO GOVERNOR HEALEY for excluding them!

But it won’t include at least one top Republican. House Minority Leader Brad Jones told Playbook through an aide that he wasn’t invited to the closed-door portion of the confab, as was customary under GOP Gov. Charlie Baker. A Healey aide wouldn’t comment on the invites. A spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr didn’t respond.

The Democrats will huddle at 2 p.m. in the executive suite before emerging to address reporters. Don’t expect any earth-shattering revelations at this early stage. But do look for hints as to where there might be some give and take as the new Big Three pursue agendas that overlap in some areas — housing, early education and child care, public transportation — and diverge in others.

Spilka offered a preview as she made the rounds on the pre-taped Sunday politics shows. The Senate leader, who is pushing to make community college tuition- and fee-free, told WBZ’s Jon Keller that she's waiting to hear why Healey is limiting her free community college proposal to those ages 25 and older without college degrees. But Spilka said their shared interest in the issue "makes it more likely that it's doable."

There’s also the question of how Democrats will pay for what’s shaping up to be an ambitious agenda. Spilka said revenues from the millionaires tax — projected to be upwards of $1.2 billion a year — will help fund her estimated $50 million community college plan. But Democrats have yet to attach price tags to their other priorities.

“Certainly this will take a lot of discussion, negotiation and working through these issues, and probably some prioritizing,” Spilka said. “It will continue to be a balancing act to ensure that we continue to do the programs and the services that our people want and deserve, but also remain fiscally responsible.”

They’ll also have to factor in raises for the state’s top elected officials . Spilka told WCVB’s “On the Record” that she’s taking the nearly $25,000 pay increase that would push her and Mariano’s salaries over $200,000. The governor’s pay is also set to swell over $200,000.

GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Pour one out for the Pats.

TODAY — Baker speaks at Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden’s inauguration at 4:30 p.m. at Roxbury Community College; Baker appointed Hayden to fill out former Suffolk DA Rachael Rollins’ term when she became U.S. attorney.

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

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— BUILDING HER CABINET: Gov. Maura Healey issued the executive order to make her Cabinet-level climate chief official on Friday. She also reappointed Terrence Reidy as public safety secretary, reprising the role he served under now-former Gov. Charlie Baker.

Healey also unveiled more acting secretaries as she either searches for permanent picks for those roles or waits for her selections to wrap up their work elsewhere:

— Mike Doheny , a general counsel and undersecretary of labor, is serving as acting labor and workforce secretary.

— Jennifer Maddox, an undersecretary at the Department of Housing and Community Development under Baker, is serving as acting secretary for housing and economic development until Yvonne Hao is sworn in on Jan. 17.

— Transportation Secretary Jamey Tesler continues in that role until Gina Fiandaca is sworn in later this month.

— Matthew Moran, an assistant secretary of technology services and security, will be acting secretary until Jason Snyder joins the administration later this month.

— STRIKING A BALANCE: The state’s largest teachers union wants to change state law so educators can strike. But Senate President Karen Spilka seemed cool to the idea on WCVB’s “On the Record.” While she said she’s open to discussions on it, “our first and foremost priority should be, has to be, keeping our kids in school.”

— RETURN OF THE MASK: Chelsea Public Schools and UMass Boston are the latest schools to require or suggest students and staff mask up as Covid-19 cases rise. Spilka said on OTR she'd be open to reinstating masking at the State House.

— “Democrats call for swearing-in Kassner,” by Christian M. Wade, Salem News: “Members of [the Georgetown Democratic Town] Committee are calling on House Speaker Ron Mariano to seat Kristin Kassner in the 2nd Essex district, calling the delay in swearing her into office a ‘blow to democracy.’ Kassner, a South Hamilton Democrat, won a recount by only one vote against incumbent Rep. Lenny Mirra, R-Georgetown, the outcome of which was affirmed by several court rulings. But Mariano postponed her swearing-in on Wednesday, pending the results of a ‘thorough’ legislative review of the race and recount.”

— “UMass schools soar over rest of state when it comes to pay,” by Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald: “The UMass system had 4,447 employees who earned $100,000 and up, records show. That includes three million-dollar earners plus three who pulled down $800,000 or more; seven who made at least $600,000; nine at $500,000-plus; 25 at $400,000 and beyond; and 102 who topped $300,000.”

— “Can a Green Bank Offset the ‘Brown Discount’?” by Steve Adams, Banker and Tradesman: “Massachusetts’ landmark 2021 climate roadmap law committed the state to attaining net-zero building standards by 2050 through decarbonization policies. And for her part, Gov. Maura Healey has outlined more plans to expand and reshape the state’s investment in climate projects, including in her inauguration speech last week. The idea: Replace the existing Mass Save program and its dozens of clean energy incentive programs with a climate project clearinghouse and statewide green bank run by the quasi-public Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC).”

— “State foster parents get bill of rights: New law expands training, resources for parents,” by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette.

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HEALEY WATCH

— From the opinion pages: “‘I feel really, really lucky.’ Meet Maura Healey’s partner,” by Yvonne Abraham, Boston Globe: “For almost two years, Healey has been in a relationship with Joanna Lydgate, an attorney and her former deputy in the attorney general’s office, who now heads a Washington nonprofit trying to safeguard our endangered democracy.”

FROM THE HUB

— “Boston city councilors call for police in schools after Young Achievers beating,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “Four city councilors sent a letter to the mayor calling for cops and metal detectors in Boston schools. … The four councilors — the more centrist block at the generally progressive council’s right flank, politically, who also made up the four votes against the current redistricting map — signed onto the letter that also talked about the incident this week at the Young Achievers Science And Math Pilot School in Mattapan that left a teacher and student in the hospital after a group of other students jumped them.”

— “Boston’s new ad campaign debuts in New York, Philly and D.C.,” by Grant Welker, Boston Business Journal: “Boston is taking its new marketing tagline — ‘Boston Never Gets Old’ — to major cities in the Northeast Corridor.”

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DAY IN COURT

— “With Boston vaccine-mandate case before SJC, what’s next?” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “The state’s top court seemed highly skeptical of the decision against the city’s vaccine mandate — but as for what throwing it out would mean for the city’s unvaccinated workers, opinions differed and the administration wouldn’t say what comes next. The lawsuit filed by multiple of the city’s public-safety unions against Boston and Mayor Michelle Wu came before the Supreme Judicial Court on Friday morning, and the high court is now mulling whether to uphold a lower court’s injunction against the administration.”

DATELINE D.C.

— REPUBLICANS HAVE SPOKEN: Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) won the speaker's gavel after days of contention and gridlock that members of Massachusetts’ all-Democratic U.S. House delegation derided as a “troubling sign” of what’s to come under Republican rule. Rep. Jim McGovern even used a censored expletive to express his disgust at the McCarthy era. Republicans took to the Sunday shows to defend the dysfunction.

MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS

— “Lantern closure shakes marijuana delivery market,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “Lantern, a website where consumers can go to order legal cannabis delivered from a local dispensary, announced Wednesday that it will shut down by the end of January, citing regulatory hurdles in other states. … Lantern facilitates more than half of cannabis deliveries in Massachusetts.”

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THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “This suburban gynecologist treated the downtrodden. US prosecutors say she punched a Capitol officer on Jan. 6,” by Hanna Krueger and Spencer Buell, Boston Globe: “In town, people knew her as Jackie, the 68-year-old who drove a sleek convertible, adored ballroom dance, advocated for safer sidewalks, and recruited parents to staff the refreshments booth at a school fund-raiser. Professionally, colleagues knew the longtime gynecologist as the president of the Massachusetts Society of Addiction Medicine, consultant to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and a double board-certified attending physician at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. And yet now, she’s the latest insurrectionist to face federal criminal charges of assault on a police officer.”

— “Power plants face millions in penalties after failure during Christmas Eve storm,” by Hadley Barndollar, USA Today/Telegram & Gazette: “Some power plants scheduled to feed the region's electric grid during peak demand on Christmas Eve failed to do so, grid operator ISO New England said this week, resulting in a shortage of operating reserves. Those energy generators now face $39 million in penalties for not performing when needed as per agreement with ISO-New England, which declared a capacity deficiency on Christmas Eve, meaning the region’s supply of electricity was insufficient to meet required operating reserves, in addition to satisfying consumer demand.”

— “New inmate suicide points to ‘blind spot’ in procedures, sheriff says,” by Arthur Hirsch, New Bedford Light: “Bristol County’s new sheriff said an apparent inmate suicide at the Jail and House of Correction in North Dartmouth Thursday evening likely reveals a ‘blind spot’ in his department’s procedures, and he said he intends to find out what it is and fix it. … The death is a very early test for [Sheriff Paul] Heroux, who emphasized inmate suicide as an issue in his campaign against the 25-year incumbent, Thomas M. Hodgson, who consistently defended his department’s practices in the face of the relatively high incidence of suicide among inmates in county custody.”

— “Cat attempts to enter Attleboro mayor's race,” by The Sun Chronicle: “The cat, who is named Spooky and is the mascot for Spooky Games, arrived at city hall on Friday to pull papers for mayor. He was unable to enter the race because he doesn’t meet two requirements — Spooky isn’t a registered voter and isn’t 18 years old.”

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HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Kathryn Kougias is interim executive director of the Massachusetts State Retirement Board after Nicola “Nick” Favorito’s departure to be executive director of the North Atlantic States Carpenters Benefits Fund.

— Steven Cunningham Jr. and Spencer Stone are now partners at Sullivan & Worcester in Boston.

— Stu Loeser & Co. Strategy has promoted Will Chabot to managing director, media strategy; Jeane MacIntosh to managing director, research; Robert Familiar and Tim Perry to VP, media strategy; and Madeline Saunders and María Navarro Gallegos to senior media strategist.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to former Rep. Mike Capuano , state House Minority Leader Brad Jones, Dan Black, Amy Mahler, Sasha Goodfriend, Shanice Wallace, Kevin Walther, Gustavo Quiroga, Marjorie Nesin, American Institute for Economic Research’s William Ruger, Linda Greenhouse, Josh Seidel and Boston state Rep. Christopher Worrell.

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