Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Healey sets the tone for Senate budget week

Monday, May 8, 2023

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Healey sets the tone for Senate budget week

RECLAIMING THE NARRATIVE — They say the best defense is a good offense. And former point guard Maura Healey is playing to win as the budget ball heads to the Senate’s court.

OK, ok. Technically Healey spent the end of last week on the defensive after April’s billion-dollar-plus revenue drop rattled Beacon Hill. Speaking to reporters Friday and in a WCVB interview taped that day, Healey doubled and tripled down on the fiscal feasibility of her proposed spending plans — particularly her tax breaks, which she cast as not only “affordable” but “essential.”

“We've seen a drop. And, you know, I just want folks to know we've accounted for that,” Healey told reporters at the State House on Friday. “Our tax-relief package that we proposed, we stand by. We think it's really important.”

By the time her “On the Record” interview aired Sunday, those same words hit as less of a rationalization for a pre-existing plan and more of a pointed message to Senate leaders who are poised to release their budget take on Tuesday — and who haven’t committed to a timeline for tax relief.

“You don’t think it’s going to impact your tax proposal at all?” OTR co-host Sharman Sacchetti asked the governor of April's revenue shortfall.

“No. It absolutely shouldn’t. Not at all,” Healey replied. “Our fiscal condition is strong in this state, we have very low unemployment, we have a lot of surplus funds.”

Healey also delivered a direct rebuttal to progressives' arguments that by passing certain tax breaks — like slashing the short-term capital gains tax rate — Beacon Hill would be giving money to the wealthy instead of investing more in programs to help those struggling to make ends meet.

“I want to be clear to my progressive friends. The reason I proposed that tax package is because Massachusetts, while a wonderful place to live … we’re also a place that’s an outlier when it comes to competing for workforce talent and business, and we cannot afford people leaving our state,” Healey said. “That’s why we need to make these changes. They’re fiscally sound and responsible. And they’re not going to hurt the investment that we need to make in our people.”

The House gave Healey a lot of what she wanted in their budget and tax-relief plans. We’ll get a taste on Tuesday of how willing the Senate is to follow suit.

GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Tips? Scoops? Budget predictions? Email me: lkashinsky@politico.com .

TODAY — Healey , Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and top legislative leaders huddle at 2 p.m. in the House speaker’s office for their first leadership meeting in a month. Healey speaks at Autism Advocacy Day at 10 a.m. at the State House. Driscoll speaks at the CommonWealth Development Compact launch event at 1:30 p.m. at the Boston Society of Architects. Sen. Ed Markey gets nalaxone training at 10:30 a.m. at a Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program clinic. AG Andrea Campbell keynotes a United Way of Central Massachusetts celebration at 5:30 p.m. in Worcester.

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “Overshadowed by rent control debate, proposals for transfer taxes pick up steam in housing discussions,” by Emma Platoff and Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “Pushed fruitlessly for years by officials in Boston and neighboring cities, the Cape and Islands, and even by major businesses such as Mass General Brigham, the proposed tax has been vociferously opposed by real estate industry groups. But the mounting urgency of the housing crisis, a new Democratic governor in the corner office, and the growing number of communities agitating for the tax are coming together to open a window that supporters say didn’t exist before.”

— “Online posting brings new kidney for Springfield state Sen. Adam Gomez,” by Dave Canton, Springfield Republican: “Political consultant and long-time friend of the senator, Anthony Cignoli, said Sunday that Gomez had been struggling with chronic kidney disease for quite some time. … Cignoli said a chance posting on Facebook threw Gomez’s life into a whole new direction in a matter of days after he had been on the organ recipient list for quite some time.”

— “Massachusetts lawmaker wants to divert control of commuter rail from MBTA,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “[State Rep. William Straus, a] top transportation-focused lawmaker wants to hand control of the state’s commuter rail services to the Department of Transportation, a move he says would allow the MBTA to focus on subway and bus service. … The proposal is part of legislation scheduled for a Monday Transportation Committee hearing [where lawmakers will also consider establishing an independent commission to oversee T safety ]."

— “Campbell optimistic new Police Accountability Unit will foster ‘systemic conversations’,” by Hannah Loss, GBH News: “During Boston Public Radio on Friday, a listener asked Attorney General Andrea Campbell whether her office has sufficient processes and rules in place to prevent a police officer with excessive force complaints against them from being hired in other towns. ‘No,’ Campbell said. ‘We have more work to do in this regard.’”

Campbell also joined the chorus of Democrats calling for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to step down over his various ethics controversies. The state’s top lawyer told GBH that she thought Thomas "should have resigned a long time ago.” And she said recent revelations about his relationship with a Republican megadonor — and Justice Neil Gorsuch’s sale of a property to the head of a law firm with business before the court — only add to her existing “concerns about the integrity and credibility” of the nation’s highest court.

— Related: “Campbell joins AGs in support of abortion pills,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune.

— AS SEEN ON TV: New MassDems Chair Steve Kerrigan says he isn't resting on his party's laurels. But he also doesn't appear too worried about Republicans returning to statewide or federal office here soon. Kerrigan told WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” that Democrats “will continue to have electoral and legislative victories” in the Bay State because the GOP is still the “party of Donald Trump ” — and not the party of Republicans who've seen general-election electoral success here like former Govs. Bill Weld or Charlie Baker .

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VAX-ACHUSETTS

— DEPARTURE LOUNGE: Rochelle Walensky is leaving her post as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on June 30. The former Massachusetts General Hospital infectious diseases chief’s resignation blindsided health officials throughout the Biden administration, my colleagues Krista Mahr and Adam Cancryn report. But it coincides with the WHO lifting its Covid-19 global health emergency last week and federal and state public health emergencies ending this week.

— “Here are lingering public health questions, with COVID emergency orders set to expire,” by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: “Three years ago, workers hurriedly erected a triage center at Baystate Medical Center to handle patients sickened by COVID-19. It was built to handle between 30 and 40 patients at a time. It closes this week.”

— “Local communities take different approaches to public meetings as pandemic wanes,” by Stephen Peterson, The Sun Chronicle.

DAY IN COURT

— “Prosecutors recommend 5+ years for ex-State Police Association of Massachusetts president, union lobbyist,” by Flint McColgan, Boston Herald: “Attorneys have filed warring ideas of what penalty is appropriate for the fraud-filled mess the former leader of the State Police union and its chief lobbyist made. Former State Police Association of Massachusetts President Dana Pullman, 60, of Worcester, and lobbyist Anne Lynch, 72, of Hull, were convicted in federal court in November.”

FROM THE 413

— "Nov. election could shake up Easthampton school board after ‘ladies’ controversy," by Luis Fieldman, MassLive: "When Easthampton’s School Committee meets this fall or winter to restart a stalled superintendent selection process following multiple controversies — one of which centered around the word 'ladies' used in an email — it might be a nearly entirely different set of people making the decision. This fall, all but one seat of the seven-member School Committee is up for re-election."

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THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “For new unions, the thrill of victory is often followed by the agony of negotiation,” by Katie Johnston, Boston Globe: “Trader Joe’s workers in the Western Massachusetts town of Hadley were thrilled when they voted to unionize in July — the first of the national grocery chain’s stores to do so. Stores in Minneapolis, Louisville, Ky., and Oakland soon followed. But then came the long slog of negotiating a contract. The company has refused to bargain if anyone attends a session virtually, the union says, and when Trader Joe’s negotiators do engage, they offer up unrealistic proposals, such as waiving the union’s ability to intervene when an employee files a grievance.”

— “Should transgender athletes be allowed to play girls’ sports? The national debate hits home in Massachusetts,” by Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald: “A dozen protesters holding signs bearing the messages ‘Save women’s sports,’ ‘Support fair sports for women and girls,’ among others, clashed with opponents outside of a diversity, equity and inclusion symposium at the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association headquarters in Franklin on Friday.”

— “Islamophobia incidents are rising in Massachusetts public schools, report finds,” by Ashley Soebroto, Boston Globe: “The Massachusetts chapter of the Council of American-Islamic Relations is reporting a 72 percent jump in requests for its help from parents and students experiencing an Islamophobia incident in public schools.”

— “Worcester teachers union votes no confidence in school and city officials,” by Jeff A. Chamer, Telegram & Gazette: “The vote came after the school committee announced it filed a petition to seek mediation from the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations to help with contract negotiations.”

— “Voters Reject Short-Term Rental Regulations,” by Jason Graziadei, Nantucket Current: “Saturday's debate marked the third straight Town Meeting in which island voters had discussed the merits of whether and how to reign in short-term rentals on Nantucket, but once again they found no common ground.”

— "Why a plan to drive down electric prices in Mass. led to higher bills," by Miriam Wasser, WBUR: "Massachusetts is one of about a dozen states where residents can choose to buy electricity from a supplier other than their default utility. When lawmakers set up this system in the late 1990s, the assumption was that a competitive marketplace would result in lower power prices for customers. But for the most part, the opposite has happened."

— "School Bus Driver Strike in Marlboro, Still No Deal Reached in Westboro," by Alysha Palumbo, NBC10 Boston.

— “Poll: Registered nurses say hospital care in Mass. has gotten worse over last two years,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

SPOTTED — Mayor Michelle Wu taking the stage at Symphony Hall, the first sitting mayor of Boston to appear as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

TRANSITIONS — Maggie Randall started last month as public and government affairs attaché in the Québec Government Office in Boston. She previously was manager of public policy and advocacy for MassBio.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Francy Wade, Dana Sprole, Janis Lippman, Tom McCuin, Dave Lam, David Brade, Robert Horvitz and Kelley Greenman.

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