Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: MassGOP still a mess

Friday, June 9, 2023

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: MassGOP still a mess

REPUBLICANS IN DISARRAY — It only took about 20 minutes for Amy Carnevale’s first full meeting as chair of the state GOP to devolve into chaos.

Several screaming matches over parliamentary procedures showed that the bitterly split state committee hasn’t come together under its new leader. Carnevale’s backers, a mix of establishment Republicans and allies of former Gov. Charlie Baker, sat on one side of the room. Her opponents, largely supporters of former Chair Jim Lyons, sat on the other — a party quite literally divided.

The disputes and the roll-call votes that often arose from them were sometimes less about the agenda items at hand and more about establishing loyalties as both sides prepare to battle for control of the state committee when all 80 seats are up for election next spring. Whichever side wins more seats will better be able to influence the outcome of the next leadership election in early 2025. Right now, Carnevale's side holds the advantage.

Yet the ongoing infighting is hampering the party’s efforts to recruit a candidate to run against Sen. Elizabeth Warren next year and to refill its coffers. The party is being audited by both state and federal campaign finance regulators over reporting issues under its prior leader. At least $166,969 in unpaid bills remain unresolved, with even more invoices still under review.

Donors “want to know about the lawsuits, they want to know about the compliance issues, they want to know that we got our act together,” Carnevale said.

Amy Carnevale

MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO

She made some progress toward that over the course of the five-hour meeting that ended one minute before midnight, and that at one point had to be moderated by a parliamentarian — Roger Hanshaw, the speaker of the West Virginia House — who the Republican National Committee paid to travel here to keep the peace.

The committee narrowly voted to end the lawsuit Lyons started against treasurer Pat Crowley over access to the party’s bank accounts. Crowley pledged to drop his counterclaim.

And Carnevale said the party will pay the Stirm Group for opposition research it claims Lyons requested into now-Gov. Maura Healey but never paid for, to avoid possible “criminal, and certainly civil, violations for the party and potentially for the former party chair.” State campaign finance regulators have been looking into whether the party under Lyons coordinated with an outside super PAC over the research.

"It's incremental progress," Carnevale told Playbook after the meeting, in which the committee also ratified several new members to return to full strength. "We still have some work to do to become a well-oiled machine, I would say. But tonight's the first step."

Still, the intraparty feuding was so all-consuming that the dozens of Republican activists in the room didn’t appear to notice for hours the news alerts on their phones that former President Donald Trump had been indicted again .

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . Outside of the meeting room at the Westborough DoubleTree, big-name Republicans largely rushed to Trump’s defense in the classified-documents case. (Carnevale said, without knowing all the details, that "it seems like he is being singled out.").

The state’s top Democrats were mostly silent — save for Rep. Ayanna Pressley. “Twice-impeached. Twice-indicted. One-term occupant of the White House,” she tweeted .

TODAY — Healey speaks at the U.S.S. Constitution at 9 a.m. in Charlestown and at the Mass. High Technology Council annual meeting at 1:30 p.m. at the Seaport Hotel Boston. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll participates on a panel for LEADS’ Pitch Day at 1 p.m. at Essex Tech. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Rep. Stephen Lynch speak about federal funding at South Boston Community Health Center at 11 a.m.

Sen. Ed Markey hosts a press conference on his “Trans Bill of Rights” resolution at 10:30 a.m. outside Youth on Fire in Cambridge. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and state AG Andrea Campbell mark the 60th anniversary of JFK’s civil rights speech at 1 p.m. at the JFK Library.

THIS WEEKEND — Healey and Markey are among the pols marching in Boston’s Pride parade at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Boston Globe's James Pindell is on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. MassDems Chair Steve Kerrigan is on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Sunday.

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

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— POINTS OF DEPARTURE: The House and Senate are going to have a lot to haggle over when it comes to tax relief.

Senate leaders skipped the business-friendly cut to the short-term capital gains tax rate that the House and Gov. Maura Healey had championed, but that progressive lawmakers and activists have pushed back on as a handout to the wealthy. (Some business and conservative groups expressed dismay yesterday, while the coalition behind the so-called millionaires tax said the Senate plan “strikes the right balance.”)

They only pitched roughly half the increase to the combined child and dependent tax credit that Healey sought and that the House passed in a phased-in fashion.

They didn’t include the House’s single sales factor apportionment. And they didn’t adopt the House’s proposed change to Chapter 62F that would make rebates equal for all taxpayers — “This isn’t a 62F bill, this is a taxpayer relief bill,” Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues told the State House News Service . They did, however, include language to have the Department of Revenue report monthly estimates of if, and when, net revenues might trigger refunds again.

Senators also pitched increasing funding for programs aimed at boosting housing production . And they matched the governor’s expanded tax credits for apprenticeships, dairy farmers and septic tank upgrades.

There are areas of agreement between chambers: The Senate plan would also raise the rental deduction cap to $4,000, the senior circuit breaker tax credit to $2,400 and the estate-tax threshold to $2 million. And it would bump the Earned Income Tax Credit up to 40 percent of the federal credit.

In the long term, the Senate’s $586 million tax-relief package amounts to the smallest of the three — a reflection of how the state’s fiscal picture has changed since Healey issued her proposal in February.

Senators are set to debate their tax plan next Thursday. Dive deeper with the Boston Globe’s Matt Stout and Samantha J. Gross , and CommonWealth Magazine’s Jennifer Smith .

— “Retailers urge lawmakers to reject online lottery,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “[I]n a letter to lawmakers, the Retailers Association of Massachusetts said the plan ‘lacks important guardrails’ on the number and types of games to be offered online and ‘directly threatens to reduce foot traffic and lower sales for Lottery sales agents already struggling to stay afloat.’"

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PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— “Blue Line will be free to ride during Sumner Tunnel closure this summer,” by Taylor Dolven, Boston Globe: “Fare gates along the entire Blue Line will be open for the duration of the closure, from July 5 to Aug. 31, a MassDOT spokesperson said, and the cost of parking at MBTA lots and garages on the Blue Line will be $2 per day.”

— “T Board Approves $2.72B Budget Featuring 644 New Safety Jobs,” by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service (paywall): “MBTA officials warned Thursday of a ‘sobering’ financial outlook for the agency, but voted to jack up spending by nearly 7 percent in an annual budget that funds mandatory safety improvements and an ambitious hiring effort. The $2.72 billion spending plan for fiscal 2024 that the MBTA Board of Directors unanimously approved relies on hundreds of millions of dollars in one-time funding, much of it from a pot likely to be exhausted in the following year's budget.”

— “Chelsea, Everett and Revere win federal grants to improve bus traffic,” by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald.

DAY IN COURT

— “Lawsuit claims DCF knew of Patrick Rose abuse and did nothing to protect children,” by John Hilliard, Boston Globe: “A lawsuit filed Thursday morning by two of the sexual assault survivors of Patrick M. Rose Sr., the disgraced Boston police union leader who pleaded guilty last year to molesting six children, claims that the state’s child welfare agency investigated him for sexual abuse in the early 1990s, years before he became a police officer, but failed to take steps to prevent him from having any contact with children.”

— “Teen accused of selling gift cards to help ISIS; father says he's being 'railroaded',” by Marco Cartolano, Telegram & Gazette.

WHAT'S ON CAMPBELL'S DOCKET

— “AG Campbell pushes for wariness of child labor exploitation, especially among immigrants,” by Sarah Betancourt, GBH News: “The arcade chain Dave & Buster’s agreed to pay more than a quarter of a million dollars to resolve allegations that include violation of child labor laws, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced Thursday. Campbell shared the news amid a push from her office to raise awareness about legal protections for young people from labor abuses, especially in immigrant communities.”

FROM THE 413

— “Candidate wonders how Springfield will pay for mayor’s budget,” by Daniel Jackson, Springfield Republican: “State Rep. Orlando Ramos took aim at Mayor Domenic J. Sarno’s proposed municipal budget this week, saying it calls for a significant property tax increase that would fall hard on the city’s older residents.”

— “Report finds food insecurity to be greatest in Western Massachusetts,” by James Foster, Springfield Republican.

— “Amherst schools, union reach tentative deal after 18 months of talks,” by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette.

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THE LOCAL ANGLE

— MAYORAL ROUNDUP: Quincy City Councilor Anne Mahoney is again challenging Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch . Meanwhile, Weymouth Mayor Bob Hedlund told the Patriot Ledger’s Jessica Trufant that he’s still unsure if he’ll seek a third term .

— “Contract reveals exactly how much state's paying Taunton hotel to house migrants, homeless,” by Daniel Schemer, Taunton Daily Gazette: “The state paid $155 per room per night in April. The number dropped to $123 per room, starting in May. The state is also paying $37 per person per day for the hotel to provide three meals a day. That comes to about $19,000 per day for rooms and about another $16,000 a day for food.”

— “Residents, fellows at Mass General Brigham vote to unionize,” by Jessica Bartlett, Boston Globe: “Medical residents and fellows at the state’s largest health system have voted to unionize, creating one of the largest unions of its kind in the country.”

— “'Chaos-bomb': Hundreds of Brockton High teachers sign petition decrying layoffs,” by Christopher Butler, Brockton Enterprise: “As Brockton Public Schools (BPS) grapples with an $18 million budget deficit for Fiscal Year 24, and as student enrollment drops, the district has laid off at least 130 teachers and staff.”

MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

— CASH DASH: Big-name pols aren’t waiting for New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu to say whether he’s running for reelection to start padding their war chests. On the Republican side, former Sen. Kelly Ayotte ’s PAC is reporting $414,000 in cash on hand, per NH Journal’s Michael Graham . On the Democratic side, Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig reported raising more than $360,000 since forming her exploratory committee at the start of May, her campaign said.

— “Outgoing mayor of Manchester, N.H., endorses candidate in the race to succeed her,” by Steven Porter, Boston Globe: “Mayor Joyce Craig said she’s backing Kevin Cavanaugh, her friend since high school, for the next two-year term.”

MEANWHILE IN RHODE ISLAND

— “The drama David Cicilline has wrought,” by Lauren Egan and Eli Stokols, POLITICO: “When Gabe Amo announced in April that he was entering the crowded Democratic primary race to replace outgoing Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline, his decision was met with a chorus of support from Biden world. … So it struck some White House staffers as odd when a few weeks after Amo launched his campaign, Michael LaRosa, the former press secretary for first lady Jill Biden, announced that he was consulting for another candidate in the race, Nick Autiello.”

— "Top Biden Covid official Jha set to depart June 15," by David Lim and Adam Cancryn, POLITICO: "Ashish Jha is stepping down from his role as White House Covid-19 response coordinator on June 15 to return to his job as dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, the White House confirmed Thursday."

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to FEMA Region I Administrator and former state Rep. Lori Ehrlich, Calla Walsh, Sheila Ramirez, Jeff Solnet, John Dukakis, 90 West’s Harry Shipps and Kelsey Perkins , district director for Rep. Katherine Clark.

HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND — to Edward M. Kennedy Institute CEO and former state Sen. Adam Hinds, James Rockas and David Ball, president and founder of Ball Consulting Group, who celebrate Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-ers Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Sam Tracy, Jim Mahoney, Rand Wilson and Tad Devine .

NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: THE STATE HOUSE ALWAYS WINS — Hosts Jennifer Smith and Steve Koczela discuss how a routine audit uncovered an accounting error that could cost the state billions of dollars. CommonWealth Magazine’s Michael Jonas joins to take a closer look at the state Lottery’s new “Billion Dollar Extravaganza.” Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud .

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