Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Here’s what the IRA did for Massachusetts in the past year

Thursday, August 17, 2023

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Here’s what the IRA did for Massachusetts in the past year

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IRA — The Inflation Reduction Act turned 1 yesterday, marking a year since the major climate legislation was signed into law.

Now, Democrats are in full-on sales mode — promoting one of the Biden administration's signature accomplishments ahead of his reelection bid next year.

“The IRA is already a revolution,” Sen. Ed Markey told Playbook, five minutes before walking into the White House for an IRA anniversary event. He called the event “a celebration for this huge, huge climate success.”

All eight members of Massachusetts’ fully Democrat delegation voted for the IRA last year. The bill included tax incentives and federal funding designed to lower costs and create jobs, while making advancements toward cleaner energy. Now, a year later, the Bay State has seen six IRA funded energy projects .

Four of the projects are in MA-03 , Rep. Lori Trahan’s district. They include an electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Methuen, an EV research facility in Marlborough, an electrolyzer plant near Lowell and a hydrogen electrolyzer factory in Devens.

The two other energy projects include an offshore wind terminal in Salem and a solar project in Worcester. The solar project, announced only a few weeks ago, is being built near Holy Cross College, according to E2 data .

The funding is only posted for some of the projects, but the new EV facility in Methuen appears to be the largest, with a $45 million price tag. But in comparison to the rest of the country — where states like North Carolina, Texas, Georgia have energy projects that cost $4 billion or more — the Mass IRA funding barely makes a dent.

Still, Markey contends that "the IRA is massive in its effect on the country, but on Massachusetts as well." He said he worked on the bill with the intention of ensuring Massachusetts had access to clean energy funding.

So what’s next for Massachusetts from the IRA in the next year?

Markey said they’re just getting started. The bill will lower electricity costs and create thousands of jobs in Massachusetts, he said, while reducing greenhouse gases and the threat they pose to the state.

However, the IRA isn't the Green New Deal. Markey, who got pieces of his sponsored legislation into the IRA last year, said this is a step to bigger climate legislation. He’s hoping to fund a climate corps and pass new transmission regulations in the future.

“We still have more work to do,” Markey said. But he added that the IRA is already “much bigger than any of the experts predicted it would be just one year ago.”

And for now, it's time to “pah-ty.”

“It's time for us to not only celebrate this victory,” Markey said before ending the call to attend the IRA’s birthday party. “But to also ensure that we are going to have an even bigger bill to be passed in the future.”

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS .

TODAY — State Auditor Diana DiZoglio joins state Rep. Margaret Scarsdale and other local officials for a tour of the 1st Middlesex District in Groton at 10 a.m.

Tips, scoops, birthdays? We're at mmccarthy@politico.com and kgarrity@politico.com and @Reporter_Mia and @KellyGarrity3 .

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— MORE TURMOIL IN THE MASSGOP: “The Massachusetts Republican Party is no stranger to infighting, but this is taking it to a new level. The former chairman of the Massachusetts GOP and more than 20 current state GOP committee members are suing the party’s new leader and the very panel the committee members sit on, accusing the party of wrongly killing a lawsuit against its own treasurer,” the Boston Globe’s Matt Stout wrote yesterday . “The complicated and circuitous complaint — filed Tuesday by ex-chairman Jim Lyons against his successor, Amy Carnevale — threatens to resurface an internal battle the party had tried to bury months ago. It’s also likely to further inflame the deep-seated divisions snaking through the GOP at a time when it’s trying to fight fewer battles, not more.”

Despite the emerging tensions, the state committee was able to come to a consensus last night on new rules for awarding delegates in the GOP presidential primary. The new plan would shift back to a proportional allocation system, which the state committee had in place before pro-Trump then-Chair Lyons approved a winner-take-all plan for the 2020 presidential primary to protect Trump from challengers — including former Gov. Bill Weld.

The new criteria could incentivize GOP hopefuls to make more of an effort in the Bay State during the busy primary season. But it’s not official yet. The proposal first has to be approved by the full state committee at its next meeting in September.

— “Campbell, other AGs join call for feds to speed migrant work approvals,” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Magazine: “One week after Gov. Maura Healey declared a state of emergency regarding the migrant crisis, including a call for more expedited federal work authorizations, Attorney General Andrea Campbell and 18 other attorneys general joined in … ’The vast majority of new arrivals in recent months — like many who have come before them — want nothing more than an opportunity to work, and many of our businesses are eager to hire additional workers,’ Campbell and her counterparts from other states wrote in a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.”

FROM THE HUB

— “Special prosecutor appointed in Kendra Lara car crash case as councilor pursues dismissal,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “A special prosecutor has been named to oversee Kendra Lara’s car crash case just as the city councilor moved to toss the charges claiming she was not served a citation at the scene. Worcester Assistant District Attorney Joel Luna was tapped by the Suffolk District Attorney’s office as the prosecutor in the case because the wife of William King, an opponent of Lara’s in the upcoming municipal elections, works in the city DA’s office, a spokesman told the Herald.”

— “Boston city officials: district is fully staffed with school bus drivers,” by Emily Piper-Vallillo, WBUR: “With the start of school less than a month away, Boston city officials said they have a fully-staffed team of school bus drivers for the first time since before the pandemic. District leaders hope this will translate to more on-time arrivals and drop-offs for students.”

— "City, union reps meet to discuss Boston Mayor Wu’s plan for Mass and Cass," by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “City representatives held a closed-door meeting with first responder unions to discuss how the mayor plans to address the uptick in violence occurring at Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard this summer, her office said."

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THE RACE FOR CITY HALL

— “Boston City Council ballot drawing listed Kendra Lara as Kendra Hicks,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “A few eyebrows were raised when the Boston Election Department listed City Councilor Kendra Lara as Kendra Hicks at a lottery drawing that determined what order candidates will appear on the preliminary ballot. … Sabino Piemonte, the city’s head assistant registrar of voters, said the discrepancy was just a mistake on his part that was quickly corrected. The incumbent’s name is listed as Kendra Lara on the ballot for the Sept. 12 preliminary election, he told the Herald Wednesday.”

— “Voting for Boston City Council elections begins next month. Here’s what you need to know,” by Vivi Smilgius and Maggie Scales, Boston Globe: "The deadline to register to vote in Boston’s preliminary elections is just around the corner and some of the City Council candidates up for reelection made headlines this summer. Eligible Bostonians must be registered to vote by Sept. 2 in order to cast their ballots in the Sept. 12 preliminary election, which will narrow the list of candidates running to be district councilors down to two in each district. These candidates will then go on to compete in the general election on Nov. 7."

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Methuen seeks funding for storm damage,” by Monica Sager, The Eagle-Tribune: “Mayor Neil Perry announced that the city is working to have the Aug. 8 rainstorm and subsequent flooding designated as an emergency. With the emergency declaration, residents and businesses could possibly qualify for federal and state disaster assistance.”

— “Business owner launches political attack on city councilor,” by Matt Petry, Newburyport Daily News: “A city councilor up for reelection this fall has become the target of personal attacks by a downtown merchant whose clashes with another business owner resulted in court action against him. City Councilor Steve Stanganelli, a business owner himself, is calling out a disparaging bumper sticker which he believes contains pornographic imagery and a sign both recently put up at Greenery Designs on Market Street by owner Terrance Gleason.”

— “State rejects developer’s plan for shops and restaurants at State Pier,” by Anastasia E. Lennon, New Bedford Light: "The plan to redevelop State Pier into a multi-use space for retail shops, restaurants, offshore wind and a new seafood auction house has been put on hold. MassDevelopment, a quasi-state agency, will issue a new request for proposals for developing the site after its provisional agreement with a group of businesses — which it selected late last year — expired, with the agency not agreeing to the proposed terms."

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Bob Massie, Ari Meyerowitz and Lisa Murray.

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