Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Big day for ballot questions

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Big day for ballot questions

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Massachusetts Playbook won’t publish Thursday and Friday. Have a happy Thanksgiving, and we’ll be back in your inboxes on Monday!

WHO’S IN, WHO’S OUT — Ballot questions that got the nod from the state attorney general in September face their first big obstacle today.

Questions seeking to end MCAS as a high school graduation requirement, legalize psychedelics and require tipped workers be paid the minimum wage on top of tips are all one step closer to being on the ballot in 2024, after supporters submitted more than 74,574 signatures to local clerks.

Also advancing: state Auditor Diana DiZoglio’s last hope for auditing the Legislature. A DiZoglio-aligned group said yesterday that an oddball coalition of left-leaning activists and Republicans collected more than 100,000 signatures. It’s a crucial milestone for DiZoglio, who’s gone all-in on the ballot question after Democratic legislative leaders refused to comply with her probe, and the attorney general blocked her from forcing their cooperation. DiZoglio has poured tens of thousands of dollars of her own money and all of her campaign cash into the effort.

A ballot battle is also brewing between dueling questions surrounding the status of app-based drivers. One set of questions would continue to classify those drivers as independent contractors while another would allow them to unionize. Both sides collected enough signatures to move forward, setting up what’s likely to be an expensive showdown (Uber, Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash contributed close to $44 million to last year’s push to classify drivers as independent contractors before the measure was killed by the SJC.)

Groups have until 5 p.m. today to submit their signatures to city and town registrars for certification. Then they have two weeks to send them to the secretary of state’s office. Rideshare drivers supporting the question that would let them unionize say they plan to deliver some signatures to Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s office today.

Ballot questions that officially clear the signature hurdle move on to the Legislature, where lawmakers can decide to approve them, propose an alternative or decline to do either — which sends them back for more signatures. Some of these questions could also draw legal challenges that could derail their progress to the 2024 ballot.

But one closely-watched and controversial question has already met the end of the road. Supporters ended their push for a question on local-option rent control after they were tracking tens of thousands of signatures short of the threshold.

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS .

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey swears in Michael Pineault as associate justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court at 10 a.m. at the State House. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has no public events.

Tips? Scoops? Birthdays? Thanksgiving recipes your Playbook authors have to try? Email us: kgarrity@politico.com and mmccarthy@politico.com.

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

IN MEMORIAM — “Former Merrimack Valley Lawmaker Sue Tucker Dies, At 79,” by Sam Doran, State House News Service (paywall).

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE = REPUBLICANS
Some of the spending will create jobs.
Some of the spending will SAVE ENERGY, reducing expenses of consumers.
Rather than setting off alarms, maybe careful consideration is mandated.

— “Mass. business leaders want Beacon Hill lawmakers to ‘exercise control’ with spending,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Business leaders from across Massachusetts warned Tuesday that state spending far outpaced inflation over the past five fiscal years, and cautioned lawmakers to ‘exercise control’ as the fiscal 2025 budget process kicks off next month. Red flags from chamber of commerce leaders up and down the coast and out west come after top lawmakers painted a grim fiscal picture last week for Massachusetts, airing concerns that four consecutive months of below benchmark revenue collections this fiscal year could bode poorly for the state.”

E(X)ODUS — State Senate President Karen Spilka is leaving X (formerly Twitter) she announced yesterday, in response to Elon Musk’s recent promotion of an antisemitic post on the platform. Musk has “long promoted and enabled hateful speech,” Spilka said in a statement, and with his “endorsement of a monstrous and dangerous antisemitic lie, I can no longer justify using the X platform for any reason.” Spilka isn’t the only one fleeing — big advertisers like Disney, IBM and Apple are also pausing activity on the site, according to CNN , after a Media Matters report found ads appearing alongside pro-Nazi content.

— “ Convention Center Authority executive director out, ” by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald: “ The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority’s long-serving executive director is parting ways with the agency, according to the chair of the Board of Directors. In a statement shared with the Herald, Board Chair Emme Handy said the decision to have a change at the top of the pseudo-governmental body, which oversees the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center and the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center was a mutual one.”

— “ Mass. awards $27 million to help ‘decarbonize’ hundreds of affordable housing units, ” by Miriam Wasser, WBUR: “The Healey administration awarded $27 million to several affordable housing developments on Tuesday to help them reduce planet-warming emissions and increase energy efficiency in more than 700 units across the state.”

— “ METCO program worried a level budget effectively cuts funds, ” by Katie Lannan, GBH News: “This year’s state budget marked the first time in five years that the METCO program did not receive a funding boost that at least keeps pace with inflation, and leaders at the school desegregation initiative have been calling for lawmakers to step in with additional money. The budget Gov. Maura Healey signed in August included $29.4 million for METCO, the state-funded program through which more than 3,000 Boston students enroll in and attend suburban schools.”

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MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

NEW THIS A.M. — United Way has awarded the first temporary shelter grant to Catholic Charities Boston, which opened a site Tuesday evening that will provide beds and meals for up to 27 wait-listed families.

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— “ Nine slow zones eliminated on Red Line, MBTA says, ” by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: “Red Line passengers received some encouraging news Tuesday when the MBTA announced it had eliminated nine slow zones between JFK/UMass and Park Street stations. Shuttle bus service had replaced trains on that stretch during the evenings from Nov. 14 to Nov. 16 and “all day” Saturday and Sunday to allow for repairs to remove the slow zones, the MBTA said in a statement. ”

DATELINE D.C.

— “ President Biden to celebrate Thanksgiving, continue birthday festivities with coconut cake on Nantucket, ” by Emily Sweeney, Boston Globe: “President Biden celebrated his 81st birthday on Monday and plans to continue the festivities on Nantucket this week. Biden will spend Thanksgiving on the island with his family, as he does every year, the Associated Press reported.”

MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS

— “ Cannabis challenges are causing contraction across the industry, ” by Cassie McGrath, Boston Business Journal: “Since the first cannabis companies opened in Massachusetts in 2018, owners have been talking about the unique struggles of the state-regulated industry. But only recently have the full effects of those challenges come into focus.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Hunger is something we can solve’: Annual march raises $458K for Food Bank of Western Massachusetts,” by Mary Byrne, Greenfield Recorder: “...The two-day, 43-mile walk began at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Springfield on Monday morning. Joined by legislators and community members from across the region, [Christopher 'Monte'] Belmonte [the radio personality who launched the fundraiser in 2010] pushed his famous shopping cart through Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke and a sliver of Easthampton before getting to Northampton that afternoon. … And for the first time since 2010, a sitting governor joined the western Massachusetts community for a portion of the trek from Springfield to Greenfield — a move that didn’t go unnoticed by members of the region’s delegation.”

— “ Official state ice cream? Here's why Mass. takes its state symbols seriously, ” by Kinga Borondy, Worcester Telegram & Gazette: “Does Massachusetts really need a signature ice cream flavor? A jazz song? A Jurassic-era armored mud ball? Enough people seem to think so, apparently, to have a joint committee of state government dedicate a portion of its hearing time to proposals brought forth by local residents and legislators.”

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

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WELCOME TO PLYMOUTH — The Plymouth Independent , a Plymouth-based nonprofit news organization, launched Tuesday under editor and CEO Mark Pothier. Read Pothier’s letter on why he started the local news website.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Lauren Goldman Moran, chief of the MassAGO’s fair labor division, and her twin sister Michelle Goldman, assistant clerk magistrate at Middlesex Superior Court.

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY — to Keith Boynton , Tory Stephens , Joel McAuliffe and Matt Stromski who celebrate Thursday; Sonia Ballard and Mass DPH’s Alison Cohen , who celebrate Friday; Leah Regan and Allie Strom , who celebrate Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-ers Maggie Cohen , Ben Gubits and Bob Dunn.

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