Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Transportation temperature check vvv

Sunday, November 19, 2023

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Transportation temperature check vvv

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TRANSIT VIBE CHECK — Few Bay Staters feel “very safe” driving on highways or taking any form of the MBTA. They think Gov. Maura Healey and the Legislature's handling of transportation in the state has been middling. And they’re concerned that traffic is not only back from its pandemic decline, but worse than ever, a new MassINC Polling Group survey shows.

And that lack of full confidence in the safety of the state’s biggest public transit system came before MBTA leaders said yesterday that they need an eye-popping $24.5 billion — yes, billion — to fix the T’s broken tracks, falling ceiling tiles and crumbling train platforms.

Just 12 percent of the 1,390 residents MassINC surveyed felt very safe riding the MBTA’s subway trains or buses, while just 17 percent felt very safe riding the Commuter Rail. A little under a third of respondents felt “somewhat safe” riding all three. The survey, conducted by phone from Oct. 23 through Nov. 6 and sponsored by The Barr Foundation, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Crime is the overwhelming concern for people who feel at least somewhat unsafe taking the T, followed by overcrowding. But 43 percent of respondents attributed their fears to those old, broken transit vehicles and stations in apparently pricey need of repair.

Meanwhile, more than half of those surveyed think traffic where they live is worse now than before the pandemic began in March 2020, compared to 37 percent who think it’s about the same and 7 percent who think it’s better.

And they’re not giving the governor high marks for her handling of the state’s myriad transportation issues: Just 7 percent gave Healey an A, while 23 percent gave her a B and 32 percent gave her a C. The numbers were similar when asked specifically about her handling of the T.

Gov. Maura Healey (left) and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll ride the Red Line. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO

Massachusetts’ transportation troubles didn’t start under Healey — they’re the product of years of underinvestment and mismanagement. But this poll shows residents are still holding the new governor responsible for the state of their commutes.

“For a governor who hasn't been in office for a year, there's a limit to what she can do to correct years and decades of underinvestment in the T. And there's very little she can do directly to redirect traffic congestion,” former state transportation secretary Jim Aloisi told Playbook.

But Healey’s administration has made progress. Phil Eng, the transit agency’s general manager, told the board of directors Thursday that the T has hired about 1,200 people — though that’s only good for a net gain of 599 workers because of other people leaving. And he laid out the work that will begin later this month to fix the Green Line Extension that opened with tracks that were too close together — a problem some at the MBTA knew about as early as April 2021 .

“Improvements at the T are going to be incremental,” Aloisi said. “It's not like turning on and off a light switch.”

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Healey did fare better than the Legislature in the MassINC poll — only a quarter of respondents said lawmakers deserved an A or a B for their role in funding roads and rails across the state.

TODAY — Healey speaks at an Adoption Day celebration at 9:30 a.m. at Boston Juvenile Court. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll speaks at MAHP’s annual conference at 8 a.m., a South Shore Chamber of Commerce housing forum at 2:30 p.m. and the grand opening of La Colaborativa’s Chelsea Survival Center at 7 p.m. Auditor Diana DiZoglio joins a Diwali celebration at 3 p.m. at the State House.

THIS WEEKEND — Northeastern University professor Dan Kennedy is on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. MBTA GM Phil Eng is on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Sunday. Healey is on NBC10’s “At Issue” at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.

Tips? Scoops? Email us: kgarrity@politico.com and lkashinsky@politico.com

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

SHELTER MONEY FALLOUT — As Democratic legislative leaders butted heads Wednesday over whether the Healey administration should have to open an overflow site for families being waitlisted for the state’s emergency shelter program, more than two dozen migrants were at Logan Airport trying to find a place to sleep for the night.

It’s the exact scenario lawmakers said they were trying to avoid. “We want to prevent people from sleeping in airports or sleeping in our streets,” House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz told reporters after reaching a negotiating impasse with his Senate counterpart. He was likely unaware of the situation at Logan, where WBUR’s Gabrielle Emanuel reports 31 people, including 17 children, were told they couldn’t stay the night.

Democratic legislative leaders tried to downplay the consequences of not passing the $2.8 billion supplemental budget, which included $250 million for the emergency shelter system before formal sessions ended for the year. Senate President Karen Spilka told reporters “it’s not that unusual” for pricey spending plans to get done in informal sessions .

But what’s normally a routine spending bill to close out the last fiscal year isn’t coming under normal circumstances this time. The state’s overburdened, maxed-out emergency shelter system is projected to exhaust its budget in January. Dozens of families seeking emergency housing are being told this “right-to-shelter” state has nowhere to put them because they arrived a few days too late. While more than 70 families have exited the shelter system since Nov. 1, there were still 63 families on the waitlist as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the most recent data available from the state.

On top of that, Democrats are giving Republicans unusual leverage by resorting to informal sessions where one lawmaker’s objection can derail a bill. And Republicans in both chambers — who are already on record opposing the larger spending bill over its emergency shelter component — are telling the Boston Herald they’re willing to use it.

The blowback on the Legislature for breaking without a deal was swift. A spokesperson for Gov. Maura Healey , who requested the $250 million in September, said the administration “believes it’s critical to pass the supplemental budget as soon as possible.”

The Massachusetts Teachers Association was less restrained, saying its members are “shocked and, frankly, disgusted that state legislators, mired in their personal and petty disputes, failed to pass” the supplemental budget that included both the migrant money and collective bargaining agreements with raises for thousands of state workers.

OPEN LETTER — State Sen. Becca Rausch led an open letter to President Joe Biden , Vice President Kamala Harris and congressional leaders denouncing “antisemitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of hatred and bigotry, which have increased amid the bloodshed of war commenced by Hamas” and pledging to keep up educational efforts to “expose and reduce anti-Jewish prejudice.” The letter was signed by a bipartisan group of 288 lawmakers across 26 states, including 55 of Rausch’s Massachusetts peers.

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FROM THE HUB

— “The plan for a New England Revolution stadium in Everett has hit a speed bump — including concerns from Mayor Wu,” by Jon Chesto, Boston Globe: “Legislation that would have paved the way for a New England Revolution stadium to go up along the Mystic River in Everett was sidelined when state House and Senate negotiators failed to reach an agreement on migrant aid in a broader budget bill. … And later in the day came a new complication, when Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration expressed surprise and disappointment about being left out of negotiations between the Kraft Group and the city of Everett over a stadium that would sit on Boston’s doorstep.”

— “Incoming Boston city councilor broke law, pays $5,400 penalty after promoting fund-raiser while still a city employee,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “Enrique Pepén, a former City Hall official who won a hotly contested Boston City Council seat this month, broke state campaign finance laws when he promoted his campaign kickoff in a half-dozen social media posts while still working as a city employee, state regulators ruled."

— “Growing local calls for ‘cease-fire’ in Gaza echo through protesters blocking BU Bridge, Black pastors speaking out,” by Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald.

— “Boston pays $2.6M to Black police officers who alleged racial bias in hair tests for drug use,” by the Associated Press.

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BALLOT BATTLES

— “Effort to get legal psychedelics on Mass. ballot hits signature snag,” by Walter Wuthmann, WBUR: “The campaign to legalize the use of plant-based psychedelic substances in Massachusetts is at risk of missing the 2024 ballot, after state officials found several 'disqualifying marks' on their ballot papers. A group of activists said the campaign printed a labor union logo on their ballot sheets, violating signature-gathering regulations and potentially invalidating thousands of signatures.”

— “Proposed ballot question to end MCAS graduation requirement gains momentum,” by James Vaznis, Boston Globe: “The Massachusetts Teachers Association has collected more than 130,000 signatures — far more than legally required — in its quest to get a question on next year’s election ballot that would no longer make high school diplomas contingent on students passing MCAS exams, union officials announced Thursday.”

MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS

— “Collins stepping down as cannabis commission executive director,” by Bhaamati Borkhetaria and Gintautas Dumcius, CommonWealth Beacon: “Two months after pushing back on a claim he would be leaving by the end of the year, Shawn Collins is resigning as executive director of the Cannabis Control Commission, the latest move to rock the troubled state agency whose chair was suspended in September. … The news comes as a lawmaker who has been critical of the agency is due to speak with Auditor Diana DiZoglio about his request for an audit of the cannabis commission.”

— “Cannabis worker’s death prompts call for steps to prevent work-related asthma,” by Felice J. Freyer, Boston Globe: “The state Department of Public Health on Thursday called on the cannabis industry to take steps to prevent work-related asthma, in the wake of the 2022 death of a 27-year-old worker from an asthma attack triggered by cannabis dust.”

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FROM THE 413

— “Young. Communist. Gun-owner. Multimillionaire. Pro-Palestine. Pro-Hamas. Berkshire landowner. Meet James 'Fergie' Chambers,” by Heather Bellow, Berkshire Eagle: “[Chambers] is a founder of Berkshire Communists, a group he headquartered off East Road in Alford (population, 486), one of the county’s sleepiest — and wealthiest — towns with no local police department of its own.”

— “‘The threat is real’: Easthampton council takes stand against antisemitism with wide-ranging resolution,” by Maddie Fabian, Daily Hampshire Gazette.

— “Fenton says he has the votes to return as Springfield City Council president,” by Ian Pickus, WAMC.

MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

POLL POSITION — Nikki Haley keeps rising in New Hampshire, where Chris Christie is also on the upswing but Donald Trump remains the far and away frontrunner in the GOP presidential field, a new poll shows.

Trump leads the UNH/CNN poll of likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters with 42 percent support, followed by Haley at 20 percent and Christie at 14 percent. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis , once Trump’s main competition in New Hampshire and nationally, follows at 9 percent and Vivek Ramaswamy is at 8 percent. The online survey of 994 likely GOP primary voters was conducted Nov. 10-14 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent.

Christie said the poll matches what he’s seeing on the ground in the Granite State. Unlike 2016, “when people come to our events now, they’re sold. They’re not shopping,” Christie told reporters after campaigning in Portsmouth yesterday. He declared New Hampshire a “three-person race” between himself, Haley and Trump. Yet 47 percent of respondents still said they wouldn’t vote for Christie under any circumstances — the highest percentage for any candidate.

A message from Conservation Law Foundation:

Conservation Law Foundation is working to fight climate change and secure a livable and healthy future for all New Englanders. We know New England needs to end its reliance on fossil fuels, and that presents a pressing question: What role will bioenergy play in the region’s energy system as we move toward 2050? The fossil fuel industry is leaning hard on selling biofuels such as renewable natural gas as viable options to meet state mandates for cutting climate-damaging emissions. But what’s beneath the surface is more of the same climate-damaging fuels. We don’t have time or resources to waste on costly and ineffective solutions. Conservation Law Foundation is sorting fact from fiction. Bioenergy’s role in New England’s clean energy future is a limited and targeted one. Get the full story.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Dylan Sodaro is now chief of staff for Rep. Gabe Amo (D-R.I.). Kate Michaud is district director.

— Justin Trudell will become president and CEO of Firstlight Power on Dec. 1.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Ann Murphy , partner at Seven Letter; Aidan Golub, Alexandra Goodwin, Sophia Wang , policy director for Boston City Council President Ed Flynn; and Laurie Norton Moffatt .

HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND — to Rory Clark, POLITICO’s Hailey Fuchs, Eric D. Roiter and Monica Rosales , who celebrate Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-ers WaPo’s Matt Viser, Sean Rourke, Evan Falchuk and Matt Barron .

NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: (THE PARENTS THINK) THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT — Hosts Jennifer Smith and Steve Koczela talk through new MassINC education polling. The Boston Globe’s Catherine Carlock breaks down the latest on rent control. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and SoundCloud .

Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com .

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