Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Senate budgets big for education

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Senate budgets big for education

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ANOTHER BUDGET DAY DAWNS — Top Senate Democrats are set to release Beacon Hill’s slimmest fiscal year 2025 budget proposal yet, while also attempting to make good on chamber President Karen Spilka’s longtime aims to invest more in education and mental health.

Senate leaders’ $57.9 billion blueprint is “a little bit lower” than the overall bottom line that the House put forward last month, Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues told reporters on Monday.

It’s a real-time reflection of how the state’s still-rocky fiscal picture is impacting this budget cycle — though Rodrigues noted the Senate’s plan was completed before April’s surprisingly good revenue report. And senators are likely to tack on more spending when the budget hits the floor for debate on May 21.

Either way, the state’s rollercoaster revenues aren’t stopping Spilka and her budget writers from increasing education spending across the board.

The budget senators will roll out later today follows the House in calling for roughly $6.9 billion in Chapter 70 funding — a $316 million increase over the current budget and the highest level of funding for the program so far, according to a person familiar with the final plan. The Senate will also mirror the House in proposing $99.4 million for regional school transportation.

The Senate is going beyond the House in several ways: doubling rural school aid to $15 million, pushing for $7.5 million for school-based mental health supports and wraparound services and calling for $6 million for social-emotional learning grants for K-12 schools (which was included in the fiscal 2024 budget).

Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues (left) and Senate President Karen Spilka speak to reporters outside their chamber. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO

Combine that with other pieces of the budget that have already emerged — $1.58 billion for early education and child care , $118 million to make community college free for all residents — and it’s clear the Senate is finding ways to promote Spilka’s education priorities across all levels while still being mindful of the state’s finicky finances.

While the House and Gov. Maura Healey only funded another year of the governor’s MassReconnect program to make community college free for people over age 25 who lack such degrees, Spilka is attempting to fulfill the promise she made last budget cycle to expand access to the state’s two-year institutions. She’s proposing an additional $75.5 million to cover tuition and fees for all residents attending community colleges starting this fall. And students who make 125 percent or less of the state's median income can receive a stipend of up to $1,200 for books and supplies.

“We have the money,” Spilka told reporters on Monday. “And to not invest right now would be an unfortunate set of circumstances for the commonwealth.”

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. We have a lot of news to get into. Keep scrolling.

TODAY — Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll testify before lawmakers in support of their economic development bond bill at 10 a.m. at the State House. Healey attends the MA Tech 16 conference at 12:15 p.m. in Cambridge. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu holds a Jamaica Plain coffee hour at 9:30 a.m. and is on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” at 1 p.m.

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

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

CODE RED — The Steward Health Care crisis crescendoed Monday as the Texas-based for-profit hospital chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Massachusetts leaders who convened an impromptu press conference at the State House hours after the news broke heralded it as a chance to finally get a glimpse into the struggling health care company’s books.

“One of the good things about bankruptcy is that Steward and its CEO [Ralph de la Torre] and its management team will no longer be able to lie,” Gov. Maura Healey said.

But Attorney General Andrea Campbell warned that Massachusetts officials will likely be relegated to a back-seat role as the case winds its way through Texas court, and there will be “a lot of variables that we do not have control over.”

Healey and her leading health officials emphasized that Steward’s Massachusetts hospitals are still open — at least for now — and safe to use. And the state has a new command center to coordinate care quality and access in eastern Massachusetts. But unions are still sounding alarms about the “devastating consequences” should any of Steward’s facilities here close.

The bankruptcy filing also kicked into motion House Speaker Ron Mariano ’s efforts to move a massive health care bill before the end of the legislative session. The House will take up the 97-page proposal next week, Mariano said in a statement, adding: “It is the Legislature’s responsibility to ensure that what happened with Steward Health Care never happens again.”

DIVE DEEPER — “Steward bankruptcy filing presents pros and cons for Mass.,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Beacon.

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FROM THE HUB

SURVEY SAYS — The good news for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu : Four in five voters rate quality of life in the Hub as either “good” or “excellent,” according to a new survey conducted by prominent pollster John Della Volpe for the Boston Policy Institute that’s been clashing with the mayor over city revenues.

The bad news: voters think the city could do more to tackle the high cost of living and housing, transportation, school and infrastructure problems.

Meanwhile, 49 percent of those surveyed said they favor increasing the tax rate on commercial properties — as Wu is trying to do in a home-rule petition — rather than raising residential property taxes or cutting city services. Twenty-eight percent were in favor of cutting city services and not increasing taxes, 5 percent said to increase residential property taxes and 17 percent were unsure.

That’s a warmer reception than Wu is getting from Beacon Hill, where the petition will go if and when it clears the City Council. More from CommonWealth Beacon and the Boston Herald .

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YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Democrat Mark Sylvia is officially announcing his bid today to fill the 10th Bristol House seat that state Rep. William Straus is vacating at the end of his term. Sylvia currently serves as chief of staff at solar energy developer BlueWave Solar, and previously worked as Undersecretary of Energy and Commissioner of Energy Resources in the Patrick administration.

BALLOT BATTLES

— “SJC probes ‘relatedness’ for app-based driver ballot petitions,” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon: “Initiative petitions put forth by Big Tech and union groups alike are being challenged for allegedly trying to cram too many unrelated subjects into a single measure presented to voters. … In trying to figure out if the impact of this round of initiatives would be easily understandable for voters, justices seemed open to the possibility of allowing a gig worker question to reach the voting booth. They zeroed in on discrimination protection implications and the sheer number of possible ballot initiatives as potential issues.”

Meanwhile, proponents of the ballot question that would classify app-based drivers as independent contractors are accusing Auditor Diana DiZoglio of using her office to aid her political allies after she published a report late last month showing how much Uber and Lyft likely shortchanged state public benefit programs over the last decade if the companies have been misclassifying their drivers.

The auditor’s report “was politically timed and motivated in both its creation and release,” said Conor Yunits , a spokesperson for the ballot committee. He’s trying to back up his claims through a records request seeking all communications between the auditor’s office and state Sen. Lydia Edwards , a prominent supporter of DiZoglio’s who requested the report from her office, as well as several unions and labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan , who cited the report in an amicus brief, according to a copy shared with Playbook.

DiZoglio responded by calling on the Big Tech companies to be more transparent with their driver data.

“It’s a huge sign of desperation that well-paid consultants for these powerful special interests are working so hard to discredit a report that ironically points to the need for more transparency from their industry,” she said in a statement to Playbook. “Our office is thrilled at the opportunity to be transparent by responding to their public records requests, and calls on them to now also be transparent.”

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ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

IT'S TIME TO CHANGE THE MEDIA RHETORIC

STUDENTS ARE PROTESTING GAZA GENOCIDE BY ISRAEL

ISRAEL HAS DENIED FOOD, WATER, MEDICINE & FUEL

HUMANITARIAN AID

THAT'S A WAR CRIME

DEFENDING ISRAEL IS A CRIME!

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at MIT. | AP

CAMPUS CLASHES — Harvard and MIT leaders are now threatening to suspend students who have set up encampments on their campuses to protest the ongoing war in Gaza. That didn’t go over well at MIT, where a six-reporter team at The Boston Globe writes: “Protesters shut down Massachusetts Avenue at rush hour, clashed with police, and tore down a fence surrounding a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Monday afternoon, hours after the university’s president gave demonstrators a 2:30 p.m. deadline to leave the site.”

DENOUNCING ISRAEL'S GENOCIDE IS

NOT ANTISEMITISM!

— “Boston city councilor who criticized Gaza cease-fire vote files pro-Jewish resolution,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Ed Flynn, a supporter of Israel who joined fellow moderate Erin Murphy in voting against a measure put forward by Tania Fernandes Anderson last week that declared the majority progressive body’s support for a cease-fire in Gaza, has filed a resolution for Wednesday’s meeting, ‘denouncing acts of antisemitism.’”

ADL IS CREATING ANTISEMITISM FOR ITS FAILURE TO CONDEMN GENOCIDE!

WHAT IS TRANSPIRING IS NOT ISRAEL DEFENDING ITSELF

— “Emerson urging Suffolk DA to not charge pro-Palestinian protesters ‘rewards their disruptive conduct,’ ADL leader says,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald.

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Newton won’t enroll out-of-district students through state school choice program,” by James Vaznis, The Boston Globe: “Following months of deliberations, the Newton School Committee on Monday night decided against admitting out-of-district students to its elementary schools through the state’s school choice program, citing a lack of public support in the aftermath of this year’s teacher strike.”

— “Andover officials to take up unbalanced budget,” by Teddy Tauscher, The Eagle-Tribune.

MEANWHILE IN VERMONT

BERNIE 2024 — Sen. Bernie Sanders is running for reelection at 82 . Among those cheering him on : Sen. Ed Markey , who’s planning to run for reelection in 2026 at age 80.

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HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Joe Sherlock is now political coordinator and Emily Kibbe is now legislative coordinator for the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. Darrin Howell starts as the group’s first organizing director in June.

— Former state Rep. Evandro Carvalho will serve as the new executive director of Boston’s Office of Police Accountability and Transparency.

MEDIA MOVES — CommonWealth Beacon editor Bruce Mohl is stepping down later this year after more than 15 years at the outlet.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Emma Riley, Nancy White, Chris Lindahl, M.J. Tidwell, Nicholas Harrer and Brian Dunn.

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