Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Tick tock on the shelter clock

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Tick tock on the shelter clock

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LET THE COUNTDOWNS BEGIN — Just as Gov. Maura Healey ended one countdown clock for the state’s overburdened emergency shelter system, she started two more.

Beginning today, migrant and homeless families staying in the state’s overflow shelter sites (located in Cambridge, Roxbury, Chelsea and, soon, Lexington) will have to reapply monthly to keep their spots and show that they’re working towards finding jobs or longer-term housing to stay eligible.

The policy applies to the 159 families currently staying in the overflow shelters. It's also in play for anyone who enters those sites going forward. Shelter providers will hold orientations today on the new rules, and information is being made available in multiple languages, according to Healey’s office. Extensions can be made for extenuating circumstances.

Gov. Maura Healey at a state-run overflow shelter site in Roxbury earlier this year. The administration is opening an overflow shelter in Lexington this month and continues to evaluate sites "as needed," a Healey spokesperson told Playbook. | John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via AP, Pool

Also in 30 days: The clock starts for the roughly 7,500 families in the emergency shelter system who will face a nine-month cap on their stays under the supplemental budget Healey signed into law on Tuesday. People who meet certain criteria will be able to apply for two 90-day extensions.

Healey billed the new limit as “a responsible step” to help control ballooning state spending on the emergency assistance program, particularly as Congress continues “to fail to act on immigration reform,” she said in a statement.

Without much appetite from congressional Republicans in the election year, the governor is again turning to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for help expediting work permits for migrants.

Such authorizations are “pivotal” in moving migrants out of the shelter system, she wrote Mayorkas in a letter that she was required to send under the new law. Over the last five months, the state has helped nearly 3,600 migrants in the emergency assistance program apply for work authorizations and assisted nearly 630 “into jobs,” her office said. In that same time period, 1,129 families have exited shelters.

In the meantime, Healey now has another $251 million in state dollars at her disposal to keep the shelter system running into the summer, with the possibility of another $175 million once the calendar flips to the next fiscal year in July.

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . The clock’s also run out for the Legislature to act on this year’s crop of potential ballot questions. Campaigns can begin the next phase of signature gathering today.

TODAY — Healey meets with the consul general of Canada at 10 a.m. and swears in new judges to the Boston Municipal Court at 1:30 p.m. at the State House. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll chairs a Governor’s Council meeting at noon at the State House. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu hosts a coffee hour in Mattapan and speaks at the annual Disability Community Forum at 2:15 p.m. at Suffolk Law. Rep. Ayanna Pressley reintroduces the CROWN Act at 4 p.m. at the Capitol.

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

A message from the Drivers Demand Justice Coalition:

Uber and Lyft are threatening to limit the rights and protections of Massachusetts rideshare drivers. But drivers have a different vision: one that empowers drivers to shape their working conditions and that gives them the chance to unionize. Drivers can’t get there alone – we’re urging lawmakers to ensure collective bargaining rights for rideshare drivers by passing the Rideshare Driver Justice bill this session, before it’s too late. Rideshare drivers need the freedom to unionize now!

DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “No plans for new state taxes, Healey tells business group,” by Katie Lannan, GBH News: “Gov. Maura Healey has ‘no plans to propose new taxes or raise existing ones,’ she told business leaders Tuesday. … ‘We started with cutting taxes — and you can remind Gov. [Chris] Sununu that I'm proud to be the first governor in over 20 years to cut taxes, a $1 [billion] tax cut that saves everyone money,’ she said.”

— “‘Different Scenarios’ In Play As Steward Faces Lending Deadline,” by Colin A. Young, State House News Service (paywall): “State government has prepared for ‘different scenarios’ that could unfold as a crucial forbearance period end[ed] Tuesday for the embattled Steward Health Care, and Gov. Maura Healey said her administration will be ready to respond.”

As Steward employees paint a dire picture to WBUR’s Deborah Becker of the conditions at the company’s facilities in Massachusetts — from unpaid bills to “rat and fly problems” — the News Service reports that lawmakers are advancing a sweeping hospital oversight bill that aims, in part, to prevent another Steward-like failure.

DOLLARS SHORT — If Uber and Lyft have been misclassifying their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, the companies likely shortchanged state public benefit programs by about $266 million over the last decade, according to a conservative estimate in a new analysis from Auditor Diana DiZoglio ’s office .

— “Mass. gaming regulators want to make it easier for people to ban themselves from casinos, sports books in multiple states,” by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: “Massachusetts gaming regulators are considering joining a regional, or eventually nationwide, voluntary self-exclusion program, so problem gamblers can ban themselves from casino floors, sports books and mobile sports betting apps more easily. There are 1,850 people already on Massachusetts’ voluntary self-excluding list. … But that doesn’t help the problem gambler who needs to be banned from casinos in Massachusetts and Connecticut.”

MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

— “Migrants helping fill ‘well-documented worker shortage’ in Massachusetts, Healey says,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “An influx of migrants into Massachusetts has helped fill a ‘well-documented worker shortage,’ Gov. Maura Healey said Tuesday during a speech to leaders of some of the region’s largest and most influential businesses. … Nearly 700 job placements have been made by the Healey administration since November, the governor said.”

— “State plans upgrades for Roxbury recreation center, after using it as temporary shelter,” by Simón Rios, WBUR.

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FROM THE HUB

— “Boston City Council looks to crack down on hotel prostitution, drug use,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “The ordinance, filed by Councilors Henry Santana and Gabriela Coletta for consideration at Wednesday’s meeting, would create a seven-member advisory panel dedicated to ensuring hotels comply with a new list of public health and safety practices it would be empowered to compile, and amend, as needed.”

WHAT'S ON CAMPBELL'S DOCKET

WHAT A RELIEF — More than 3,500 people who attended Art Institutes in Massachusetts will see a combined $80 million in their federal student loan debt erased partly as a result of a lawsuit then-Attorney General Maura Healey filed against the New England Institute of Art and its owner in 2018, Attorney General Andrea Campbell and U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said.

In all, the Biden administration is wiping out $6 billion in debt for nearly 317,000 borrowers who attended the now-defunct chain of art schools. Dive deeper with POLITICO’s Juan Perez Jr.

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— "Wakefield joins growing resistance to MBTA zoning law," by Louisa Moller, WBZ: "Wakefield is the latest town to vote down plans to comply with the state's MBTA Communities Law and Monday's town meeting played out like a bad movie on repeat."

DAY IN COURT

— “Ashland doctor pleads guilty to punching officer during Jan. 6 assault on US Capitol,” by John R. Ellement, The Boston Globe: “Jacquelyn Starer, 70, appeared in US District Court in Washington, D.C., where she pleaded guilty to an eight-count indictment that included two felony counts of civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers, federal prosecutors said. She also pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor offenses.”

— “‘They went for maximum pain’: former Chicopee schools Superintendent Lynn Clark sentenced in federal court for lying to FBI,” by Stephanie Barry, Springfield Republican: “A chapter has closed for former Chicopee Schools Superintendent Lynn Clark after a judge in federal court sanctioned a one-year probation sentence for lying to federal agents amid an extortion
probe.”

A message from the Drivers Demand Justice Coalition:

Massachusetts faces a choice between two realities for the future of rideshare work:

Allow Silicon Valley executives to deceptively lock drivers into a limited set of rights, while leaving taxpayers picking up the tab on key worker benefits.

Or:
Pass the Rideshare Driver Justice bill to empower tens of thousands of Massachusetts rideshare drivers with the freedom to unionize – allowing them to collectively bargain with rideshare companies to improve pay, benefits, and safety.

Rideshare drivers have a roadmap on how to improve our lives and our communities. It starts with the legislature allowing us the freedom to unionize. Rideshare drivers are currently struggling with pay below the state minimum wage. And because we don’t have the freedom to unionize, taxpayers pay for a range of benefits that the companies are denying us.Drivers and our communities areat a critical crossroads. It’s time to pass the Rideshare Driver Justice bill.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

— “MIT faculty voice support for pro-Palestinian encampments, as others continue at Harvard, Tufts,” by John R. Ellement and Lila Hempel-Edgers, The Boston Globe.

THE CLARK CAUCUS

OUTMANEUVERING MTG — House Democratic leaders including Whip Katherine Clark said Monday that they would block any attempt by Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), our colleagues Nicholas Wu and Daniella Diaz report .

FROM THE 413

— “Lenox Town Manager Christopher Ketchen is stepping down at the end of June to lead a $7 billion state aid program,” by Clarence Fanto, The Berkshire Eagle: “Having served for 10 years as town manager — four of them in a shared-services leadership role with Lee — Christopher Ketchen will depart when his contract expires on June 30. His new job: director of finance and local payments for the state Department of Revenue’s Division of Local Services.”

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MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

LETTING BYGONES BE BYGONES — New Hampshire’s delegates will count at Democrats’ national convention this summer in Chicago, the Democratic National Committee decided Tuesday. The Rules and Bylaws Committee vote effectively ends — for this cycle, at least — the intraparty feud over the Granite State’s place in the presidential nominating calendar.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

SPOTTED — at the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus PAC event at Scholar’s Tuesday night: Headliners state Sen. Cindy Friedman and state Rep. Alice Peisch; state Sen. Joan Lovely, Fitchburg Mayor Samantha Squailia, former state Rep. Kathi Ann Reinstein, MWPC President Lora Pellegrini, Executive Director Kat Cline, MWPC PAC Chair Shannon Montanez, MWPC PAC Board Member Catherine Lynn, and the MWPC Board of Directors: Linnea Walsh, Stephanie Swanson, Michelle McGee, Jason Aluia, Liz Leahy, and Abby Kim.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to state Rep. Daniel Donahue, John Olds, Abbie Ruzicka and Gary Uter.

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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