Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Boston budget puts Wu's picks to the test

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Boston budget puts Wu's picks to the test

BUDGET SHOWDOWN — For city councilors who rode into office with Mayor Michelle Wu’s support last fall, Boston’s budget dance could prove to be a test of how willing they are to break with their powerful backer.

Wu vetoed most of the changes the council made to her $4.6 billion budget proposal Monday afternoon, keeping $1.1 million in reductions and $2 million in spending from the roughly $15 million in amendments the council approved last week.

In a letter addressed to councilors, Wu voiced concern about the plan, which reduced the proposed increases in spending for Boston's police and fire departments she had initially called for.

“Our record-low levels of violence are tied to well-resourced public safety efforts, beautiful parks and public spaces, and comprehensive programming to serve every generation of our community. We therefore disapprove of deeper cuts to departments while accepting some more modest reductions that reflect a pattern of vacancies in staffing as we work to improve hiring processes and fill these needed roles,” she wrote.

Now the budget goes back to the council, where a two-thirds majority could undo Wu’s changes. The math says the council — which passed the budget on a 10-3 vote — has the votes to successfully override. But the political calculus is trickier.

Wu made a gamble when she put her political clout on the line in a handful of council races last year. It appeared to pay off in helping create a council far friendlier to the mayor that’s helped her notch some big wins: approving a measure to bring the BPDA under City Hall control, and helping send home rule petitions on rent control and a controversial tax proposal to Beacon Hill.

The councilors Wu helped elect — District 8 Councilor Sharon Durkan in a summer special election last summer, and District 5 Councilor Enrique Pepén, District 6 Councilor Ben Weber and at-large Councilor Henry Santana that fall — have largely backed the mayor’s agenda. So have other councilors on the left. But that hasn’t stopped critics from crying foul over what they view as a rubber-stamping of the mayor’s agenda.

“I expect [Wu is] working all the councilors,” former Boston City Councilor Larry DiCara told Playbook. “But she only has to flip two.”

If she is, she isn't tipping her hand: “The administration looks forward to the Council’s further due diligence on the Mayor’s returned budget through the ongoing review process," a spokesperson for her office said in a statement Monday night. "The Mayor respects each Councilor’s role in engaging with the budget and voting according to their best judgment of the interests of their constituents and the City.”

There are other factors that could sway votes, too. The backlash to the council’s proposal from fire and police unions could deter members who were willing to support the council’s amendments once from doing so a second time.

Wu’s decision to reject most of the council’s amendments puts her more in line with her usual critics on the council, who raised concern about the levels of investment in public safety in the amended council budget. But this is par for the course for the mayor, who in the previous two budgets that featured council input also looked to add back cuts to police.

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TODAY — Wu hosts a North End coffee hour at 9:30 a.m. and hosts an “International Day of Play” event at 12:30 p.m. at City Hall Plaza. Wu is also on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” at 11 a.m.; Auditor Diana DiZoglio joins the program in the 1 p.m. hour. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll speaks at a MassBioEd conference at 9:15 a.m. in Boston, chairs a virtual meeting of the Local Government Advisory Commission at 1 p.m. and speaks at a Mass Cultural Council and Mass Development event in North Easton at 2 p.m. Driscoll and House Speaker Ron Mariano attend the annual Heritage Day of Portugal at 10:30 a.m. at the State House. Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduces her Corporate Crimes Against Health Care Act outside a Steward Health Care-owned hospital at 9:45 a.m.

Tips? Scoops? Birthdays? Get in touch: kgarrity@politico.com.

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “New campaign targets anti-abortion clinics,” by Christian M. Wade, The Eagle-Tribune: “Beacon Hill leaders have rolled out a new public education campaign taking aim at pregnancy crisis centers, which have emerged as the latest battleground in abortion access following the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling overturning federal protections. The state Department of Public Health announced Monday that it has partnered with the advocacy group Reproductive Equity Now Foundation on a new campaign to educate the public about the ‘dangers and potential harm’ of anti-abortion centers that advocates say are providing misleading information to women.

— “Parentage Act In House Plans For Wednesday,” by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service (paywall): “The House plans to vote Wednesday on legislation modernizing how state law defines parentage in an attempt to put parents who use assisted reproductive technology, especially LGBTQ families, on equal footing. An aide to House Speaker Ron Mariano confirmed Monday that Democrats will tackle the bill (H 4672), which Mariano last week pledged to bring forward during Pride Month in June, at a formal session on Wednesday."

HERO ACT ON THE MOVE — The Senate plans to take up Gov. Maura Healey’s veterans’ services bill Thursday, Senate leaders announced Monday. Senators have until 5 p.m. today to file amendments to the bill, which “closely mirror[s]” the legislation Healey filed earlier this year. Dig in with the Boston Herald.

MEDIA MATTERS

— “At least nine GBH executives had salaries of over $300,000 last year. Reeling from layoffs, employees have questions,” by Aidan Ryan, The Boston Globe: “When GBH laid off nearly three dozen workers last month, chief executive Susan Goldberg cited flat revenue and rising costs that left one of the nation’s largest producers of public media in the red. Left untouched were the high salaries received by the 16 top executives at the station, who together earned $5.9 million last year in total compensation (GBH eliminated year-end bonuses for all staff, but did not cut base compensation). Their high pay — nine earned more than $300,000 in base compensation each last year, the nonprofit’s records show — has prompted criticism among current and former employees about the organization’s choices in confronting a budget shortfall of $7 million for its core business.”

YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — House Majority Leader Michael Moran is endorsing attorney Allison Cartwright for Suffolk County Supreme Judicial Court clerk.

— “Hollywood vets and Biden alums launch super PAC to shore up his youth vote problem,” by Elena Schneider, POLITICO: “Allies of President Joe Biden are launching a new super PAC aimed at fixing one of his most problematic demographic trends: his erosion with young voters. The group, Won’t PAC Down, will raise and spend $20 million to $25 million, according to details shared exclusively with POLITICO. … John Della Volpe, a pollster who specializes in the youth vote and worked on Biden’s 2020 campaign polling team, is providing the research for Won’t PAC Down. And Doug Rubin, a longtime Democratic strategist who was a senior operative on Deval Patrick’s two gubernatorial campaigns, is also involved in the effort.”

WHAT'S ON CAMPBELL'S DOCKET

MUST READ! NEXT STEP HEALTHCARE!

— “Nursing home chain with 3 Central Mass. locations reaches $4 million settlement with AG,” by Kinga Borondy, Telegram & Gazette: “The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office announced Monday that it has reached a $4 million settlement with a Woburn-based nursing home conglomerate that operates 16 facilities across the state, including three in Central Massachusetts, after an investigation found inadequate staffing levels over the course of four years that led to neglect of residents. The settlement is the largest involving a nursing home operator that has ever been reached by the Attorney General's Office, according to a press release from the office.”

FROM THE DELEGATION

FROM THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW - cleaning up BROWNFIELDS....

— “Officials highlight $7M in EPA grants for brownfield cleanup,” by Peter Currier, The Lowell Sun: “U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan and officials from Lowell, Lawrence and Clinton gathered in front of Lowell City Hall Monday morning to highlight a total of $7 million in federal grant funding given to the three communities for the cleanup of brownfield sites. The Environmental Protection Agency grants come from a $1.5 billion boost in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021, nearly $35 million of which has been awarded for the cleanup of brownfield sites across Massachusetts.”

CORRUPT NETANYAHU was on trial, ignored warnings of HAMAS ATTACK for a year and failed to protect ISRAELIS.

— “Mass. Rep. Clark: Israel’s Netanyahu may be out of a job before speech to Congress,” by John L. Micek, MassLive: “Embattled Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is slated to address a joint session of Congress next month as his country’s war with the terrorist group Hamas drags into its 10th month. But at least two Massachusetts lawmakers aren’t making any plans. ‘We’ll see if Mr. Netanyahu is still prime minister by July 24,’ U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, of Massachusetts, the No. 2 Democrat in the House, said Monday. … And with the situation on the ground in Gaza constantly in flux, U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss told MassLive he’s going to wait until the week before the speech before he makes up his mind on whether to attend.”

FROM THE 413

— “Assistant Hampden DA Clarissa Wright is a ‘voice for the victims’,” by Irene Rotondo, MassLive.

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “‘It’s heartbreaking’: 225,000 Mass. students attend substandard segregated schools, new report finds,” by James Vaznis, The Boston Globe: “More than 225,000 students across Massachusetts attend segregated public schools, mostly with low graduation rates and standardized test scores, because state education leaders for decades have failed to comply with laws requiring them to foster integration, according to a new report by a state oversight committee.”

— “Fall River's homeless outreach team busy with new program after state tears down camps,” by Jo C. Goode, The Herald News: “When Massachusetts Department of Transportation notified the city a few weeks ago it was going to break up three homeless encampments along state land abutting Interstate 195 and Route 24 for safety concerns, Fall River's outreach team, which has for a number of years been aiding the homeless and drug-addicted, knew it had to step up its game. About 20 of the approximately 40 to 45 people displaced from the dismantled homeless camps and others have agreed to participate in a pilot program designed by the team dubbed Enhancement Without Encampment.”

— “Affordable housing on Cape Cod: Former Wing School in Sandwich to become 128 rentals,” by Kalie Walker, The Cape Cod Times.

— “‘The perfect storm’: rural Mass. town hit by scam on top of budget woes,” by John Hilliard, The Boston Globe.

JOIN US ON 6/13 FOR A TALK ON THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE : As Congress and the White House work to strengthen health care affordability and access, innovative technologies and treatments are increasingly important for patient health and lower costs. What barriers are appearing as new tech emerges? Is the Medicare payment process keeping up with new technologies and procedures? Join us on June 13 as POLITICO convenes a panel of lawmakers, officials and experts to discuss what policy solutions could expand access to innovative therapies and tech. REGISTER HERE .

MEANWHILE IN RHODE ISLAND

NO CALAMARI COMEBACK — The Rhode Island chef who stole the Democratic National Convention’s show in 2020 by holding a plate of calamari during the virtual roll call likely won’t be making a repeat performance this summer. He supports former President Donald Trump , per The Associated Press’s Will Weissert.

MEANWHILE IN MAINE

— “Lewiston survivors consider looming election as gun control comes to forefront after mass shooting,” by Patrick Whittle, The Associated Press.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

SPOTTED — on the guest list for the White House Juneteenth concert: Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Ayanna Pressley .

TRANSITIONS — Shannon Moore has joined Commonwealth Counsel as the firm’s first vice president. Moore has been director of state government relations at Boston Children's Hospital.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Sam Tracy, Jim Mahoney, Rand Wilson and Tad Devine.

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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