Middleboro Review 2: POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Now entering: Legislative limbo

Thursday, August 1, 2024

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Now entering: Legislative limbo

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NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL SOMETHING MOVES — Who needs a last-minute tax-rebate bombshell when you can hit the self-destruct button?

Lawmakers have reached an impasse on an economic development bond bill for the second session running — but this time without Chapter 62F to blame. Instead, they’re openly pointing fingers at each other for their failure to come to an agreement on one of the signature bills of the session — and one of Gov. Maura Healey’s biggest priorities — while signaling that “most” of the behemoth bill, save for the bonding side of it, can still get done in the informal sessions that will dot the rest of the year’s calendar.

“We kept trying and trying to engage and just ran against brick walls,” House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz told reporters at the State House moments ago. “Eventually, we had to stop running into the brick wall.”

The Senate’s response: “You can make blame but that gets us nowhere,” Senate President Karen Spilka said. “These are complex bills, they take a lot of time and energy.”

House Democratic leaders also just told reporters that they failed to find consensus with the Senate on most of the bills that were still in conference as of this morning (or last night, in State House time): maternal health, hospital oversight, prescription drugs and federal matching funds, to name a few.

State Sen. William Brownsberger also told reporters that a bill bumping up the number of liquor licenses in Boston “may not get done today” — around eight hours after negotiators picked up the paperwork necessary to file a compromise. And Senate Ways and Means Chief Michael Rodrigues said his chamber will not take up the overrides to Healey's vetoes of their FY25 budget that the House advanced, citing an anticipated poor revenue haul in July.

It’s a stunning end to formal session — but one that was heavily foreshadowed by 19 months defined by deteriorating relations between chambers. And public griping between top House and Senate Democrats earlier this week set the stage for not only this marathon session that’s tracking to be one of the longest since the Legislature implemented the July 31 deadline (h/t SHNS’s Chris Lisinski ), but for lawmakers’ inability to strike key deals.

Tensions between lawmakers had already appeared to have killed any chance of compromise on an energy bill — another unceremonious end to a session in which the acrimony between chambers was hardly more evident than in the public feuding between the chairs of the Legislature’s energy committee. State Sen. Michael Barrett, the Senate chair of the committee and the chamber’s lead negotiator on the legislation, threw shade on the House as he emerged shortly after midnight to warn reporters that there was unlikely to be an agreement.

A compromise housing bond bill is on the move but the size and scope, at first glance, appears to be smaller than what Healey proposed for another of her signature bills. (Healey was at the State House well into the night — at one point even spotted entering House Speaker Ron Mariano’s office, though she emerged mum on any details.)

Both chambers did manage to pass one big bill that would make it easier for people to qualify as parents, a win for LGBTQ+ couples that have historically faced challenges when it comes to claiming their children as their own. And a veterans bill will likely soon be added to the “finished” pile. Lawmakers also sent a bill that would ban the use of animals in traveling circuses to Healey’s desk.

Lawmakers, pressed throughout the day and into the night and morning, shrugged off questions about whether they should have started negotiating and passing bills before the 11th hour.

Asked whether marathon final formal sessions were an efficient way of lawmaking, Mariano replied: “Why wouldn’t it be?”

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . Stay tuned for Healey's reaction.

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey visits Park Street Station to celebrate the launch of the MBTA’s new contactless pay system at 9 a.m., rides the Green Line to the 10th annual Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS at Fenway Park at 10 a.m. and announces a round of Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Action grants at 12:30 p.m. in Leominster. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu visits Boston Public Schools STRIVE students at a workforce training program at Wentworth Institute of Technology at 10 a.m. in Mission Hill and speaks a the the Bynoe Park opening at 11:30 a.m. in Roxbury.

Tips? Scoops? Birthdays? Formal session odds and ends? Email me: kgarrity@politico.com.

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “Online lottery charges toward legalization with some safety tweaks,” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon: “As she brought down the veto pen – using a relatively light touch to slash $317 million from 60 separate line items – Gov. Maura Healey left intact a long-sought provision that would expand the state Lottery online despite last-minute pushes to restrict its language. … Attorney General Andrea Campbell, while stopping short of actively advocating against the Lottery’s expansion online, raised red flags early in 2023 that without ‘safe and responsible app design and game offerings,’ the iLottery could mimic some of the more worrying addictive qualities of online sports betting. The compromise budget includes several safeguards sought by Campbell’s office, including a bar on online lottery play by people under 21 years of age.”

— “For years, wealthy Martha’s Vineyard property owners have fought over a beach. Now, lawmakers are stepping into the fray,” by Matt Stout, The Boston Globe: “With no debate, the House last week passed a bill that seeks to clarify when a beach that has literally changed locations — moved by erosion, storms, or rising sea levels — qualifies as public land. Massachusetts has among the most restrictive ocean access laws in the country, which allow people to own land all the way to the low-tide line, clearing the way for private ownership of beaches. The seemingly esoteric language approved by the House immediately inflamed the long-running legal dispute an island away.”

*****STEWARD HOSPITAL CLOSURES*****

— “Judge approves Carney, Nashoba Valley closures as Steward crisis deepens,” by Priyanka Dayal McCluskey and Martha Bebinger, WBUR: “A federal judge on Wednesday cleared the way for Steward Health Care to close two Massachusetts hospitals, while the fate of the company’s other hospitals remains unsettled and Steward runs critically low on cash.”

MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

— “Families, migrants in overflow shelter will be urged to find ‘safe alternative housing,’ document says,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Local families and migrants who have maxed out their time in overflow shelters and exhausted all other options will be directed by state officials to find a “safe alternative for housing” before being kicked out, according to a state informational document that was circulated Wednesday. The circulation of the document came one day before updated shelter rules in Massachusetts were set to take effect that limit stays in overflow sites to five business days and require families to wait six months before accessing the larger emergency shelter system.”

DID YOU MISS IT? On Tuesday, POLITICO and McKinsey convened three conversations in D.C. with policymakers and space experts, including NASA Administrator Bill Nelson . The discussions also featured a panel of experts, an interview with Sens. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) and an executive conversation with McKinsey's Ryan Brukardt .

The conversations focused on the next great innovation frontier – the space industry , including deeper discussion around which sectors of the global economy see their growth arc in space and what the role of government leaders is in expanding and regulating the growing number of orbital ideas. CATCH UP AND WATCH HIGHLIGHTS HERE

FROM THE HUB

— “‘They think it’s a joke’: Boston has rules for big construction projects that no one follows,” by Danny McDonald, The Boston Globe: “During the past four years, not a single construction project in Boston has reported meeting all the rules intended to diversify the industry and bolster the number of city residents working on construction sites, a Globe review has found. There was a $28 million construction of 88 new residential units on Harrison Avenue in the South End. Major renovations to a Charlestown address to create a new space for a school for the deaf. A planned 300,000-square-foot parking garage for a hospital in Jamaica Plain. A music venue added to Fenway Park. A new police station in East Boston. None were in full compliance with the Boston Residents Jobs Policy, a city ordinance that requires 51 percent of work hours on a project go to city of Boston residents, 40 percent of work hours go to workers of color, and 12 percent of work hours go to women.”

— “Boston Police credit use of ShotSpotter with saving a shooting victim on Monday, but City Council remains skeptical,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Amid the latest police testimony around how ShotSpotter technology used by Boston PD contributed to saving the life of a shooting victim in Jamaica Plain this week, advocates and city councilors continue to challenge its effectiveness.”

— “City sues police union to avoid paying legal fees for Boston police supervisors acquitted of overtime fraud,” by Dan Glaun, The Boston Globe: “The City of Boston is suing the police supervisors union to overturn an arbitrator’s decision that would force it to pay legal costs for two former police officers acquitted of federal overtime fraud charges.”

— “Still getting trapped in Boston public housing elevators,” by Liz Neisloss, GBH News.

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— “MBTA eyes redevelopment of crumbling Alewife garage,” by Jon Chesto, The Boston Globe: “MBTA general manager Phillip Eng has a $155 million problem on his hands: the crumbling Alewife parking garage. Next week, Eng will turn to the development industry to solve it. The T is dangling the opportunity to build on 13 acres in and around the Alewife Station — in a key spot at the end of the Red Line, where Route 2 enters Cambridge — and is sweetening the pot by offering another 20 or so acres next door that will free up after commuter rail maintenance and repair operations are relocated to Billerica.”

A message from Uber:

YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins is endorsing Allison Cartwright for Suffolk County Supreme Court clerk, per her campaign.

DAY IN COURT

— “Worcester DA drops 25 criminal cases because of illegal state police recordings,” by Brad Petrishen, Telegram & Gazette: “Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.’s office on Wednesday dropped more than two dozen cases that a judge ruled were tainted by state police recordings made in violation of criminal wiretapping laws. … Fitchburg District Court First Justice Christopher P. LoConto, in a pointed ruling earlier this month, ruled troopers broke criminal wiretapping laws by using a smartphone application to record undercover drug stings without obtaining warrants.”

2024 WATCH

MUST READ!
tRUMP'S RACISM & BIGOTRY ON FULL DISPLAY!
Let's remember what tRump did to 5 INNOCENT BLACK KIDS who were sent to prison because of
tRump's racial hysteria....

Why did Daffy Don even attend the Black Journalists' Conference? And then get offended by the questions? He was so out of control, had to be led off stage...

The Orange Turd is just STUPID & uninformed...including signs of DEMENTIA!

— “5 things Trump said in a combative interview at Black journalists’ conference,” by Isabella Ramírez, Jared Mitovich and Kyle Cheney.

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FROM THE 413

— “House and Senate Pass Akers Age Waiver at Last, Closing a Springfield Drama, Sorta,” by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight: “Five months after the Springfield City Council and Mayor Domenic Sarno forwarded an age waiver for now-Police Superintendent Lawrence Akers, the bill has finally passed Beacon Hill. What is moving to Governor Maura Healey’s desk is not what city officials passed in February. Nevertheless, it will accomplish the home rule petition’s longstanding goal: allowing Akers to serve until age 70.”

— “Can the Great Barrington Board of Health stop Dollar General from selling cheap cigarettes?,” by Heather Bellow, The Berkshire Eagle.

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Controversial statement divides Plymouth and the Wampanoag Tribe. 'A lot of ignorance,’” by Rachael Devaney, Cape Cod Times.

— “Online lottery sales draw mixed reaction in Attleboro area,” by Stephen Peterson, The Sun Chronicle.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Diana Erani of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers is joining the National Association of Community Health Centers as chief operating officer in September.

— Linda Murphy has been named executive editor of The Cape Cod Times. She was previously serving as interim executive editor.

— Seble Alemu will be the new Executive Director of the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators starting early this month.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, Jehuda Reinharz, Nora Bergman and Asher Perez.

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