Monday, October 28, 2024

POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Granite state of mind

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MASS. MESSENGERS — The countdown to Election Day reached single digits over the weekend, but with few high-stakes races at home, Massachusetts Democrats made their way to New Hampshire.

Rep. Seth Moulton and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark were in the Granite State Saturday, and Moulton was back for two more events the next day. Gov. Maura Healey kicked off a canvass for Democratic gubernatorial hopeful and former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig yesterday, while around the corner Rep. Jake Auchincloss served as a surrogate for the Harris campaign at a forum hosted by Temple Adath Yeshurun in Manchester.

Why spend the time out of state? Is it in part because Massachusetts elections — which in recent cycles saw history-making statewide races and nationally watched primaries — are especially boring this year? Democrats didn’t deny it, but they pointed to what they view as the stakes in the elections in their purpler northern neighbor.

“I would say that Massachusetts politicians definitely acutely feel how important this election is,” Auchincloss told Playbook after wrapping his remarks at the temple, where New Hampshire’s congressional and gubernatorial candidates had also fielded questions.

“I think we all want to do what we can now. We all want to be in a majority in the House, and we all want Harris to be in the White House, and for us not to ever have to talk about Donald Trump again,” added the Newton Democrat, who has raised over $900,000 this cycle for his PAC, Beyond Thoughts and Prayers, focused on helping get Democrats in competitive districts who favor gun control legislation elected.

Moulton, who was in Franklin, New Hampshire, Sunday afternoon for a stop on the state’s “Veterans for Harris-Walz” tour, blamed the Electoral College.

“As long as we have this completely archaic Electoral College system, where Massachusetts votes don't count as much as New Hampshire votes, a lot of us are coming up here to try to make a difference,” Moulton told Paybook after kicking off the canvass alongside New Hampshire state Senate hopeful Stu Green and congressional candidate Maggie Goodlander.

“That's a sad state of affairs for our democracy … but it's the reality when people in my district come up and say, ‘How can we help?’ Sometimes there are a few races in Massachusetts, but usually it's: Go to Maine, go to New Hampshire, go to Pennsylvania, fly to Arizona if you can afford it,” he said.

An added bonus: New Hampshire is also still a key early voting state in presidential primaries – building connections there could be helpful for anyone harboring presidential ambitions down the road.

GOOD MONDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey speaks at the Longwood Healthcare Leaders Boston CEO event at 11:40 a.m. in Boston and hosts a ceremonial signing for legislation regulating the use of animals in circuses alongside Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, House Minority Leader Brad Jones and state Rep. Carole Fiola at 2:30 p.m. at the State House. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu joins Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang and Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons to sign a memorandum of understanding to increase public contracting for minority-owned, veteran-owned, and women-owned businesses.

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “Mass. lobbyists aren’t allowed to give much money to politicians. But their spouses can give far more — and do,” by Matt Stout and Samantha J. Gross, The Boston Globe: “After giving sparingly during her husband’s final 15 years as a lawmaker, Julie Dempsey has made more than $200,000 in political donations since Brian Dempsey began lobbying his former colleagues, regularly showering Beacon Hill leaders with maximum contributions, according to state campaign finance data. The largesse spotlights what experts call a gaping but entirely legal loophole in a 30-year-old campaign finance law. While lobbyists are capped at giving just $200 to candidates annually, other members of the public — their spouses included — can give up to five times that.”

— “Healthy Incentives Program sees $10 million shortfall in state budget; benefits to be cut to $20 a month,” by Chris Larabee, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Beginning in December, all families using HIP benefits, regardless of their household size, will see their monthly incentives reduced to $20, which is, at a minimum, a 50% cut for all users. The current benefit structure sees households of one to two people receiving up to $40, households of three to five people receiving up to $60 and houses of six or more people receiving up to $80 per month.”

FROM THE HUB

— “Boston school bus ridership plummets, but the costs keep rising,” by James Vaznis, The Boston Globe: “Daily ridership on Boston school buses has fallen by nearly 10,000 students over the past decade, while transportation spending has increased by tens of millions of dollars, according to a Globe review. ... That, in turn, is challenging a transportation system plagued with service delays and driving up annual spending, which is expected to exceed $171 million this school year.”

— “Boston is investing more in Black and brown businesses. But the work is far from over,” by Shannon Larson, The Boston Globe: “Three years after a report revealed stark inequities in the city’s business contracts, Mayor Michelle Wu announced that for the first time in Boston’s history, the city exceeded $100 million in total spending with Black and brown businesses. The investing achievement, which was reached this fiscal year, marks two consecutive years of “significant progress” the city has made contracting with more of Boston’s Black businesses, Wu said at a Black Economic Council of Massachusetts event on Saturday, offering a preview of gains she said will be celebrated next week.”

MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

— “Temporary shelter to return to old Registry of Motor Vehicles building in downtown Worcester,” by Craig S. Semon, Telegram & Gazette: “The city will again use the former Registry of Motor Vehicles service center at 611 Main St. as an emergency winter shelter for homeless adults. This will be the second year that the building will be used as a shelter during the cold months. The 60-bed facility will be staffed by the South Middlesex Opportunity Council and will be open around the clock through April, according to city spokesman Thomas Matthews.”

FROM HARVARD YARD

— “Harvard students, faculty decry suspensions over recent library protests,” by Sarah Betancourt, GBH News: “At least 60 law students who participated in a ‘study-in’ at Harvard’s Langdell Library last week have been banned from the space until Nov. 7. It was one of several silent protests by students demanding Harvard University divests its endowment from companies that profit from Israel’s ongoing occupation of Gaza.”

BALLOT BATTLES

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Sen. Ed Markey is backing the campaign to end MCAS as a graduation requirement, joining a handful of his congressional colleagues in supporting the Massachusetts Teachers Association-backed effort.

“Education is the foundation of our democracy, and every student deserves the opportunity to excel based on their unique talents, hard work, and dedication—not simply by their ability to perform on a single test,” Markey said in a statement. “Passing Question 2 is about promoting an educational system that upholds high standards while recognizing the diverse ways in which students learn and succeed.”

— “Most states have extensive graduation requirements. In Massachusetts, it’s just the MCAS,” by Christopher Huffaker, The Boston Globe: “Two states require that students take independently-administered civics tests to graduate high school. Eight have comprehensive exit exams. And a vast majority require students to earn credits in multiple math, science, and language classes. In all, 47 states, including Massachusetts, require an exit exam or specific course requirements to graduate. That means Massachusetts could soon be in select company. It has essentially no course requirements to graduate. And next month, it could get rid of its exit exam.”

THE NATIONAL TAKE — “Massachusetts, Famed for Tough School Standards, Rethinks Its Big Test,” by Troy Closson, The New York Times.

YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

*****MASS GOP*****

THE PRICE FOR SUPPORTING LOSERS & EXTREMISTS! "R" VOTERS REFUSE TO RESEARCH ISSUES OR CANDIDATES....MASS GOP rhetoric is consistently ATTACK RHETORIC not based on FACTS.

— “Massachusetts Republican Party dogged by new cash, legal woes weeks before election,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “The Massachusetts Republican Party settled a lawsuit tied to work done by an outside marketing firm during the 2022 election but quickly found itself entangled in new cash and legal woes just ahead of the November election, according to a letter obtained by the Herald. MassGOP Chair Amy Carnevale told Republican State Committee members that the organization agreed to pay $400,000 over three years to Mittcom, a Needham-based company, for myriad work during the 2022 election, including a ‘substantial portion’ on Geoff Diehl’s unsuccessful gubernatorial bid. But just as Carnevale touted the agreement in a Friday evening letter, she also disclosed that regulators at the Office of Campaign and Political Finance had called to request that the MassGOP disgorge $74,000 in allegedly illegal contributions it had received during the 2022 election cycle.”

— “Welcome to Trump Country?,” by Arthur Hirsch, The New Bedford Light: “If there is a Trump Country in deep blue Massachusetts, it’s the South Coast, especially Bristol County. You can find yourself in MAGA country not just in the usually more conservative towns north and west of New Bedford, but also in Acushnet, in the city’s North End near the airport, in Dartmouth along Cross and Chase roads, off Route 6 west of the mall. The county that for decades had leaned more Democratic than the rest of Massachusetts has shifted Republican in presidential elections.”

HORSING AROUND — Spotted on horseback campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris in Nevada: former Rep. Joe Kennedy III.

Kennedy was in Las Vegas as part of a multi-day swing through Arizona, Nevada and Colorado alongside Cesar Chavez Jr., part of an effort by the Harris campaign to reach Latino voters. Kennedy, Chavez Jr. and Rep. Adam Schiff were all on tap to attend Las Vegas' “Cabalgata” horse parade Saturday, according to a press release for the event.

TRAIL MIX

— “Harris presses for Black, Latino votes in Philadelphia,” by Meredith Lee Hill, POLITICO: “Kamala Harris spent Sunday with a singular focus: Philadelphia. The decision to devote the entire day to Pennsylvania’s largest city, nine days before Election Day, underscored the heavily Democratic city’s importance to the vice president — and also a central challenge facing her campaign: If she doesn’t drive turnout among Black and Latino voters there, she’ll lose the state and her best path to the White House.”

****REPUBLICANS DEFINED THEMSELVES!***** TRUMP withheld $$$ from PUERTO RICO & tossed PAPER TOWELS....NO REPUBLICANS SPOKE OUT! Current OUTRAGE by REPUBLICANS is PHONY!

— “Trump’s New York homecoming sparks backlash over racist and vulgar remarks,” by Meridith McGraw and Lisa Kashinsky, POLITICO: “Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden, billed as a triumphant homecoming, turned into a political fiasco on Sunday night as a pro-Trump comedian’s racist diatribe drew furious condemnation, including from prominent Republicans. The rally, held just more than a week before Election Day, was intended to serve as a platform for Trump to make his closing argument. But the racist slurs and vulgarity of the former president’s opening acts were so striking — and sparked such backlash — that his campaign was left on the defensive and issued a disavowal.”

IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN

A MUST READ IN ITS ENTIRETY!

— “Barnstable Council says 'no' to offshore wind landing on Dowses Beach,” by Heather McCarron, Cape Cod Times: “Barnstable's town councilors have drawn a line in the sand for Avangrid Renewables, voting to oppose the offshore wind developer's proposal to land power cables from its 1,080-megawatt New England Wind 2 project on Dowses Beach.”

FROM THE 413

— “Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno says he's been diagnosed with cancer,” by Daniel Jackson, The Springfield Republican: “Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said he expects to continue working as he undergoes treatment for cancer. Sarno, 61, announced his diagnosis Friday afternoon in a statement and said he would begin treatment as soon as possible. ‘I expect to make a full and complete recovery,’ he said. ‘I will continue to execute my duties as mayor during my recovery.’ The mayor’s statement did not specify the kind of diagnosis he received, only that it was ‘a form of cancer.’”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

SIGNED INTO LAW BY GOV. CHARLIE BAKER!

These towns are seeing results from the MBTA Communities Act

excerpt:

Signed by then-Gov. Charlie Baker in 2021, the MBTA law requires 177 communities served by or located near the T to zone for more multifamily housing. The law doesn’t actually mandate new construction, instead setting “unit capacity” targets for each community’s zoning — in other words, the number of units that could be built in a specific zone if the land were completely empty.

BOSTON.COM

— “Methuen City Council bashes MBTA zoning as local communities face deadline,” by Teddy Tauscher, The Eagle-Tribune: “City Councilors are blasting the state for ‘government overreach’ over MBTA zoning mandates as city planners look at ways to satisfy the state without creating a huge headache for the community. It’s a strategy not unique to Methuen.”

— “Hanging up the phone: Attleboro area schools aim to disconnect distraction from classroom and learning,” by Susan LaHoud, The Sun Chronicle.

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Alex Harris and the Washington Post’s Taylor Telford.

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