THE CARPETBAGGING NEWTON NEBBISH GATHERED SUPPORT FROM THE WEALTHY WITH VESTED INTERESTS TO FLOOD WITH SUPERFICIAL ATTACKS- MUCH LIKE THE NEWTON NEBBISH...MAYOR WU IS CORRECT:
LACK OF SUBSTANCE!
SCRUTINIZE THIS CANDIDATE WHO OFFERS NOTHING & DOESN'T EVEN COMPREHEND HOW GOVERNMENT WORKS - HE'S MADE IT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR!
THIS IS NOT ON THE JOB TRAINING FOR THE CARPETBAGGER!
THE NEWTON NEBBISH HAS NEVER MANAGED AN ORGANIZATION OF THE SIZE OF BOSTON!
COMING TO A SCREEN NEAR YOU — The super PAC backing Boston mayoral hopeful Josh Kraft is going up on air with its first attack ad, warning that Boston is “heading in the wrong direction” under Mayor Michelle Wu’s leadership.
“We tried to tell Mayor Wu: Her ideas would only make things worse. But she ignored us,” a female narrator says.
What it does mention: The ad knocks Wu on some of the policies Kraft has already taken aim at on the campaign trail — bike lanes, White Stadium, upcoming Boston Public Schools closures.
What it doesn’t: Although the independent expenditure PAC has separately spent nearly $3 million supporting Kraft, this ad doesn’t mention his name — or encourage voters to back him in September. “Boston is headed in the wrong direction, and a vote against Mayor Wu is a message she can’t ignore,” the narrator says in the video.
The 30-second spot will run on cable, broadcast and streaming services through the end of July. The PAC already reported spending $1,4 million on TV and digital ads, text messages and billboards to oppose Wu and plans to spend another $989,000 to keep the ad on air as the summer starts.
Don’t expect the bitterness that’s taken over the mayoral race to abate any time soon. In a lengthy statement Tuesday in response to the PAC’s spending, Wu’s campaign laid into Kraft for attempting to “buy” the mayoral race with money from his father, Robert Kraft, and his father’s wealthy friends.
Wu reiterated that argument to reporters Tuesday and criticized Kraft’s campaign for what she described as a lack of “substance” during an interview on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” Wednesday.
Kraft’s campaign “is not about promoting a difference in vision or life story, or sort of compelling characteristics of an alternative choice,“ Wu said during the radio interview. ”This is about directly trying to sow fear or confusion.“
GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . We’re already halfway through the week!
TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey speaks at the 2025 OneMIT commencement ceremony at 3 p.m. Secretary of State Bill Gavlin attends Harvard’s commencement at 9:30 a.m. Auditor Diana DiZoglio speaks at the Whittier Tech High School graduation at 7 p.m. in Haverhill. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu hosts a coffee hour at 10 a.m. in Brighton.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com .
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DATELINE BEACON HILL
— Healey, moving to cut red tape and burnish business-friendly chops, unveils dozens of regulatory changes by Matt Stout, The Boston Globe: “Governor Maura Healey said her administration is trimming or eliminating dozens of regulations for companies and workers in Massachusetts, changes that will affect details as granular as label colors in grocery stores but, officials contend, help streamline the rules many businesses face. Healey unveiled the changes Wednesday in a prop-laden news conference at the State House where aides lined stacks of paper topped with sheets labeled ‘red tape’ next to shredder.”
— CCC overhaul, cannabis reforms sprouting in House by Colin A. Young, State House News Service: “The House side of the Cannabis Policy Committee unanimously advanced legislation Wednesday to downsize and restructure the embattled Cannabis Control Commission and to address a handful of industry pressure points like retail license limits, restrictions on medical marijuana businesses, and the emergence of intoxicating hemp products. All 11 representatives on the committee backed Chairman Daniel Donahue's recommendation for a favorable report on the 46-page bill Wednesday, and it next heads to the House Ways and Means Committee.”
EYES ON 2026
***SLOW ZONE SHORTSLEEVE WANTS TO PRETEND HE SUCCEEDED...AT WHAT? DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THE MASSIVE SAFETY ISSUES? THE OUT-OF-STATE OVERPAID CONSTRUCTION SUPERVISORS WHO NEVER VISITED THE COMMONWEALTH? THE NO BID BATHROOM CONTRACT? THERE'S A GREAT MESS LEFT BEHIND! SPEAKING FROM EXPERIENCE, CUSTOMER SERVICE WAS QUESTIONABLE AT BEST! NOT REVISIONIST HISTORY, JUST REMEMBERING HONEST HISTORY OVER LIES! THE MEDIA & OTHERS GAVE THE BAKER CLOWNS A FREE PASS & IGNORED THEIR FAILURES!*****
RIGHT DIRECTION, WRONG TRACK — Republican gubernatorial hopeful Brian Shortsleeve has touted his time atop the MBTA for delivering the first balanced budget in more than a decade while posting “record low operating expenses,” at the transit agency. And during a recent interview on Bloomberg Talks he touted his work on the Green Line Extension project which, he said, “will take you from Downtown Crossing right onto Tufts University.”
One slight hiccup: The Green Line doesn’t run through Downtown Crossing; it stops nearby, at Park Street.
MassDems Chair Steve Kerrigan pounced on the mistake, saying the fact that Shortsleeve “didn’t know what lines ran through what stations,” might have been “one of the reasons the MBTA was in such shambles ,” Kerrigan said.
Shortsleeve’s campaign said Democrats are not only “practicing revisionist geography, they’re practicing revisionist history.” And the current MBTA website “outlines clearly the many reforms and accomplishments that Brian led at the T, including bringing fiscal sanity, instituting efficient business practices and improving customer experience — reforms The Boston Globe called IT'S A 2020 ARTICLE THAT LEAVE A LOT OUT! ‘the best thing that ever happened to the transit system,’” a campaign spokesperson said in a statement.
FROM HARVARD YARD
***IT'S AN ATTEMPT BY RIGHT WINGERS TO STRANGLE & CONTROL EDUCATION! FOREIGN STUDENTS ARE ACCEPTED AMONG THE BEST & THE BRIGHTEST! THEY CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMUNITY & HAVE ACCOMPLISHED IMPRESSIVE RESEARCH! TRUMPS WAR AGAINST RESEARCH HAS CREATED A BRAIN DRAIN WITH OTHERS NATIONS RECRUITING TALENTED SCIENTISTS - THAT INCLUDES CHINA!***
POISON IVY — As Harvard students and families gather on the university’s storied Cambridge campus for the class of 2025's commencement ceremony, lawyers for Harvard will be back in court battling the White House.
Today’s case comes after the Trump administration last week attempted to block the university from enrolling international students, who make up roughly 27 percent of the student body. The Playbook Podcast has a two-minute rundown.
It’s not the only lawsuit Harvard has found itself filing against the administration lately. The university is currently embroiled in another legal fight over about $3 billion in federal funding the administration stopped from flowing to the school. Earlier this week, the Trump administration also urged federal agencies to cancel contracts with Harvard.
Local Democratic leaders — plenty of them Harvard alums themselves — have been critical of the administration over its war with Harvard.
Gov. Maura Healey put it simply Wednesday: “It's so dumb.”
— AG sides with Harvard in fight with Trump by Christian M. Wade, The Newburyport Daily News: “Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell is siding with Harvard University in its escalating legal fight with the Trump administration over the move to ban foreign students from attending the Ivy League school. In a legal filing Wednesday, Campbell argued that the Trump administration’s move will prevent thousands of international students and academics from completing their studies at Harvard and threatens the state’s academic institutions, economic prosperity, and its global leadership in education and scientific innovation.”
— Mass. AG sues Trump administration over cuts to scientific research by Tréa Lavery, MassLive: “Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell is suing President Donald Trump’s administration in an attempt to stop funding cuts for scientific research. Campbell and 15 other state attorneys general filed the lawsuit seeking to block the cuts to the National Science Foundation, which has provided federal funding for science and technology research since its creation in 1950.”
excerpts:
“Massachusetts is home to world-renowned scientific research institutions that not only drive innovative solutions to our world’s most pressing challenges, but also ensure our nation maintains its global, scientific leadership,” Campbell said in a statement on Wednesday. “I will continue to hold the Trump Administration accountable for the unlawful attacks on STEM funding, which jeopardize Massachusetts and this entire country’s public health, economy and national security.”
According to the lawsuit, dozens of projects seeking to increase diversity in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) have been terminated since April 18. The federal government has also capped “indirect costs” of research projects, which typically fund laboratory space, equipment and other facilities, at 15%, a level the lawsuit called “arbitrary.” The lawsuit argues the cap would jeopardize millions of dollars in research that supports national security, the economy and public health.
Federal courts have already blocked the administration’s similar caps on indirect costs for projects funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy. Campbell has signed onto another lawsuit with other state attorneys general to block these caps.
The lawsuit says the NSF directives are illegal and unconstitutional because they change the agency’s policies without regard for how Congress, which appropriates government funds, intends for it to run.
FROM THE HUB
***IMMIGRANTS CONTRIBUTE TO THE FABRIC OF BOSTON THAT HAS A LOW CRIME RATE. TRUMP ET AL HAD 2 CAMPAIGN TARGETS: TRANS GENDER (WHICH HAS BEEN DISPROVEN IN UTAH REPORT) & RACIST IMMIGRANT LIES & BIGOTRY! IT'S TIME TO END THE LIES!****
— Boston giving more than $2M to immigrant groups in the face of federal crackdown by Simón Rios, WBUR: “Amid a crackdown on immigration and slashes in federal funding, the city of Boston is looking to support immigrants through a series of events and with new grant funding. About one in four Boston residents are immigrants, according to Monique Tú Nguyen, head of the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement. She said the city is sending a message that they are valued.”
excerpt:
The city is awarding a total of $2.1 million to dozens of groups that work with immigrants. The grants are spread across areas including legal advocacy, English language classes, mental health, and tuition assistance.
One of the nonprofit recipients is English for New Bostonians. The group’s chief executive, Claudia Green, said the new funding couldn’t come at a better time for English as a Second Language programs — many of which rely on federal money that can no longer be counted on.
“There is a threat of cuts to those programs that are funded all across the state,” Green said. “The city is stepping up and affirming its commitment to ESOL [English for Speakers of Other Languages] and to immigrant communities.”
The grant awards announced Monday dovetail with Boston’s City of Belonging Festival. Banners are on display at City Hall, and three events will take place through the end of June to celebrate the contributions of immigrants.
***BEING 'UNDOCUMENTED' IS A MISDEMEANER! THIS IS THE SLEDGE HAMMER & CHAIN SAW ICE ABUSE! HOW MANY HAD TPS STATUS UNTIL TRUMP BETRAYED THESE PEOPLE & RESCINDED TPS - THREATENING AFGHANS WHO PROTECTED AMERICAN TROOPS WITH DEPORTATION - ICE GESTAPO HAS FAILED TO PRESENT INFORMATION - WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?****
WHERE'S THE PROOF? WILD ACCUSATIONS THAT ICE GESTAPO HAVE FAILED TO NAME!
Forty suspected illegal immigrants living on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, including a reputed MS-13 “gang member” and an alleged “child sex offender,” have been taken off the islands in a sweep that’s spurred a clash among Cape Cod politicians.
State Sen. Julian Cyr ripped into the ICE arrests, saying it has “left families in fear, disrupted businesses of all kinds, and sent a chilling message to many residents who have lived, worked, and contributed to island life for years.” He argued that the apprehension of two suspected criminals “does not justify” an island-wide dragnet.
“If you enjoy Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, or Cape Cod, especially in the summer, please remember that it is immigrants who make your vacation possible,” the Cape Democrat told the Herald in an email, adding the migrants “serve and cook your food, clean your beds, mow your lawns, take out your trash, and so much more.”
XIARHOS REGURGITATES MAGA PROPAGANDA WITHOUT PROOF! UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS - A MISDEMEANER!
Cape state Rep. Steven George Xiarhos, a Barnstable Republican, disagreed.
“I’d like to praise the federal law enforcement officials,” he told the Herald. “This situation highlights the incredibly dangerous situation we face as millions of people entered this country illegally, without proper vetting or monitoring, let alone permission, and were left by the previous Biden administration to roam our streets with anonymity and impunity.”
WHAT PUBLIC SAFETY? NAME THOSE WHO WERE DETAINED! NAME THEIR CRIMES! OTHERWISE IT'S JUST GOSSIP!
The former police officer added the “rule of law” is what he “stood for” and will do again: “Public safety is a shared responsibility that requires strong policies … and brave actions.”
MS-13 gang members have been targeted before on Nantucket. In the fall, a suspected gang member was arrested on the island after being charged with assaulting a family member.
MS-13, short for the Mara Salvatrucha, formed in Los Angeles in the 1980s to protect Salvadoran immigrants who escaped a civil war in their home country from other gangs. MS-13 has grown into a “well-organized and is heavily involved in lucrative illegal enterprises, being notorious for its use of violence to achieve its objectives,” according to the Department of Justice.
BOSTON HERALD PROPAGANDA RAG IS SO DESPERATE TO SHARE THEIR DISINFORMATION, THEY'RE PROMOTING SUBSCRIPTION FOR $3 FOR ONE YEAR!
ON THE OTHER — Immigration advocates criticize Healey’s response to ICE raids in Massachusetts by Anjali Huynh, The Boston Globe: “When President Trump announced a ban on immigrants from several Muslim-majority countries in 2017, Maura Healey, at the time the Massachusetts attorney general, quickly appeared at Logan Airport, denouncing his actions and vowing to fight him in court. In 2025, as Trump again targets immigrants, now-Governor Healey’s response has been more muted. At one point, she offered praise for ‘some of what Donald Trump has done on the border.’ That has some immigration activists and left-leaning voters angry their Democratic governor is not more aggressively challenging Trump’s far-reaching efforts to detain and deport immigrants en masse, or at least use her bully pulpit to match the anger and intensity they feel about Trump’s actions.”
THE RACE FOR CITY HALL
***CARPETBAGGER NEWTON NEBBISH: WE'RE WAITING!****
— Amid reelection campaign, Boston Mayor Wu releases 2024 tax return, annual financial disclosure by Niki Griswold, The Boston Globe: “Boston Mayor Michelle Wu made just over $184,000 in federal gross income last year, according to her 2024 tax return, which Wu shared with the Globe Wednesday along with other financial documents as she campaigns for a second term. … ‘I’ve provided a full and complete accounting of my family’s financial interests, and I expect my fellow candidates will honor our democratic process and be just as transparent,’ Wu said in a statement to the Globe. Wu also released her tax return during the 2021 mayoral race. Kraft told the Globe when he launched his campaign that he would release his tax returns, which his team seemingly confirmed in a statement to the Globe Wednesday.”
WALSH WATCH— Former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh is playing (at least a little) in this year’s city council race. The former Boston mayor donated $1,000 to former Councilor Frank Baker ’s comeback campaign, per campaign finance data.
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FROM THE DELEGATION
***CHAIN SAW & SLEDGE HAMMER CUTS WITHOUT SERIOUS CONSIDERATION! LOEFFLER WAS DEFEATED FOR GOOD REASON, REPLACED BY RAPHAEL WARNOCK WHO REPRESENTS HIS CONSTITUENTS!***
— Sen. Markey, Rep. Neal call on feds to keep Springfield Small Biz Admin office open by John L. Micek, MassLive: “A cadre of Massachusetts pols is calling the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration to keep the agency’s satellite office in Springfield open and fully staffed after it was ‘inexplicably’ targeted for closing by the Elon Musk-helmed Department of Government Efficiency.”
excerpt:
The office, currently located at 1 Federal St. in Springfield, was among 17 leases that the quasi-governmental DOGE terminated during a flurry of actions in March, MassLive previously reported. The lease on the 894-square-foot space had been set to end in June 2028.
The decision leaves Western Massachusetts, and the Pioneer Valley specifically, “without access to vital SBA services and support,” Democratic U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren wrote to SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler in a letter shared exclusively with MassLive.
“With this office closure, the Trump administration is continuing its nonsensical war against small businesses, dismantling the infrastructure that supports them and undermining the foundation of American entrepreneurship,” Markey and Warren wrote in the letter set to be made public on Wednesday.
They were joined on the letter by U.S. Reps. Richard Neal, D-1st District, and James P. McGovern, D-2nd District, whose constituents would be hit by the office’s closing.
Loeffler, a former corporate executive, former Republican U.S. senator from Georgia, and a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, has been making deep cuts at an agency that’s a critical resource for small business owners across the country, The New York Times reported last week.
The changes, which include rolling back access to credit, have hit businesses run by women, immigrants, and people of color, as the Republican White House also rolls back diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the government, the newspaper reported.
Markey, the ranking Democrat on the Senate’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, has pressed Loeffler for information on the changes. But she has ignored those inquiries, the Malden Democrat told the newspaper.
“It’s unconscionable that the Trump administration would treat such a vital agency so callously,” Markey told the Times.
“They’re destroying the areas where they do have expertise and it’s vital to invest, and then moving over areas where the agency is going to wind up overwhelmed,” Markey continued.
That includes inheriting a $1.66 trillion student loan portfolio from the mostly gutted U.S. Department of Education, according to the Times.
In their letter Loeffler, Markey and the other Bay State pols noted that the lease for the Springfield SBA office costs less than $61,000 a year, and that there are no longer any workers in that office because they’ve since left. And there are no current plans to relocate it or to hire new employees, they wrote.
Without an outpost in Springfield, the nearest extant SBA office is in Boston, they wrote.
Shuttering the Federal Street office “will place a tremendous burden on small business owners, forcing them to take time away from their work and drive hours — in some cases a six-hour round trip," they wrote.
The half-century-old agency expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, swelling to 10,000 employees, which dropped to 6,000 under the former Biden administration, the Times reported. It was expected to contract more after that.
The agency’s lending arm doled out $56 billion last year, and its flagship loan program is generally supposed to operate without a government subsidy, the newspaper reported.
In March, the Trump administration announced it was cutting the agency’s staff by 43%, or about 2,700 employees. Current and former agency employees told the Times that the reductions were not organized.
In addition to their plea, the Massachusetts lawmakers also sent Loeffler a series of questions, giving the SBA until Friday to respond.
They include identifying the person, or persons, who approved the decision to spike the Springfield lease, the justification that was provided for that decision, whether there are plans to relocate it, and how the agency intends to serve small business owners in the western part of the state.
“The SBA’s physical presence in Springfield, Massachusetts, ensures that entrepreneurs in underserved communities, particularly those in rural areas, have the resources they need to compete,” the lawmakers wrote.
“Closing the Springfield district office is a grave mistake that will hurt small businesses, harm job creation, and weaken the economic foundation of our region,” they wrote.
— Heralded Worcester school faces possible closure as state Senate cuts its funding by Jesse Collings, Telegram & Gazette: “A magnet school in Worcester is facing potential closure as the Legislature looks to tighten its budget during uncertain financial times in the state. The Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science, a magnet school that opened in 1992 and attracts students from across the state with its rigorous academic programming, is reliant on funding from state government. But the state Senate did not include funding for the school in the budget it passed May 22.”
PAY WALL
WORTH READING!
— New Bedford and Dartmouth teachers urge better contracts, ask for higher pay, paid leave by Matthew Ferreira, The Standard-Times: “Bargaining units at New Bedford and Dartmouth public schools have called publicly for contracts union members consider fair, with New Bedford teachers highlighting their request for the addition of paid family and medical leave time, and Dartmouth education support professionals advocating for a ‘living wage’ package.”
excerpt:
At the most recent New Bedford School Committee meeting on May 12, district teachers and members of the New Bedford Educators Association showed up in force, with speakers pointing to personal struggles with the absence of paid family leave from their current contract.
Unlike private sector employees, municipal employees — including public school teachers — are not entitled to the state's Paid Family and Medical Leave program unless their governing body opts in, as explained on the Massachusetts state website.
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act protects employees' jobs and continued group health insurance coverage for a set number of weeks while they are on leave, but it does not provide pay, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
"Our members are gathered here tonight to implore the School Committee to offer the best financial package possible in order to provide a living wage for our members and better working conditions for them, inclusive of paid parental leave," said NBEA President Thomas Nickerson, a teacher at New Bedford High School, during the meeting's public comment period. "Both experienced and newer members alike have left us for districts that have stronger financial offerings such as Taunton and soon Fall River, which threatens to pass us by as early as next year and for benefits such as paid parental leave offered by those districts and many others."
According to Nickerson, "this year alone" the district's bargaining units have had nearly 180 new hires, "which means we've had a turnover of close to 15%."
Nickerson and the NBEA did not respond to inquiries asking for more details on the nature of negotiations thus far.
— Struggling Quabbin Reservoir towns make public appeal for more state funding by Brad Petrishen, Telegram & Gazette: “Officials from eight struggling towns ringing the Quabbin Reservoir, alleging their financial distress can be traced back to the decision to flood the region to create Eastern Massachusetts’ drinking supply, are drawing attention to their stymied requests for greater economic support from the state. ‘The towns (are) joining together in an unprecedented way to speak as one voice to the MWRA (Massachusetts Water Resources Authority) and Boston,’ state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, said of a recent letter town officials sent to the state.”
TRANSITIONS — Alexi Nowokunski has been promoted to director of public affairs at Benchmark Strategies.
— Caitlin Allen-Connelly will be the new executive director of TransitMatters. She was senior adviser on transportation at A Better City.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to state Rep. Michelle Ciccolo, attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan, Alicia DePaolo, Michael Nichols and Matt Baskin.
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