POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Courting chaos

 

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BY KELLY GARRITY

Courting chaos

By KELLY GARRITY 

 

07/24/2025 07:26 AM EDT

STANDOFF — Gov. Maura Healey is urging so-called bar advocates to get back to work while continuing to hash out a deal over their pay rate with the Legislature, as defendants without representation start to have their cases dismissed.

It won’t be so easy. While the Legislature “is actively working on this,” Healey said Wednesday, “they're not there yet in terms of a resolution.”

Bar advocates, the private attorneys who represent most of the defendants in Massachusetts who can’t afford one on their own, stopped taking cases in late May. Now, thanks to a 2004 court rule, many of those defendants are starting to see their cases dismissed as they wait without representation.

"My hope is that we see a resolution very, very quickly, and in the meantime, I'd like to see lawyers back in court representing defendants,” the governor told reporters.

Don’t expect that to happen any time soon. Several bar advocates gathered on Zoom to vent their frustration and talk about their next steps on Wednesday evening. The verdict: “I think the consensus is, why should we?” Jen O’Brien, a bar advocate in Middlesex County, told Playbook.

The attorneys are looking for a raise that would put their hourly rate for most cases at $100 an hour, a $35 increase from what they currently make, but one that would still leave them behind states like New Hampshire (where it’s $125 an hour) and Maine (where it’s $150). Healey said Wednesday that the attorneys didn’t bring the issue to her before she filed her budget in January. They say they’ve been flagging it for lawmakers for months.

“We would like to resolve this, but nobody will sit at the table with us,” O’Brien said. “Why should we go back and lose our leverage and trust that we can still get the increase?”

In the meantime, some lawyers are moving on — picking up immigration cases, or defending indigent defendants in other nearby states. “If this goes on, I think people aren’t even going to be interested in going back,” O’Brien said.

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. The MassGOP used the dispute to take a shot at Healey on X for allowing pay raises for officials in her office while the work stoppage continues.

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey has no public events. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll speaks at a National Guard ceremony at 10 a.m. in Salem.

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

— Police searching for State House vandal by Alison Kuznitz, Colin A. Young and Ella Adams, State House News Service: “Overnight vandalism at the State House prompted a large police presence Wednesday, including from federal officials, as a stretch of sidewalk in front of the building remained closed to the public for hours. White paint was splattered on the largely decorative front gate and the steps leading up to it, and black spray paint was also visible on the stone structures that form the entryway. Graffiti scrawled on the Bulfinch Entrance pillar appeared to say ‘divest.’”

FROM THE HUB

— With Michelle Wu on vacation, Boston’s acting mayor duties are split between two officials by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “The Boston City Council president and city clerk are splitting acting mayor duties this week while Mayor Michelle Wu takes a family vacation in Maine. City Clerk Alex Geourntas assumed acting mayor duties for the first half of the week because both the city’s mayor and Council president, Ruthzee Louijeune, were out of town, Geourntas told the Herald Wednesday.

— Fenway Park workers set to go on strike for series against Los Angeles Dodgers by Esteban Bustillos, GBH News: “Fenway Park has seen a lot go down in its time. But even America’s Most Beloved Ballpark could be in for a first this weekend. Hospitality workers at the ballpark and MGM Music Hall, represented by UNITE HERE Local 26, are poised to strike during the upcoming Red Sox home stand against the Los Angeles Dodgers if negotiations with food service and facilities management company Aramark fail to reach an agreement. The union announced their strike plan on Wednesday.”

— Boston will begin fining Republic Services over lack of trash pickup amid worker strike, Wu says by Niki Griswold, The Boston Globe: “As trash workers enter their fourth week of a strike, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said the city will begin fining waste management company Republic Services for failing to pick up trash. Wu made the announcement in a letter sent to the president of Republic Services Wednesday, in which she said the service disruption as a result of the labor dispute ‘is taking an unacceptable toll on Boston’s residents, businesses, and neighborhoods.’”

YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS

COMING SOON — Former President Barack Obama is headlining an August fundraiser in Martha’s Vineyard for a Democratic redistricting group that’s fighting the GOP-led efforts in Texas and Ohio, POLITICO’s Andrew Howard reports.

The dinner is in response to Texas Republicans looking to redraw their state’s map to tip it in their favor ahead of the midterms. Also attending the event: NDRC chair and former Attorney General Eric Holder and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS

— Immigration policy shifts are already costing health workers their jobs in Massachusetts by Sarah Betancourt, GBH News: “Some health and home care providers in Massachusetts have recently laid off staff because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, according to advocates and employer associations. One service provider reached out to Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts after receiving a Department of Homeland Security notice asking it to verify the employment documents of hundreds of its aides in the United States under a parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, who recently lost their legal status during an ongoing court battle.”

— Fired immigration judges say court system is under attack by Stephanie Brown and Lisa Mullins, WBUR: “Two judges fired from a Massachusetts immigration court say they see their terminations as part of President Trump’s broader attack on the nation’s court system. ‘The very institutions that glue our society together are melting in front of our eyes. Our institutions are under attack,’ said George Pappas, a judge who was fired this month from the Chelmsford Immigration Court.”

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THE RACE FOR CITY HALL

— Quincy changed two polling locations. A candidate for city council is raising concerns by Peter Blandino, The Patriot Ledger: “Changes to polling locations for the 2025 municipal elections have led a city council candidate to raise concerns over the neutrality of one of the new locations, as well as what she described as lingering community trauma associated with a tragic death that occurred there in 2019. Precinct 5 of Quincy's Ward 6 will now vote at the American Legion's Nickerson Post at 20 Moon Island Road due to construction at the previously designated polling location, the Squantum Elementary School, according to City Clerk Nicole Crispo. … Ward 6 candidate Deborah Riley told The Patriot Ledger that incumbent Ward 6 Councilor Bill Harris, who is a member of the Nickerson Post and works there part-time as a bartender, could benefit on election day from his affiliation with the site.”

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES

— Free shuttle will connect business district with MBTA station by Fred Thys, Plymouth Independent: “Tourists and others will soon be able to catch a free ride on a Ride Circuit vehicle from the Kingston MBTA commuter rail station to Plymouth’s downtown and waterfront district – and back – thanks to a $30,000 state grant. The funding will allow the tourism organization See Plymouth to operate a five-passenger electric vehicle to greet passengers at every train arrival and departure from Thursday to Sunday and bring them to the See Plymouth Waterfront Visitor Center on Water Street. Return trips to the T station will depart from Water Street as well.”

FROM HARVARD YARD

— State Department launches new investigation into Harvard by Nicole Markus, POLITICO: “The State Department will investigate Harvard University’s eligibility to sponsor international students and researchers, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday, the latest attempt by the Trump administration to pressure the Ivy League university.”

IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN

— Vineyard Wind nears 30% power production by Anastasia E. Lennon, The New Bedford Light: “As Vineyard Wind has ramped up construction this summer, the project is now sending power from 17 turbines to the Massachusetts grid, up from four in May, according to a quarterly investors report released on Wednesday. It amounts to about 220 megawatts of the 800-megawatt project, or 27% power production, with enough energy to power more than 100,000 Massachusetts homes. Iberdrola, the parent company of Avangrid, one of the project’s developers, also said in its new report that the project expects to reach 30% power by the end of July — and ‘full COD,’ meaning full commercial operation date, by the end of this year.”

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— Environmental group to challenge waste transfer facility in New Bedford by Kevin G. Andrade, The New Bedford Light: “The Conservation Law Foundation announced Wednesday that it intends to file an appeal on the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s site suitability decision with the agency’s Office of Appeals and Dispute Resolution by July 28. It argued that the Board should thus delay the hearing until that process plays out.”

FROM THE 413

— Parents decry possible return of Amherst school counselor fired over anti-trans actions by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Parents, students and community members are calling on administrators for the Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools and the Regional School Committee to ensure that a middle school counselor, fired in 2023 following alleged anti-trans actions that included repeatedly misgendering students and promoting her religious beliefs, have no contact with children if and when she is reinstated to her role.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— Supporters cheer Worcester councilor at arraignment on charges of interfering with police by Toni Caushi, Telegram & Gazette: “Supporters cheered outside the Worcester Courthouse for District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj Wednesday, July 23 as the councilor proclaimed her innocence to counts of assault and battery on a police officer and interfering with police in connection with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement action in May.”

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Benchmark Strategies President Patrick Bench has been named to the Board of Advisers of the International Innovation Hub of Boston.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Stacey Monahan.

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