Wednesday, July 16, 2025
POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Reading the delegation receipts
|
Reading the delegation receipts
***SCOOTER BROWN WAS ELECTED IN MASSACHUSETTS TO FILL THE UNEXPIRED TERM WHEN SENATOR KENNEDY PASSED AWAY!
SCOOTER FILLED THAT LIMITED TERM...EXPOSED HIS WARP & WAS DEFEATED BY SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN....
WHILE REPUBLICANS MOURNED, I ASKED 'DID YOU KNOW HE VOTED FOR XXX? DID YOU KNOW HE VOTED AGAINST XXX?
INVARIABLY THE ANSWER FROM "R" VOTERS WAS NO BECAUSE THEY'RE UNINFORMED!
INVARIABLY THE ANSWER FROM "R" VOTERS WAS NO BECAUSE THEY'RE UNINFORMED!
SCOOTER BROWN WENT ON TO CARPET BAG IN NEWHAMPSHIRE WHERE HE WAS DEFEATED BY ANOTHER WOMAN!
FIRST TIME IN HISTORY!
HE MAY BE A SEXY CENTERFOLD, BUT HE'S A DIRTY ENERGY KOCH SOCK PUPPET & VOTERS FIGURED IT OUT!
SCOOTER BROWN WAS DEFEATED BY 2 WOMEN - FIRST TIME IN HISTORY FOR GOOD REASON!
SCOOTER BROWN WAS DEFEATED BY 2 WOMEN - FIRST TIME IN HISTORY FOR GOOD REASON!
NEW HAMPSHIRE: YOU DESERVE BETTER! *****
SHOT — Healey wants to define when a beach becomes public. One of her wealthy donors has pushed a similar bill for years. by Matt Stout, The Boston Globe: “Governor Maura Healey is resurrecting a proposal at the center of a long-running legal dispute between wealthy property owners on Martha’s Vineyard’s that, if passed, could redefine when a beach in Massachusetts is considered public. Healey tucked the measure into a $3 billion environmental bond bill she filed last month, using language that mirrors a proposal long pushed by Richard Friedman, a colorful developer and Healey donor who’s slated to host a fund-raiser for Healey this weekend at his Edgartown home. Friedman for years has battled his neighbors in court over access to a stretch of barrier beach separating Oyster Pond in Edgartown, where he bought property four decades ago, from the Atlantic Ocean on the island’s southern shore.”
CHASER — Healey’s Vineyard fundraiser this weekend is slated to take place at the Friedman Property on Sunday evening, according to the invite. Suggested contributions range from $250 for attendees to $5,000 for hosts.
— Massachusetts emergency shelter spending just shy of $900M for FY25, latest state data shows by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Gov. Maura Healey’s administration spent just shy of $900 million on emergency family shelters and related services last fiscal year, but the final total is expected to increase to nearly $1 billion as the state settles the final bills for the past 12 months, according to a report released Monday. Taxpayers are on track to shell out more than $1.8 billion over the last two fiscal years on shelters housing homeless families with children and pregnant women. An influx of migrants in 2022, 2023, and 2024 spiked demand, but caseloads have fallen significantly since January.”
BOSTON HERALD PROPAGANDA RAG PAY WALL
— Lawmakers looking for tools to close gaps in life expectancy, disease rates by Katie Lannan, GBH News: “Backers of state legislation proposing a broad approach to closing gaps in health care access and outcomes say now is the time for Massachusetts to double down on its commitment to health equity. Members of the Health Equity Compact, a group of leaders of color from across the health care realm, rallied outside the State House Tuesday before making their case inside the building to lawmakers holding a hearing on the bill.”
— Lawmakers hear ‘generational’ tobacco ban bills by Matthew Medsgar, Boston Herald: “You can’t smoke ‘em if you don’t got ‘em. That’s the idea behind a pair of bills before the state Legislature which would ban tobacco sales to people born before 2006. The proposal went before a hearing of the Joint Committee on Public Health on Monday. If enacted, it would be the first such statewide law in the nation, though not the first implementation of the idea altogether. Residents of more than a dozen-and-a-half commonwealth communities already live under similar bans through local ordinances.”
BOSTON HERALD PROPAGANDA RAG PAY WALL
BOSTON HERALD PROPAGANDA RAG PAY WALL
— Massachusetts legislators hear testimony on decriminalizing active ingredient in ‘magic mushrooms’ by Greta Jochem, MassLive.
— Kate Walsh reflects on her time as Massachusetts health secretary by Martha Bebinger, WBUR.
2028 WATCH
ISLAND TIME — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is heading to Nantucket this weekend for a Saturday night fundraiser, according to the invite. Suggested donations range from $1,000 to $10,000.
THE RACE FOR CITY HALL
***newton nebbish josh kraft offers nothing other than opposition! no new solutions!****
***newton nebbish josh kraft offers nothing other than opposition! no new solutions!****
— How Wu and Kraft plan to tackle housing affordability by Tréa Lavery, MassLive: “Mayor Michelle Wu and mayoral candidate Josh Kraft butted heads Tuesday over what both said they consider one of the most significant issues of the campaign: the high price of housing in Boston. During a candidate forum hosted by the Massachusetts Affordable Homeownership Alliance in Roxbury on Tuesday evening, Wu and Kraft shared their respective visions and plans to reduce housing costs. Both candidates agreed that housing is too expensive in the city, but they disagreed on the most effective ways to tackle the problem.”
One point of disagreement: The luxury real estate transfer fee that would tax real estate sales over $2 million. Wu proposed the tax early in her term, but it has yet to gain much support on Beacon Hill. Kraft said Tuesday he’s opposed to the transfer fee, though he left the door open to revisiting it down the road.
excerpt:
excerpt:
Mayor Michelle Wu and mayoral candidate Josh Kraft butted heads Tuesday over what both said they consider one of the most significant issues of the campaign: the high price of housing in Boston.
During a candidate forum hosted by the Massachusetts Affordable Homeownership Alliance in Roxbury on Tuesday evening, Wu and Kraft shared their respective visions and plans to reduce housing costs. Both candidates agreed that housing is too expensive in the city, but they disagreed on the most effective ways to tackle the problem.
Wu emphasized her track record on housing during her first term as mayor, noting that more than 1,000 first-time homebuyers had purchased homes with city assistance during that time. And more than 20% of affordable homes currently in development are expected to be homeownership units, not rentals.
She said her administration has cut the time it takes for affordable housing developments to get through the permit process in half.
However, Kraft asserted, as he has throughout the campaign, that construction of new housing was currently too slow to address affordability issues in the region. He said repeatedly Tuesday evening that he wanted to lower the cost of construction to help spur development.
By creating more housing, the city will be able to collect more tax dollars to funnel into housing programs such as down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers, Kraft said.
“It’s too expensive to get housing built, and we need to get housing production moving,” he said. “We are going to work with private developers and other people in the housing world to make sure we can get the production of housing and supply of housing moving forward.”
Although both candidates stated they would continue to fund or expand existing housing programs, they disagreed on two sometimes-controversial issues: inclusionary zoning and a transfer fee on luxury real estate sales.
Last year, the city revised its inclusionary zoning policy, which requires new housing projects with seven or more units to set aside 17 to 20% of those units as affordable, depending on the building’s size. Previously, the requirement was 13% affordable units.
The transfer fee, proposed by Wu in 2022, would impose a tax of 1 to 2% on real estate sales exceeding $2 million, with the revenue from the tax allocated toward affordable housing. While the City Council approved the proposal, the city needs approval from the state Legislature to implement the tax, which it has not received.
Kraft said the proposed transfer fee and retaining the current inclusionary zoning requirements would make housing construction more expensive, slowing down development.
“We need housing. That’s the number one issue,” he said. “The number one way to solve a housing emergency is to get more housing built.”
He said if in the future, the city saw an easier economic environment, he would consider the transfer fee.
Wu, however, took issue with her opponent’s characterization of the situation. She compared his view of the inclusionary zoning requirements to changing the channel on an old television, saying it made no sense to keep playing with the antenna “when the TV is unplugged from the wall.”
She said the slowing of housing development had also been seen around the country, not just in Boston, and the inclusionary zoning changes did not cause it. Instead, she attributed it to high interest rates and tariffs imposed by the federal government, which drive up construction costs.
She also pushed back on Kraft’s stance on the transfer fee, saying it made “no sense” to wait until “when it’s good for developers.”
“We hear the same things over and over again, that the same communities just have to wait, and eventually it’ll trickle down. eventually [developers will] make their money and then everyone else will have the benefit,” she said. “It is not the job of the city government or the public sector or the people to subsidize for-profit developers in making their money. It is our job to focus on affordability.”
MAHA will hold a second, virtual candidate forum next month. The preliminary municipal election will be held on Sept. 9, 2025. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
More on Boston's 2025 race for mayor
FALL RIVER FALLOUT
— Did Fall River have enough firefighters for the Gabriel House fire? by Liz Neisloss, GBH News: “Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said Tuesday he couldn’t say for sure if more lives would have been saved if more firefighters had been at the scene of the devastating fire at the Gabriel House Assisted Living Residence — a claim made by fire union leaders.”
— New Bedford senator urges thorough report on assisted living facilities after deadly fire via The Herald News: “State Sen. Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford, is urging the Massachusetts Assisted Living Commission to extend its reporting deadline to the Legislature following the deadly fire at the Fall River Gabriel House that claimed the lives of nine residents. The commission was created in 2023 to examine health and safety standards in assisted living facilities. It was supposed to issue a report and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, by Aug. 1.”
— Fall River Fire at Gabriel House what happened on Tuesday: 'Budgets are politics' by Dan Medeiros, Emily Scherny and Bailey Allen, The Herald News.
MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS
— Massachusetts health centers, Head Start worry federal change will imperil services to immigrants by Deborah Becker, WBUR: “Massachusetts community health centers and Head Start leaders are among the groups worried about a federal policy change that would cut off services to immigrants in the country without authorization. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that it will narrow a policy that allowed many immigrants to receive federal benefits. The announcement specifically mentions community health centers and Head Start, which provides early education and other services for low-income children and their families.”
PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES
— Over 450 MBTA riders evacuated from Blue Line train in tunnel under Boston Harbor by Asher Klein, NBC10 Boston: “Hundreds of people were evacuated from an MBTA Blue Line train stuck in a tunnel that goes under Boston Harbor on Tuesday, the T confirmed. A communications wire was down in the tunnel between Aquarium and Maverick stations, which are on either side of the harbor, MBTA officials said. That was reported about 2:30 p.m., and it prompted trains to be held and shuttle buses to be brought in to replace service. About 465 people were escorted off the train stuck in the tunnel, which remained there as of about 4:45 p.m., by Boston firefighters, MBTA transit police and MBTA staff, according to the officials. No one was reported injured.”
DAY IN COURT
— In court testimony, Boston ICE official recalls pressure from above to arrest Rümeysa Öztürk by Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, The Boston Globe: “A top Boston immigration official testified in federal court Tuesday that supervisors instructed him to prioritize the arrest of Tufts PhD student Rümeysa Öztürk, the first time he’s ever received such a directive from Immigration and Customs Enforcement in his career working at the agency. Patrick Cunningham, an assistant special agent in charge at the Homeland Security Investigations office in Boston, which is part of ICE, said his supervisors gave him the impression that he should focus on the arrest of Öztürk after her visa had been revoked.”
— Galvin asks judge to reject lawsuit over voter rolls by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily Times: “The state’s top election official is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit from a conservative group with ties to Republican President Donald Trump that claims it was denied access to state voter registration records. The lawsuit, filed in October by the Ohio-based Voter Reference Foundation, alleges that Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s office is violating a provision of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, requiring states to publicly share how they maintain their voter lists for a period of at least two years.”
PAY WALL
— Republic Services sues Teamsters over alleged actions on picket line as strike passes two week mark by Ally Jarmanning, WBUR: “Trash company Republic Services is suing Teamsters Local 25 amid the union's ongoing strike in a number of Massachusetts towns and cities, alleging that union officials shouted slurs at replacement workers, slashed vehicle tires and may have stolen a truck. The company and the union have been at a standoff since July 1 when 450 local workers went on strike calling for better wages, benefits and stronger labor protections. The strike expanded last week, and now the Teamsters say more than 2,000 employees are striking or honoring picket lines nationwide.”
Policy moves fast—stay ahead with POLITICO’s Policy Intelligence Assistant. Effortlessly search POLITICO's archive of 1M+ news articles, analysis documents, and legislative text. Track legislation, showcase your impact, and generate custom reports in seconds. Designed for POLITICO Pro subscribers, this tool helps you make faster, smarter decisions. Start exploring now.
FROM THE 413
— Judge in Springfield faces choice: Keep man detained? Or release him, only for ICE to deport? by Daniel Jackson, The Springfield Republican: “The magistrate judge hearing the case of a Guatemalan man charged with illegal reentry said he would likely be deported if she released him ahead of his trial. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Noe Yolindo Ambrocio-Perez in Springfield at the end of May, two weeks after an ICE agent called 911 to report he had witnessed Ambrocio-Perez crash his van into a concrete pole. Springfield police had responded to the collision, learned that Ambrocio-Perez was driving with an open container of beer, and arrested him before he was later released.”
THE LOCAL ANGLE
— Billerica Select Board members signal intent to censure colleague by Peter Currier, The Lowell Sun: “Tension flared up again in the Billerica Select Board Monday as some members signaled an intent to have a vote to censure member Dina Favreau for alleged conduct outlined in an outside investigative report. After a 4-0 vote, with Favreau recusing herself, to release the redacted exhibits from the investigative report, the board then considered a vote on possible actions to be taken against Favreau for her actions as described in the report. For this, Favreau participated from the podium with attorney Roland Milliard by her side.”
— Attleboro City Council rejects tax break for developer by Rhianwen Watkins, The Sun Chronicle.
HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH
TRANSITIONS — Eva Millona has joined the Eastern Bank Foundation as a fellow.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Sheel Tyle, Andy Bromberg, Maddie Conway and Daily Hampshire Gazette alum Sarah Crosby. Happy belated to Conan Harris and Ché Anderson, assistant vice chancellor for city and community relations at UMass Chan Medical School, who celebrated Sunday.
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.
|
|
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
-
04 April 23 Live on the homepage now! Reader Supported News Dahlia Lithwick | Let Donald Trump Cry It Out Dahlia Lithwick, Slate Lithwic...
-
A Democrat in the Wilderness Wow! That must have really got him mad!!! I Love it! ...
-
Israel on the Brink as Ultra-Orthodox Exemption from Military Service is Set to End Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Featured) –...
