POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Inauguration Day, round two

 

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BY LISA KASHINSKY

propaganda: nuclear is not a solution!

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WHO RUN THE WORLD MASSACHUSETTS? GIRLS — Bill Galvin is about to be the last man standing among the state’s constitutional officers.

Women will hold five of those six top jobs once Andrea Campbell is sworn in as the first Black female attorney general, Diana DiZoglio takes over as auditor and Deb Goldberg begins another term as treasurer today.

Combine them with Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and that leaves Galvin as something of an outlier as he starts his historic eighth term as secretary of state. (Technically Galvin’s been the only man for a couple weeks now, since women were already serving as AG, treasurer and auditor when Healey replaced former Gov. Charlie Baker two weeks ago — but just go along with it).

This group of women's barrier-breaking ascents have been well-chronicled, so let's look at what Campbell and DiZoglio, the two newbies taking their oaths of office today, plan to do with their power.

Campbell wants to create an elder justice unit focused on increasing equal access to health care and protecting seniors from deceptive business practices and fraud. She also plans to create an office of gun safety enforcement and a reproductive justice unit. And she’s looking to strengthen the AG’s regional offices by hiring community engagement staff. She’ll hit on all of those and more in her inaugural address, according to an aide.

DiZoglio is planning a safety audit of the MBTA. She'll also work to incorporate her social justice and equity audit plan — a 17-point proposal to review everything from diversity in state contracts to affordable housing efforts — into the existing state agency audits her office is obligated to conduct.

And if her efforts overlap with Healey’s planned equity audit of agencies under the governor’s purview, DiZoglio says that’s all the better: “I love that the governor has a focus on equity as well,” DiZoglio told Playbook. “Any equity audits she does will be complementary to the work the auditor’s office will be doing.”

GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Campbell, DiZoglio and Goldberg aren’t the only women being sworn in today.

Margaret Scarsdale will take her oath of office after waiting two weeks for the House to declare her the winner of the 1st Middlesex District state representative race.

Scarsdale thanked House lawmakers for their “expeditious” review of Republican Andrew Shepherd’s challenge to her 7-vote victory and said in a statement she's “eager” to get to work. Shepherd told Playbook he won’t contest the decision and will drop his still-pending court case. He also called Scarsdale to congratulate her.

A special legislative committee is still reviewing GOP state Rep. Lenny Mirra’s challenge to Democrat Kristin Kassner’s one-vote win in the 2nd Essex District. State House News Service’s Chris Lisinski and the Boston Globe’s Matt Stout have more on that.

State Reps. Patricia Haddad and Erika Uyterhoeven will also be sworn in by the governor this morning after missing the House’s opening session earlier this month.

TODAY — Healey swears in representatives-elect at 10:30 a.m. and Galvin at 11 a.m. in her office, attends Goldberg ’s inauguration at noon in the Senate chambers, joins Campbell ’s inauguration and post-inauguration reception at 12:30 p.m. and swears in DiZoglio at 6 p.m. at the former lawmaker’s alma mater, Methuen High. Campbell is sworn in at noon at the BCEC; Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu attend.

Tips? Scoops? Missed me? Even if you didn't, email me: lkashinsky@politico.com .

PROPAGANDA: NUCLEAR IS NOT A SOLUTION! MASSACHUSETTS GOT RID OF PILGRIM IN PLYMOUTH & WHAT ABOUT THE WASTE?
   A message from NextEra Energy:

Affordable, carbon-emissions free, reliable electricity from nuclear energy. Seabrook Station lowers consumer energy costs in Massachusetts and New England by providing a year-round, low-cost, baseload energy supply. And American-made nuclear energy supports hundreds of jobs across New England.

 

PARTY POLITICS

— COURTING REPUBLICANS: While his party gears up for its end-of-month leadership election, MassGOP Chair Jim Lyons is gearing up for another lawsuit.

Lyons appears to be asking state committee members to sign onto a yet-to-be filed complaint against yet-to-be named defendants, according to an email and two-page “commitment to engage in civil litigation as party plaintiff” circulated to members over the weekend by Elizabeth Groot , the party’s executive assistant. It was obtained by Playbook and verified by four state committee members.

The would-be lawsuit “shall allege a concerted (conspiratorial) agreement on [sic] unlawfully interfere with the lawful operation” of the state committee. Those claims are based in part on information that surfaced from Lyons' lawsuit against state party treasurer Patrick Crowley over access to the MassGOP’s bank account, according to the typo-ridden document. And it would seek damages to be shared among the party and its city and town committees.

Groot, in the email to state committee members, said a “separate legal defense fund” was being set up, presumably to help raise money for the lawsuit. Lyons has faced criticism from some in the party for using its resources for legal matters. A legal defense fund gets around that, and isn’t subject to state campaign finance contribution limits.

Playbook asked two attorneys not affiliated with the MassGOP to review the document. They interpreted it as less legally binding given its ambiguity and more of an attempt on Lyons’ part to show support within the party for his legal fights ahead of the Jan. 31 leadership election. Lyons didn’t respond to a request for comment.

But one of his state committee allies, Amanda Orlando , told Playbook that the party has been “forced into courts” because “people won’t sit down in the same room” — a reference to state committee members skipping meetings to deny Lyons a quorum to conduct business.

Amy Carnevale, considered by many insiders to be Lyons’ main competition for party chair, told Playbook that she would call for an independent legal review of the case so people “can better understand the issues at hand and make an informed decision about any potential consequences of joining such an effort.”

— CommonWealth Magazine’s Shira Schoenberg has more on the candidates lining up to take on Lyons .

 

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DATELINE BEACON HILL

— “State legal aid agency seeks more oversight when DCF removes children from homes without court order,” by Laura Crimaldi, Boston Globe: “As the new legislative session opens, Representative Joan Meschino, a Hull Democrat, said she again plans to put a proposal before lawmakers to amend the [state law that allows child welfare workers to remove kids from their homes without a court order if they believe it’s necessary to protect them from potential harm]. The change would state that child welfare workers would only be permitted to take temporary custody of children facing potential harm — without a court order — in cases where there’s no time to go before a judge first.”

— “Lawmakers to revisit stalled tax cut proposals,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “House Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, has filed a proposal that includes a plan to overhaul the estate tax, which is charged to a decedent’s estate when their assets pass on to their beneficiaries. … Several lawmakers have filed proposals which, similar to [former Gov. Charlie] Baker’s plan, call for expanding the senior ‘circuit breaker’ tax credit to lower the overall income tax burden for more than 100,000 elderly, low-income homeowners. State Sen. Adam Gomez, D-Springfield, has filed a bill that calls for increasing the rent deduction cap for income tax filers from $3,000 to $4,000, which would provide tens of millions of dollars in relief for 881,000 taxpayers. Baker had pushed to raise the rent deduction cap to $5,000 a year.”

— “Tax cuts, energy policy top of mind for right-leaning groups at Boston meeting,” by Katie Lannan, GBH News: “Conservative advocacy groups and think tanks from across New England gathered for a summit in Boston Tuesday, positioning themselves as a counterpoint to left-leaning environmental activists and trading notes about the policy challenges they see. Representatives from the groups said they share similar goals — chief among them, preserving both the competitiveness of their states and the reliability of the region’s energy grid. But they say they face different political dynamics on the ground.”

 

PROPAGANDA: NUCLEAR IS NOT A SOLUTION WE JUST CLOSED PILGRIM IN PLYMOUTH & DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH THE RADIACTIVE WASTE! A message from NextEra Energy:

 

 

BIDEN TIME

— THERE’S ALWAYS A MASSACHUSETTS CONNECTION: Pat Moore, who’s about to become Andrea Campbell ’s first assistant attorney general, has been identified in reports as the lawyer who initially found classified documents when cleaning out President Joe Biden ’s office at the Penn Biden Center. Moore, a longtime Biden attorney who served as deputy counsel on his 2020 presidential campaign, was also deputy counsel to former Govs. Deval Patrick and Charlie Baker .

TRUMPACHUSETTS

— “Beverly company offered job to key witness in Jan. 6 investigation,” by Paul Leighton, Salem News: “Bradley Crate, the CEO of Red Curve Solutions on Conant Street, offered a job to former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson in the midst of her witness interviews with the House Select Committee investigating the attack, according to a transcript that the committee released last month.”

IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN

— “Does Massachusetts underestimate its greenhouse gas emissions?” by Jon Lamson, Dig Boston: “While Massachusetts has mandated major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades, its greenhouse gas inventory may be underestimating the true level of emissions in the state. As government officials plan for the transition to a clean energy economy, climate advocates worry that these issues with the state’s inventory — largely centered around how the state calculates the carbon impact of its gas system — could lead to false solutions on the path to decarbonization.”

MASSACHUSETTS - ALL COMMUNITIES SHOULD BE DOING THIS!

ALL housing can be NET ZERO!

Just drive around your community and notice the homes that lack SNOW on their roofs because they lack insulation.

You don't need expensive technology to recognize the heat loss.

Insulation is inexpensive and a permanent payback on your investment. MONEY IN YOUR POCKET!

— “Brookline and Watertown are first to adopt new building code in Mass. that discourages fossil fuels,” by Sabrina Shankman, Boston Globe: “Brookline and Watertown last week became the first communities in the state to adopt a new building code discouraging the use of fossil fuels in new buildings, and 22 more cities and towns have signaled they intend to take similar action, in what climate advocates say is the first large-scale test of Massachusetts’ willingness to wean itself from gas and oil.”

 

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THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “Encore posts record-high gambling revenues,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “The Encore Boston Harbor casino in Everett posted record-high gambling revenues in December, propelled by money spent at the facility’s gaming tables. The large haul at Encore, combined with fairly strong revenues at MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, yielded nearly $28.8 million in state tax revenues for December — $138,000 more than the previous record in March.”

— “Mental health boarding crisis continues,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “The Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association's report, which surveyed hospitals, found that some patients with severe psychiatric conditions who require ‘continuing care’ services from the state Department of Mental Health have been waiting for more than a year for specialized care. … The average length of stay awaiting transfer to a continuing care bed is 197 days — an increase from 161 days in 2021, according to the report's authors.”

— “Teachers union pays fine for defying order to halt strike,” by Mike LaBella, Eagle-Tribune: “Although students are back in the classroom and teachers have a new contract, there remained some unfinished business from the teacher strike that took place in October. Haverhill Education Association President Tim Briggs confirmed that his union recently sent a check for $110,000 to the state for having violated a contempt order issued by a judge.”

— “The ‘This is Fine’ comic turned 10. The Mass. artist behind it says it’s changed his life — for better or worse,” by Spencer Buell, Boston Globe: “Ten years ago this month, Easthampton artist K.C. Green, then 25, drew a comic strip of a dog sipping a cup of coffee while sitting in a burning room and telling himself, ‘This is fine.’ He didn’t know it at the time, but a snippet from the comic would later become an era-defining meme.”

— “XBB Subvariant Now 83% of All COVID Cases in New England. But Don't Be Alarmed,” by Marc Fortier and Mary Markos, NBC Boston.

MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

— “NH Dems put Biden on blast,” by Eli Stokols and Lauren Egan, POLITICO: “The letter, like any missive between longtime friends, begins with pleasantries and a good amount of flattery. But the main message sent Tuesday afternoon by top New Hampshire Democrats to President Joe Biden is essentially, ‘what the hell are you thinking?’ In 933 agonized words, some of Biden’s most steadfast supporters in the state plead with him to rethink his proposal to shuffle the 2024 primary calendar by putting South Carolina at the front of the line.”

— “Leader of hate group charged with a civil rights violation for hanging racist banner over highway in New Hampshire,” by Travis Andersen and Jeremy C. Fox, Boston Globe: “New Hampshire authorities have filed a civil complaint against the leader of the neo-Nazi group NSC-131, a Pepperell, Mass., man who is also facing criminal charges in Boston for allegedly brawling with a counterprotester outside a drag queen story hour last summer, for allegedly hanging a racist banner on public property.”

PROPAGANDA: NUCLEAR IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE FORM OF ENERGY & WHAT TO DO WITH RADIOACTIVE WASTE FROM PILGRIM IN PLYMOUTH?
A message from NextEra Energy:

Seabrook Station has provided Massachusetts with low-cost, clean, reliable energy for over 30 years, reducing carbon emissions regionally by approximately 4 million tons per year. Nuclear energy is Massachusetts’ most cost-effective and essential tool to combat climate change.

 

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

TRANSITIONS — Associated Industries of Massachusetts has named Stephanie Swanson as senior VP of government affairs and Rachael Hamer as VP and director of member engagement services. Swanson was most recently former state Sen. Eric Lesser’s chief of staff and general counsel.

— Longtime lobbyist Joseph Donovan has started his own firm, Donovan Strategies LLC, which will focus on federal and Massachusetts state government relations, grants and incentives. Donovan previously worked at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP and is a Romney administration alum.

— Samuel M. Gebru , managing director of Black Lion Strategies and senior fellow at the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University’s Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, has been named professor of the practice of political science at Tufts University.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to former Sen. Paul Kirk and David Jacobs , publisher of the Boston Guardian.

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 .

 

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Theoharides Signals Admin Support for Revised Climate Bill Net-Zero Emissions Bill Heading Back to Baker's Desk

 

Jamie Eldridge

tSponisn

With the Senate voting 39-1 on Monday and the House voting 146-13 today to pass (again) the Next Generation Roadmap bill, this is a good summary of what the revised climate bill is, the most significant climate legislation since 2008. Very proud of this bill, and while I disagree with Governor Baker's attempts to weaken this legislation, I thank him for strengthening the environmental

justice provisions. Hurray on a bold vision for Massachusetts!

Theoharides Signals Admin Support for Revised Climate Bill

Net-Zero Emissions Bill Heading Back to Baker's Desk

Colin A. Young3/18/21 4:48 PM

MARCH 18, 2021.....Gov. Charlie Baker and his administration are happy with the changes the Legislature made to the climate policy bill that's been the subject of negotiations and debate -- both public and private -- for months, but his top environmental official stopped short of saying Baker will sign the bill into law.

"The governor is very pleased the Legislature adopted a significant majority of the proposed amendments. Of approximately 47 amendments proposed, 42 were adopted by Legislature either as written or with some minor modifications," Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Kathleen Theoharides told the News Service. "And I know while some in the Legislature have dismissed our amendments that have been adopted by the Legislature as technical in nature or as minor details, as I've said before, the details on a bill of this scale that is going to impact every resident of the commonwealth, the details really matter and these amendments are critical to ensuring that this bill works."

Baker and the Legislature share a goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but enshrining into law that shared priority and the details about how to get there has proved to be more complicated. The climate policy bill has been ping-ponging between the Legislature and governor's office for more than two months.

The Senate voted 39-1 on Monday to pass a new version of the bill that incorporated most of the amendments that Baker suggested when he returned the bill unsigned at the beginning of February. The House followed suit Thursday afternoon with a 146-13 vote.

Though Theoharides said the administration is "really pleased" with the full set of changes and that the governor was "thrilled" that lawmakers adopted some of his suggestions related to environmental justice communities, the secretary did not say that Baker plans to sign the bill.

"We want to wait until we see it on his desk in its final, final form," she said when asked if the changes the Legislature made got the bill to a point that Baker will sign it.

The two-term governor has not said whether he will seek a third term, and the political ramifications that would be triggered by vetoing a popular climate bill could factor into his calculus as he eyes the future.

When he filed his amendments, Baker hinted at his desire to sign the bill, writing that when combined with planning his administration had done, the bill "will set the Commonwealth on a plan for net zero emissions in 2050 through aggressive, equitable and science-based climate action that protects the state's economy and most vulnerable residents."

Lawmakers this week rejected Baker's proposal to change the legislation's requirement that emissions in 2030 be at least 50 percent lower than 1990 levels to a target in the 45 percent to 50 percent range, but Theoharides said other changes that the Legislature did adopt make that 50 percent target more palatable by giving the state "the best tools available to reduce emissions, meet the goals established by the legislation and keep costs affordable for residents across the state."

The adoption of an amendment to clarify that the climate bill's sector-specific emissions sublimits will not be punitive as long as the state achieves its overall statewide emissions reduction target was also key, she said.

So does that mean Baker and his administration are on board with the higher emission reduction target for 2030 that has loomed as one of the more visible points of disagreement during the climate debate?

"Yes," the secretary said. "It's certainly an ambitious goal but this change in the subsector limits and in other technical details of the bill, as well as early signs from the federal administration, give us confidence we can keep costs down while pursuing this very ambitious goal."

Previously, Theoharides and Baker had said that the difference between their preferred 2030 target of a 45 percent reduction and the Legislature's 50 percent target could mean as much as $6 billion in additional costs to the state and its residents.

The House and Senate also rebuffed Baker's amendment to strip some language from a proposed new municipal building code that promotes net-zero construction, though lawmakers agreed to some tweaks to that provision.

Baker and the home construction industry had worried the climate bill would make building new housing -- a priority of the Baker administration -- cost-prohibitive. The governor proposed letting the Department of Energy Resources develop a new stretch energy code that included a municipal option for "high-performing, energy-efficient new construction" that would support the state's emission reduction efforts.

Though the Legislature did not go along with all of his amendments around the building code, the latest version of the bill adopted six of Baker's suggested changes including one that effectively downplays the term "net-zero" in the code, enough to convince the administration that provision is now workable.

"While the term has been retained by the legislation, it is retained as a performance standard for definition purposes and it is no longer a core component of the code as originally envisioned by the Legislature," Theoharides said. "That is a significant change and one that we think makes the high-performance stretch energy code something that the Department of Energy Resources can develop with the support of the industry and other stakeholders and really roll out in a cost-effective and energy-reducing manner."

Sen. Michael Barrett, the chief Senate sponsor of the climate bill, disagreed with the secretary's interpretation of the changes the Legislature made and said Thursday that "the bill is tougher on the administration in this respect than it was two weeks ago."

"We not only require a definition of net-zero building but we also add in a stipulation that the DOER must promulgate net-zero building performance standards," he said. "We're doubling down on our commitment to net-zero. I am just pleased that is OK with the secretary and that she's raring to go."

The secretary said Baker was "thrilled" that the Legislature adopted all six of his proposed amendments related to environmental justice communities, neighborhoods that are mostly made up of people with lower incomes and people of color that are at risk of being negatively and disproportionately impacted by environmental policies.

"The Legislature accepted a change from the governor that will require the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct cumulative impact analysis as a condition of permitting certain projects to ensure that environmental justice communities no longer bear an undue burden of air pollution," she said. "I would argue that this significant addition that was missed by the Legislature has the most potential to permanently reduce environmental impacts and public health risks in environmental justice communities."

Though the administration and Legislature have butted heads over many of the details of the climate bill, both sides displayed a willingness to negotiate throughout the process and those talks appear to have gotten the bill to a point where both sides could claim some victories.

Last session, before the Legislature put the initial version of the climate bill on Baker's desk, chief Senate sponsor Sen. Michael Barrett and Theoharides publicly disagreed over the 2030 emissions reduction target during a committee hearing and Barrett foreshadowed the path the bill would take over the next two-plus months.

"In any event though, we have 2021 and if there's a little disagreement on where we should get to by 2030 in anything that should come out of the Legislature, it is up for further discussion in 2021 and subject to compromise if that's where we need to go," Barrett said on Dec. 31.

Once the bill is back on Baker's desk, he will have 10 days to review it before either signing or vetoing the legislation. If he opts for a veto, the Legislature is expected to have the votes to override his action.

-END-

03/18/2021

Baker submits amendments to climate change bill

Doug Fraser   Cape Cod Times

Published Feb 9, 2021 

State legislators are now mulling over Gov. Charlie Baker’s amendments to their climate change bill that he returned to them over the weekend.

Baker did not sign the original bill that landed on his desk at the tail end of the legislative session last month, and lawmakers refiled the bill at the end of January with no changes.

“This reflects the great work we’ve done with the Legislature working in a collaborative environment over the last three weeks to strengthen our efforts to tackle climate change while protecting families,” said state Secretary of Energy and the Environment Kathleen Theoharides, who called the collaboration a “very productive conversation.”

State Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro, however, was not pleased with amendments that he felt weakened accountability.

"(T)he Legislature established benchmarks to hold the Commonwealth's executive branch accountable to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. We set these standards high to fend off the existential threat that climate change poses to communities like ours," Cyr said.

Initially, Baker complained he was rushed into signing the bill without time to make his own amendments. His administration both lauded the intent of the bill while criticizing it for potentially causing too much economic pain for too little gain over what was proposed in its own plan.

In his letter to legislators Sunday, Baker thanked them for their work and for giving him the opportunity to make amendments. His administration had initially been critical of the climate change bill for increasing the emissions reduction benchmark to 50% by 2030 instead of the 45% they had recommended.

In a prior interview, Theoharides said the additional 5% required a lot more effort, including hundreds of thousands more electric vehicles, a new low-carbon fuel standard that was far tougher than any in the U.S., and completely eliminated petroleum-based heating fuels.

In his amendments, Baker proposed a compromise of between 45% and 50% emissions reductions by 2030, with the exact amount set by the administration, depending on the level of technological advances that could provide for greater emissions reductions. The 2040 target was amended to a goal of between 65% and 75%.

“It is a legally binding target that sets you up for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but makes it not overly costly for the Commonwealth,” Theoharides said.

Other amendments included a compromise on the goal for the procurement of offshore wind. Baker proposed the state authorize up to 4,000 megawatts of power from offshore wind farms, 800 more than the 3,200 megawatts proposed by the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2008. Legislators had proposed adding 2,400 megawatts.

Baker also proposed an amendment to imposing emissions limits on sectors of the economy like transportation and building. Instead of a strict limit, his amendment makes the emissions reduction a target to be used for planning, provided the overall emission reduction goal is met. Theoharides said this will give some flexibility to the process if some sectors can achieve greater emissions reductions due to technological advances while others find it harder to comply.

Worried about the impact on affordable housing of a so-called “stretch” building code in the original bill that required new homes to have net-zero emissions on affordable housing, Baker’s amendments stressed energy-efficiency. Transition to a new code would be overseen by the state Department of Energy Resources and would not be mandatory until 2028.

Theoharides said the administration agreed with much of what the legislators proposed on environmental justice and decided to strengthen it by adding that the Department of Environmental Protection, when permitting certain projects, take into account the cumulative environmental impacts on the community of other projects. 

“If you are permitting projects in areas with existing pollution, and you are adding to that, it is unlikely to be able to be permitted,” Theoharides said.

“We believe the administration went in good faith and was really thoughtful about how they prepared the amendments,” said Caitlin Peale Sloane, senior attorney and interim director of the Massachusetts Conservation Law Foundation. 

But Sloane was concerned about the language in the proposed amendments, particularly in making emissions reductions “limits” instead of a minimum. She believed that industry should be shooting for a target that will deal with the emissions and climate change problem, not one that is believed to be technologically feasible. Hard goals inspire innovation, she believes.

“Industry will step up and adapt to meet them,” Sloane said.

Sloane worried about delaying the implementation of a new building code until 2028. 

“The Governor’s own clean energy climate plan makes it clear that you are at a cost parity to build a net-zero house vs. a new house that uses fossil fuels,” she said. It’s more expensive to retrofit a home with fossil fuel heating systems than to build a clean energy home, Sloane said.

“The technology is out there for both market-value and affordable homes,” she said.

"I hope a compromise can be reached that reconciles the concerns of the administration, but the bill is actionable as written and urgently needs to become law," Cyr said.