NOT JUST BLOWING SMOKE — Gov. Maura Healey cast the blanket pardon of simple marijuana possession convictionsthat she unveiled Wednesday as potentially the “most sweeping cannabis pardon ever proposed by any governor in the United States.” Is it?
Healey is asking the Governor’s Council to sign off on a plan to wipe out all past state court misdemeanor convictions for possession of marijuana. She estimates “hundreds of thousands” of people would see their convictions erased, but declined to drill down on the numbers at her State House press conference. Clearing people’s records will in most cases happen automatically, she said. But it could take months to get through them all.
Healey described her proposal as the broadest action taken by any governor to forgive past cannabis crimes since President Joe Biden in 2022 pardoned thousands of people convicted of simple possession of marijuana under federal law and urged state executives to follow suit.
But Healey is not the first governor to cancel swaths of cannabis convictions. Here’s how Healey’s push stacks up against other states:
ILLINOIS — Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said in 2022that nearly 800,000 low-level marijuana convictions had been pardoned or expunged under the state’s Cannabis Regulation and Tax Act.
MISSOURI — Voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2022 legalizing cannabis and requiring the state to expunge misdemeanor marijuana offenses from the records of anyone no longer in prison or on probation. But the state’s Republican governor, Mike Parson, has shot down the idea of a blanket pardon.
OREGON — In 2022, then-Gov. Kate Brown moved to pardon roughly 47,000 adults who had been convicted of simple marijuana possession before the state legalized weed in 2015.
CALIFORNIA — The 2016 ballot measure that legalized recreational cannabis sales reduced most felony charges for possession, possession for sale, cultivation and unlawful transport to misdemeanors. Follow-up laws required courts to clean up cannabis-related arrest and conviction records automatically.
Now back to Healey. Our governor's proposal is still lacking in detail. But it appears to hew closely to what Biden put forward in 2022 and doubled down on in another wave of pardons late last year, both in practice and in message.
Just as Biden said his goal was to remove a barrier for people struggling to secure housing or jobs, Healey said much the same on Wednesday.
“A conviction may be a barrier to jobs , to getting housing, to even getting an education,” Healey, a surrogate for Biden’s reelection campaign, said at the State House. “All for doing something that isn’t even cause for arrest today. That doesn’t sit right with me.”
Gov. Maura Healey proposed a blanket pardon of simple marijuana possession convictions. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO
GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . More than half of the members of the all-Democratic Governor’s Council have publicly voiced supportfor Healey’s proposal, though it’s unclear when they’ll take it up after the group abruptly canceled its meeting on Wednesday. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, for one, is calling on councilors to move “swiftly.”
TODAY — Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll have no public events. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu addresses The New England Council at 10:30 a.m. at the Park Plaza Hotel and signs labor contracts at 1 p.m. at City Hall.
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DATELINE BEACON HILL
WHAT SUPP WITH THE SHELTER SUPP — Senators will vote today on a sweeping early education and child care bill that aims to expand access for families and fortify the industry’s workforce. Senate President Karen Spilka and some of her colleagues will hold a rally in support of the bill at 10:30 a.m. on the State House steps.
What’s less clear is when the Senate will take up the $260 million spending plan the House sent over last week that includes $245 million for the state’s overburdened emergency assistance program and limits on how long families can stay in the shelter system.
Spilka said her chamber will tackle the supp in “short order.” But she remained noncommittal Wednesday on whether she supports capping shelter stays.
YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS
ENDORSEMENT CORNER — State Sen. Marc Pacheco told Playbook he's endorsing longtime Raynham Selectman Joe Pacheco (no relation) in the race to fill his seat in the 3rd Bristol and Plymouth District. A former State House staffer, the Raynham Democrat isserving his sixth term as a selectman.
CAIN INCHES CLOSER — Quincy City Council President Ian Cainhas told the MassGOP that he pulled nomination papers to run for U.S. Senate as a Republican, party Chair Amy Carnevale told Playbook. The party is “in communication” with Cain about his potential bid, she said. Cain did not respond to a request for comment.
KENNEDY-BROWN 2024? — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to announce his running mate later this month. Among the people he’s spoken with: former ambassador and former Sen. Scott Brown , per The Washington Post.
— “ Three Democrats will compete in the primary to succeed William 'Smitty' Pignatelli as 3rd Berkshire State House District representative,”by Clarence Fanto, The Berkshire Eagle: “The latest entrant into the 3rd Berkshire District contest is Jamie Minacci, a member of the Stockbridge Select Board elected in May 2022. She announced her candidacy at the Stockbridge Democratic Town Committee caucus last Saturday. Also competing in the Democratic primary on Sept. 3 are Leigh Davis, vice chair of the Great Barrington Select Board and Patrick White, member and a previous chairman of the Stockbridge Select Board.”
FROM THE HUB
— “Wu in talks with MBTA on city-funded commuter rail stop,”by Gintautas Dumcius, CommonWealth Beacon: “Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has been in talks with the MBTA over the construction of a new Needham Line commuter rail station, funded by the city. The discussions were initially connected with a Wu administration plan to move Roxbury’s O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science to the vacant West Roxbury Education Complex. … Talks with the MBTA continued even as the O’Bryant plan fell apart.”
FROM THE DELEGATION
TIKTOK ON THE SENATE CLOCK — The U.S. House voted in rare bipartisan fashion on Wednesday to approve a bill co-sponsored by Reps. Seth Moulton and Jake Auchincloss that would force the sale of TikTok or, if that doesn’t happen within six months, ban it in the U.S.
But the bill divided our all-Democratic congressional delegation. Reps. Lori Trahan, Stephen Lynch and Bill Keating joined Moulton and Auchincloss in voting in favor of it. But Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and Reps. Richard Neal, Jim McGovern and Ayanna Pressley voted against it.
“We need comprehensive data privacy legislation — not narrow policy that targets one platform that millions rely on to get news, make a living & build community,” Pressley posted on Xto explain her vote.
The president has said he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk. But it faces an uncertain future in the Senate. Sen. Ed Markey said in a post on Xthat the “privacy problem” goes beyond TikTok. “We don't need to ban TikTok to fix their invasive practices,” Markey wrote. “The answer,” he said, is to pass his updated Children and Teens’ Online Privacy Protection Act.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren previously told our colleaguesthat legislation shouldn’t target just one social media outlet and that there should be “curbs in place on social media across the board.”
AWAITING REPLY — Markey is asking embattled Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre to testify at the field hearing he’s planning on for-profit health care companies next month in Boston, heposted on X.
— “‘We’re not playing games anymore’: Residents occupy McGovern’s Northampton office with Gaza demands,”by James Pentland, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Pushing their congressman to do more to stop the destruction of Gaza, members of the Leahy Fast for Palestine Committee and supporters occupied Rep. Jim McGovern’s local office and spoke with him by phone for half an hour Tuesday afternoon. … After spending the night at the congressman’s office, the group added a demand that the U.S. veto no more U.N. cease-fire resolutions. The U.S. has vetoed three so far.”
JOIN US ON 3/21 FOR A TALK ON FINANCIAL LITERACY: Americans from all communities should be able to save, build wealth, and escape generational poverty, but doing so requires financial literacy. How can government and industry ensure access to digital financial tools to help all Americans achieve this? Join POLITICO on March 21 as we explore how Congress, regulators, financial institutions and nonprofits are working to improve financial literacy education for all. REGISTER HERE .
DAY IN COURT
— “On zoning law, Campbell seeks legal shot across the bow,”by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Beacon: “Supreme Court Justice Serge Georges Jr. on Wednesday kicked the tires on Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s bid to, as he put it, send a shot across the bow of more than 100 other municipalities by taking her MBTA Communities case against Milton straight to the state’s highest court. Campbell wants to skip a trial in Superior Court and go straight to the SJC in May in an effort to establish clearly that Milton and other communities in the state are subject to the law and her office has the authority to enforce compliance.”
— “Mass. to expand drug treatment courts for parents struggling with addiction,”by Chris Serres, The Boston Globe: “... Massachusetts plans to expand the concept from two courts, in Greenfield and Springfield, to at least seven more cities over the next two years. Cities that will become home to the courts include Boston, Dedham, Fall River, Lawrence, Lowell, Pittsfield, and Worcester, the Massachusetts Trial Court announced Wednesday.”
FROM THE 413
— “Prosecutors say footage purportedly shows Wilmer Puello-Mota in Russian military,”by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: “Rhode Island prosecutors pursuing child pornography charges against former Holyoke City Councilor Wilmer Puello-Mota acknowledged this week there exist photos and videos that purportedly show him serving in the Russian military in Russia or Ukraine.”
— “Mistreatment persists at Bridgewater State Hospital, report says,”by Deborah Becker, WBUR: “The report, from the Disability Law Center, found patients at Bridgewater State Hospital were subjected to illegally forced medication injections, violence from staff, lack of medical care, inappropriate medication for opioid use disorder and mold contamination. The report recommends that the state transfer control of Bridgewater State Hospital from the Department of Correction to the Department of Mental Health.”
NAME CHECK — “Romney slams Whitehouse over leadership of budget panel,”by Ted Nesi, WPRI: “Mitt Romney has had it with the way Sheldon Whitehouse is leading the Senate Budget Committee. … ‘It’s appropriate that this hearing is being held during Academy Awards season,’ Romney quipped. ‘I’m afraid what we do here is more "Barbie" than it is "Oppenheimer."'"
HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH
TRANSITIONS — Christina Grant is the new executive director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard. Grant is currently the state superintendent of education in Washington, D.C.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell, former Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair Gus Bickford, Jackson Cote, Denise Lloyd, Kenzington “Zing” Elechko, Miles Weber and Susan Slattery .
NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: THE TRUTHS ABOUT YOUTHS — Hosts Steve Koczela and Jennifer Smith break down the latest data on why young people are leaving Greater Boston. CommonWealth Beacon's Gintautas Dumcius talks the tipped wages ballot battle. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud .
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South Coast Rail project chugging along in New Bedford — here's what to expect in 2023
Kathryn Gallerani
Standard-Times Published Dec. 22, 2022
NEW BEDFORD — New Bedford hasn’t had a direct link to Boston since the 1950s, but that’s going to change by the end of next year.
The South Coast Rail project will restore commuter rail service between Boston and southeastern Massachusetts. New Bedford, Taunton and Fall River are the only major cities within 50 miles of Boston without commuter rail access.
This past year, the South Coast Rail project made enormous progress, with the midpoint of construction achieved this past spring and work on one of the lines now substantially complete, according to MBTA Deputy Press Secretary Lisa Battiston.
State and local officials celebrated the substantial completion of the Fall River Secondary Line with a ribbon cutting at Freetown Station on Dec. 5.
Battiston said work will continue through the winter on the larger contract which includes the New Bedford Main Line, the Middleborough Secondary Line, four stations and the Wamsutta layover facility.
“New Bedford residents have already seen activity at the Church Street Station site and at the New Bedford Station near the Seastreak parking lot,” she said. “They can anticipate work continuing through the winter, with efforts increasing as the 2023 construction season launches around March. At this time, crews are working in the Wamsutta layover site and doing track work in and around New Bedford.”
She said the project team meets regularly with city departments and officials to keep the city up-to-date on activity and progress and promoting ongoing coordination. South Coast Rail will likely conduct a public meeting in the spring to update residents on work completed and next steps.
“The project team looks forward to a busy and productive 2023,” she said.
Work underway at new commuter rail stops
The Church Street Station at 387 Church St. will be the second to last stop with the New Bedford Station on Acushnet Avenue in the Whale’s Tooth parking lot the final stop on the New Bedford Main Line.
The Wamsutta Layover Facility site at 217 Herman Melville Blvd. is just to the north of the last stop on the South Coast Rail route.
An interactive corridor map online provides a detailed, street-by-street view of the entire first phase and full build corridors, including each station and layover facility.
Anyone can enter a property’s street address to locate where a property is in relation to the tracks using the search tool.
The MBTA plans to operate three morning peak trains and three evening peak trains to both New Bedford and Fall River.
The Fall River Secondary Line includes two stations and the Weaver's Cove layover facility in Fall River. At 87% complete, contractor Skanska/D.W. White is wrapping up punchlist items, doing site cleanup, installing fencing, and completing work at that layover facility.
Besides the two New Bedford stations, East Taunton Station and Middleborough Station are also under construction, with crews at all four sites installing drainage systems, electrical conduit and connections and constructing platforms.
At full buildout, commuter rail service on the Stoughton Line will extend to the New Bedford and Fall River lines.
What you need to know about the return of South Coast Rail — Who's getting new stations?
Namu Sampath
The Enterprise
Published May 12, 2022
BROCKTON — The South Coast Rail project is back "on track" for the first time in more than half a century with a plan to open to riders next spring.
Jean Fox, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) project manager, said, "celebrities and locals would travel to and from Boston and Fall River (and everywhere in the middle), in the 40s and 50s."
"But, in 1959, the same year the Expressway opened, the last train ran," she continued. "Cars and highways were the downfall of railroads and trains."
Brockton is included on the already existing Middleboro main line commuter rail with three stations: Montello, Brockton and Campello. Next year, the Middleboro secondary line, the Fall River line and the New Bedford main line will be added to the route.
MassDOT is currently in the process of phase one of the project, which broke ground in July 2019, where 56 miles of the railroads are being set in place, according to the project's website.
Prior to the actual construction of the railroads, an early action contract was completed by March 2021.
According to the website, crews:
Replaced four railroad bridges,
Installed 46 culverts as part of the drainage system,
Ordered and stored long-lead special track materials in advance to reduce construction delays, and
Constructed five wetland mitigation areas and began monitoring their success
Now that phase one has commenced, "crews are reconstructing 12.1 miles of the Fall River Secondary, which is currently a freight line, to lift speed restrictions and allow for commuter rail service," Fox said. What the the work crews are doing "includes tree clearing, erosion control and survey work along the tracks," Fox said.
Construction in the coming years will include:
Eight rail bridges
10 new grade crossings and four interlockings
Two new stations and a layover facility for storing trains overnight
"Trains on the completed Fall River Secondary Line will travel through Berkley, Freetown, and Fall River," the project's website said.
As of the end of April 2022, the Fall River Line contract is on track and is at 58% completion.
Who's getting new train stations?
The South Coast line will include six new stations: two in New Bedford, one in Middleboro, one in Fall River, one in Freetown and one in East Taunton.
Fox projected that the new line will have about 1,600 riders and will increase overall MBTA ridership.
"We want to drive home the point of safety," Fox said. "The new trains will allow riders to board from any car, and our new stations will allow for bike parking, car parking and electric vehicle (EV) charging and parking."
Connecting people with jobs
Another main focus of the rail is increasing economic development and housing opportunities.
"With the new line, there will be so many great jobs," she said. "The regions included on the South Coast Rail line deserve this connection, and this will boost job opportunities and vitality. Additionally, mixed-use developments will pop up near train stations."
A letter to the editor published in the Fall River Herald News in 2017 highlighted the facts for many who live near the up-and-coming stations:
"The new Fall River-New Bedford to Boston commuter rail would tie new cities into transfer of intellectual and professionally valuable citizens. It will provide an opportunity for modernization, change and growth. A new mercantile culture would appear, along with a new vibrancy of educational institutions.
The whole area would catch the flow of new investment dollars in real estate and modern housing. The new rail would provide for migration of the urban millennial generation," the resident wrote.
Fox agreed.
"Immigrants and minorities will have increased opportunities," she said. "The combination of transportation and education will remove barriers for our communities."
The new railway will also connect students across the state to opportunities to pursue higher education.
"I think the South Coast Rail coming back to the gateway cities will create more business opportunities for entrepreneurs and more jobs for residents," said Simone Delphonse, a Ward 3A Brockton resident and career specialist for MassHire, a career center in Brockton.
Reducing traffic on Route 24?
With motor vehicle crashes on federal, state and local roadways on the rise, taking the train may also be an alternative to heavy traffic, specifically on major expressways.
"It will also reduce traffic on Route 24 and will bring these communities closer," Delphonse continued.
Building boom in rail towns?
Many business and property owners whose businesses and homes abut the railways were also in attendance at Friday's luncheon.
John "Jay" Mahoney, the chief operating officer of Fairview Millwork & Kitchens in Bridgewater, said he sees "great opportunity for the municipalities on the South Coast Rail line (SCRL) to develop smart growth projects oriented around these commuter rail stops."
Mahoney's hope is that "the construction of the SCRL is a catalyst for the communities on the route, from Brockton and Bridgewater in the north through Fall River and New Bedford in the south, to rethink how enhanced transit options and the unique character of each of their towns could be leveraged."
"Fairview Millwork & Kitchens is a retailer of millwork products for residential construction selling to both homeowners and professional tradespeople," he added.
Work like what Mahoney does invites and welcomes "investments in well-planned construction projects around the SCR commuter stations," he said. "Construction of good homes for families and new business locations provides demand for regional construction-related employment and the purchase of materials from local businesses like ours."
In addition, the MBTA and MassDOT put together a document for abutters to understand what their rights and responsibilities are. One of the main requests the MBTA had for abutters is to remove all personal property from the area so that surveyors may clear vegetation along the "right-of-way," areas.
Fox also spoke to the accomplishments that have already been completed:
$242 million worth of work has been completed as of March 2022
Four rail bridges have been built, and
So far, five of 10 culverts, and all 10 crossings have been constructed
Per the New Bedford Main Line and the Middleboro Secondary Line, Fox stated that MassDOT will be testing everything before they are used by the public.
"We are also reusing parts so that nothing gets wasted," she continued.
What's the deal with the Stoughton line?
Since the 1970s, Southeastern Massachusetts constituents started advocating for a Stoughton line, which would connect Fall River, Taunton and New Bedford to Boston through Stoughton, Easton and Raynham.
In the mid-2000's, the Stoughton line was heavily considered alongside the Middleboro line — which was eventually chosen, despite being the slower route to travel by roughly 15 minutes and less climate-friendly.
"Engineers recommended the Stoughton line because it was the most efficient and effective route connecting all of those communities," said State Sen. Marc Pacheco, who represents the state's first Plymouth and Bristol district and is a longtime advocate of the South Coast Rail project. "The Stoughton line was electrified and would help reduce our overall greenhouse gas emissions."
Then, at the start of the Baker-Polito administration, the governor announced the South Coast Rail project would be broken up into two phases — and the Stoughton line project was derailed.
"People were disappointed, but the current plan for the South Coast Rail is so long overdue," Pacheco said of the current status of the project. "It's better than not having a rail system connecting communities of southeast Massachusetts at all."
Pacheco hopes that the governor holds true to his promise to build the Stoughton line in phase two.
"It's really the preferred option," he said. "It's a travesty there hasn't been a connection through Stoughton yet."
Apart from it being the more efficient of the two routes, the Stoughton alternative could also eventually connect to Rhode Island.
"That would be a better use of federal funding because then multiple states would be connected through one train service," he continued.
Pacheco also mentioned that phase two of the South Coast Rail project may not happen under the Baker-Polito administration.
"Our residents are aware that the Stoughton line may not happen in the next few years, but it's within reach to achieve the proper outcomes," Pacheco said. "Our younger generation is doing a lot to make sure the commitment that Gov. Baker made five years ago carries over through to the next governor. The commitment needs to happen now."
