POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook POLLACK’s MBTA victory lap — POT changes harsh Bay State’s mellow — HEALEY's Eversource rate cut credit



01/05/2018 07:00 AM EDT
By Lauren Dezenski (ldezenski@politico.com; @LaurenDezenski) with Rebecca Morin (rmorin@politico.com; @RebeccaMorin_)
TGIF, MASSACHUSETTS. Stay warm today and into this weekend, as temperatures and wind chills are expected to dip dangerously low.
TAKING A VICTORY LAP ON THE TRAIN - Buried at the end of yesterday's second winter storm press conference were hints of a victory lap from Transportation Sec. Stephanie Pollack over how the Baker administration handled yesterday's storm - and how it's an improvement over 2015, the worst winter for commuters in recent history.
It's a helpful point for them to make as Baker enters his first re-election cycle and Democrats eager to unseat him eye his record with the MBTA as a potential wedge between the governor and the voters who so highly approve of him.
"What I saw, is that due to a lot of planning, a lot of hard work, and a lot of investment, a lot of things went right today," Pollack said. This echoes Gov. Charlie Baker's narrative about improving the T - and actions including $85 million in investment in the MBTA's winter resilliency after the winter of 2015.
Yesterday the MBTA faced issues including flooded tracks on the Blue Line, snow-clogged roadways for buses, and delays on the Commuter Rail, but "only a handful of service disruptions that were caused by trains that went disabled or switch freezing problems. Things that have plagued the T in earlier winters were not happening today," Pollack said. It's hard not to interpret Pollack's comments as a nod to 2015, which saw a raft of equipment-based issues including power outages and frozen switches during the winter's repeated bouts of heavy snow.
Even on the commuter rail, ahead of the evening commute, "about 80 percent" of the commuter rail trains running on reduced service ran on-time: Within five minutes of their scheduled time. "Not bad in the middle of a blizzard," Pollack said.
Democratic gubernatorial contender Jay Gonzalez, who took to the T to commute from his Needham Heights home to his campaign headquarters in Cambridge, found a smooth, if quiet, ride, State House News reports. Gonzalez is be back on the T this morning, commuting from Jamaica Plain to Cambridge's Central Square.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: ldezenski@politico.com.
TODAY - Non-emergency state employees have a late start, with offices opening at 11 a.m. - The House and Senate are scheduled to meet in informal session - Cold weather and the effects of yesterday's storm has forced many events to be rescheduled, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren's town hall in Quincy and US Senate challenger Beth Lindstrom's business growth tour kickoff in Hingham.
WHAT CITY HALL IS READING - "Boston Winter a bad deal, vendors say," by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: "The business partners behind City Hall Plaza's popular Boston Winter festivities appear to be headed toward a messy divorce - with fallout that could cast a cloud over enduring attempts to remake the Government Center expanse."
DATELINE BEACON HILL -
- "Sessions rescinds policy that allowed legal pot to flourish," by Dan Adams and Joshua Miller, Boston Globe: "Sessions' decision hands the new US attorney for Massachusetts, Andrew E. Lelling, immense power. Just a few select prosecutions from Lelling could smother the burgeoning industry. ... Lelling declined to comment on whether Massachusetts should continue setting up a regulatory framework for recreational pot. But in a statement, he said, 'Medical studies confirm that marijuana is in fact a dangerous drug, and it is illegal under federal law. As a result, our office will continue to investigate and prosecute bulk cultivation and trafficking cases, and those who use the federal banking system illegally.'"
- "Gov. Baker blasts Sessions' marijuana shift: 'Wrong decision,'" by Matt Stout and Bob McGovern, Boston Herald: "Gov. Charlie Baker is blasting Attorney General Jeff Session's call to rescind an Obama-era policy allowing states to pursue legalized pot, and the attorney general and state marijuana regulators said today they still intend to implement the Massachusetts law."
- "Cost Of Senate Ethics Investigation Into Former Senate President Rosenberg Remains Mystery," by the State House News Service: "The legal team hired by the Senate Ethics Committee is in its third week of work on an investigation into former Senate President Stanley Rosenberg and while the work is unsurprisingly top secret, the payment arrangement for the attorneys also remains a mystery."
TRUMPACHUSETTS -
HEALEY TAKES HER OWN VICTORY LAP ON EVERSOURCE RATE DROP - Inbox from AG Maura Healey's office: "Following push from AG Healey, Eversource agrees to use savings from federal tax bill to lower rates for customers." More: "In a Dec. 20 filing, AG Healey's Office urged the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to recalculate Eversource's recently approved rate hike to reflect the reduction of the federal corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent. AG Healey is the first attorney general in the country to publicly call for across-the-board cuts in electric, gas, and water rates, following the passage of the new law."
- "Trump, Romney talk on phone amid speculation over Utah Senate bid," by POLITICO's Alex Isenstadt: "The brief call, which was described by two sources who were briefed on it, lasted less than 10 minutes. The president wished Romney, the 2012 GOP nominee, best of luck in his future endeavors."
ON THE STUMP -
- "Pittsfield Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier endorses Jay Gonzalez," by Shira Schoenberg, Masslive.com: "State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, on Wednesday endorsed Democrat Jay Gonzalez in the 2018 governor's race. She is one of the first legislators to take a position in the Democratic primary, which also includes Newton Mayor Setti Warren and environmentalist and entrepreneur Bob Massie."
- "Dem rival wants Charlie Baker money probe," by Matt Stout, Boston Herald: "Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Gonzalez is calling for an independent probe into Gov. Charlie Baker and any ties he has to a 'pattern' of dark money penalties leveled against outside groups. Gonzalez yesterday seized on the latest case, in which the Office of Campaign and Political Finance ordered a nonprofit to pay $31,000 after determining it disguised $1.1 million in donations it made to two ballot question committees backed by Baker."
DATELINE DC -
- "Bill would create agency to help pension plans in distress," by Dave Kovaleski, Financial Regulation News: "A bill that would provide financial support for pension plans facing insolvency was introduced in Congress on Tuesday. The Butch Lewis Act of 2017 (H.R.4444/S.2147), introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), would establish a new agency called the Pension Rehabilitation Administration (PRA) within the U.S. Treasury Department. This agency would be authorized to issue bonds to finance loans to pension plans in financial distress."
- "Massachusetts congressional delegation calls for release of additional home heating assistance funds," by Shannon Young, Masslive.com: "With frigid temperatures and a winter storm bearing down on the Northeast, Massachusetts congressional lawmakers urged the Trump administration Thursday to release more federal funding to help low-income Americans heat their homes."
THE WARREN REPORT -
- "Geoff Diehl (Sort-of) Crashes Elizabeth Warren's Public Radio Appearance," by Evan Lips, New Boston Post: "An opportunistic Geoff Diehl took to Twitter on Thursday to prompt U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who devoted a large chunk of her public radio appearance bashing successful Republican-led tax reform efforts, to comment on the energy provider Eversource's announcement that the corporate tax rate cut will mean lower rates for customers. Warren, who fielded questions from WGBH's Jim Braude and Margery Eagan on Thursday afternoon, called the recently passed tax package 'a $1.4 trillion giveaway to the biggest corporations and billionaires in this country.'"
WARREN MAKES TMZ - "Sen. Elizabeth Warren to Prez: Careful what ya take credit for, Donny!" by TMZ: "The Senator had just flown into D.C.'s Reagan National Airport Wednesday when we got her take on Trump bragging there were zero aviation deaths last year on commercial flights. Trump's nemesis has never been shy about firing back at him, but this time she played it cool. ... But like ... the kinda cool that feels like a setup. What she eventually said plays more like a warning to Trump than praise for him."
- "Markey and Warren want firm action from EPA and FERC for pipeline's discharge of 'hazardous wastewater' in Agawam," by Heather Bellow, Berkshire Eagle: "A discharge of 16,500 gallons of "hazardous wastewater" from pipeline testing in Agawam has prompted intervention by the two U.S. senators that represent Massachusetts. In a letters to federal regulators, U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren said Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.'s release of pressure testing wastewater Nov. 20 poses a threat to public health and the environment in surrounding communities."
WOOD WAR - Herald: "TIDAL RUSH" Globe: "Floods amid the furies," "Water, wind batter coast, echoing '78," "A rare serenity blankets city's core," "Concern for future rises with waters," "Sessions' shift roils nascent pot sector," "Rancor infiltrates City Hall festivities."
THE LOCAL ANGLE -
- "Attorney General's report reasserts opposition to Berkshire Museum art sale," by Larry Parnass, Berkshire Eagle: "On the same day the Attorney General's Office said work continues on its Berkshire Museum inquiry, its lawyers suggested that on key issues, the verdict is already in. In a 32-page legal brief filed Wednesday with the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the office again assails a plan by trustees to sell 40 works from the museum's collection."
- "County board rejects resolution on immigration enforcement by sheriff," by Geoff Spillane, Cape Cod Times: "The Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates voted Wednesday not to support a resolution opposing a partnership between the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office and federal immigration officials. The long-simmering and emotional debate over local enforcement of federal immigration laws reached a crescendo during a two-hour public hearing at the assembly's regular meeting."
- "Chatham, Harwich take up recreational pot shops," by Doug Fraser, Cape Cod Times: "Chatham and Harwich voters will get a chance this spring to decide on whether they want to follow the towns of Dennis and Falmouth in supporting a general bylaw and a zoning bylaw that prohibits retail marijuana shops and services affiliated with them."
FOR YOUR THOUGHTS OF WARMER DAYS - "The Killers, Eminem, and Jack White headline Boston Calling," by Isaac Feldberg, Boston Globe: "If this spring's Boston Calling lineup is any indication, the sounds of the early aughts are about to make a thoroughly unexpected comeback. Eminem, the Killers, and Jack White are set to headline the 2018 fest, which will take place May 25-27, organizers announced Thursday morning."
HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND - to Marshfield School Committee chair and legislative aide Sean P. Costello, who celebrates Saturday, and to Sunday birthday-ers Cambridge Rep. David Rogers and Anne Johansen, member of the Massachusetts Personal Care Attendant Workforce Council.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? - The Bruins game against the Panthers was postponed.
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