POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Much ado about a BREAKFAST — MASSHEALTH restructures — WELD sues over voting system
02/22/2018 07:23 AM EDT
By Lauren Dezenski (ldezenski@politico.com; @LaurenDezenski) with Brent D. Griffiths (bgriffiths@politico.com; @BrentGriffiths)
MUCH ADO ABOUT A BREAKFAST - Boston's annual St. Patrick's Day Breakfast is a go, with two times the hosts this year.
After host Linda Dorcena Forry announced her surprise departure from the state Senate last month, the powers at be in South Boston officially handed interim hosting duties to U.S. Rep.Stephen Lynch (who hosted the breakfast from 1997 to 2001 when he was the state senator from Southie) and Boston City Councilor Michael Flaherty (who has made multiple breakfast appearances) - while two other candidates duke it out for Forry's vacated Senate seat and the responsibility to host the traditional breakfast next year and beyond.
It may seem like much ado about an outdated tradition. But over the years, the St. Patrick's Day Breakfast has served as an important snapshot of both Boston and the commonwealth's current political climate. It was evident in terms of the changing hosts (and the fights over those changes), dignitaries invited to trade jabs on-stage, and the evolution of the breakfast from an old boys' club political roast in a smoke-filled hall to a more lighthearted, televised event with digital shorts like Mayor Marty Walsh's cover of Adele's "Hello" when he donned a faux fur coat and filmed on the Boston Common.
Despite the change in leadership, it has remained a must-attend event for Boston's political constellation, and statewide figures (or those looking to make inroads in Boston) are guaranteed to be in attendance. Few - if any - other events in the state have such a powerful draw.
The pomp and circumstance of the breakfast also serves as an important touchstone (and is not likely to be altered in this transition year) - traditions like opening prayers have been a mainstay of the program, and a reminder of the breakfast's Irish roots.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: ldezenski@politico.com.
TODAY - The Washington Post's Addiction in America program comes to Boston, drawing Gov. Charlie Baker and Mayor Marty Walsh to speak about the opioid epidemic and the recovery community - The House of Representatives debuts a "new interactive board that provides enhanced resources to those visiting the State House" outside of the House clerk's office on the first floor - The state Gaming Commission meets.
DATELINE BEACON HILL -
- "Top cannabis regulator: Massachusetts should consider government-run bank for pot companies," by Dan Adams, Boston Globe: "With recreational pot sales scheduled to begin in July, Cannabis Control Commission chairman Steve Hoffman said no local banks or credit unions have committed to providing financial services to recreational marijuana shops and other licensed cannabis operations, wary they will run afoul of federal restrictions. Without banks, marijuana businesses would have to deal exclusively in cash - for sales to customers and between retailers and suppliers, to meet payroll, and make tax payments to the state."
- "In massive restructuring, 800,000 MassHealth members automatically moved to new plans," by Shira Schoenberg, MassLive.com: "MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program for low-income individuals, automatically enrolled members in plans based on their primary care physician, so members should be able to keep their primary care doctors. But members may discover that as of March 1, their specialists are no longer in their insurance network or they have to use a new pharmacy."
- "Former Gov. William Weld sues to overturn Massachusetts' winner-take-all presidential election system," by Dan Glaun, MassLive.com: "Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld is suing to overturn the state's winner-take-all system for presidential elections, as part of a nationwide campaign to change how the United States chooses its chief executive. Weld's suit is part of a broader effort to establish proportional voting across the 48 states which currently use a winner-take-all system."
- "Police chiefs' support breathes life into 'Safe Communities Act'," by Colin A. Young, State House News Service: "The lead sponsors of a bill that would limit the ability of state and local police to work with federal immigration officials say they've struck a compromise with law enforcement organizations on a redrafted version of the legislation and are calling on the Legislature to pass the re-written bill into law. The redrafted version of the bill would allow law enforcement to hold individuals on requested ICE detainers for up to six hours in cases where the detainee has a prior criminal record that includes convictions for "serious violent offenses" like sexual assault, abuse, drug trafficking or domestic violence, [Sen. Jamie] Eldridge's office said."
ON THE STUMP -
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK - Ayanna Pressley's congressional campaign debuts a new launch video this morning: "This is more than a campaign, this is a movement -- and it's one we're going to build together. #ChangeCantWait." (4:01)
- "State GOP scraps neutrality rule for governor's race," by Frank Phillips, Boston Globe: "The state Republican Party Tuesday night scrapped its long-standing neutrality rule governing primaries, ordering organizational resources to be directed to the re-election of Governor Charlie Baker and his running mate, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. The Baker political team, after some heavy jawboning over the last few days, was able to barely clear the high hurdle of getting the needed two-thirds majority of the committee behind the measure."
- "Neal challenger Amatul-Wadud vows to work for disenfranchised," by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "Residents of the 1st Congressional District are not only the worst off economically in Massachusetts, they also have a sense of hopelessness stemming from a lack of responsiveness to their concerns from their elected official in the U.S. House, contends Springfield attorney Tahirah Amatul-Wadud. hat was as close as Amatul-Wadud, 44, came to mentioning Neal's name during a campaign stop Monday at Pathways Co-housing in Florence."
- "Four will compete for First Suffolk Senate seat," by Jennifer Smith, Dorchester Reporter: "State Representatives Nick Collins and Evandro Carvalho will be in the Democratic primary on April 3, having cleared the 300 certified signature threshold, according to elections officials. Former state representative and frequent electoral face Althea Garrison handed in enough signatures to lock down a spot as an independent candidate in the May 1 election, city election officials confirmed. Donald Osgood, Sr., also an independent, also submitted signatures that were being verified Wednesday morning. "
- "Althea Garrison is back in the picture," by Maddie Kilgannon, Dorchester Reporter: "With seemingly limitless optimism, Althea Garrison, the city's 78-year-old perennial candidate, is in the running for two legislative seats this year. She is actively running to return to the State House, having submitted nomination papers this week for the First Suffolk Senate seat left vacant by former Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry. This campaign marks the seventh time in the last decade that her name will be on a ballot for voters to consider."
- Winchester's Donna Patalano wants to bring transparency to the Middlesex DA's office," by Mariya Manzhos, Lexington Minuteman: "On Sept. 4, Patalano will challenge Marian Ryan in the Democratic primary for Middlesex County District Attorney. Ryan, the only female district attorney in Middlesex County, was widely criticized for her handling of the 2014 Jared Remy murder case and for failing to release the details of an investigative report into the case. In the 2014 election, her opponent criticized what he described as her harsh management style."
- "Battenfeld: Suffolk DA may have higher office in sights," by Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald: "Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley's surprise decision to step down next year opens up a plum seat that likely will draw a crowd of contenders, but also positions Conley to run for higher office in the future. The 16-year veteran DA gave no indication of his future plans while making his announcement, but his credentials and experience could make him a prime candidate for statewide office or Congress."
- WOOD WAR - Herald: "FIX IT!" - Globe: "Different script for Trump on #MeToo," "Angry, scared Mass. students join Fla. survivors," "SKYLINE DIVE," "Top official says state should explore pot bank," "Moving a new arm the old-fashioned way," "Billy Graham, 'America's pastor,' dies at 99."
THE LOCAL ANGLE -
- "Angry and scared, Mass. students join Florida survivors in gun control fight," by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: "As grieving survivors of the Florida massacre make searingly personal appeals for an assault weapons ban under the rallying cry 'Never Again,' a surge of high school and college students in New England are joining the cause, determined this time will be different. '"I don't want to have to be afraid that whenever a car drives by, [the occupants] could kill myself or my classmates," [Riley Korhonen, a senior at Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School in Devens] said. "I don't want to see these shootings as weekly events."
- "Boston officials might expand parking meter rate hike program," by Travis Andersen and Laura Crimaldi, Boston Globe: "The city of Boston said Wednesday that it will extend a test of higher parking meter rates that resulted in more available metered spaces and less illegal parking in the Back Bay and parts of the Seaport district. The city expects to decide by summer whether to make the pilot program rates permanent in the two neighborhoods ... It could also test the system in other areas with metered parking."
- "ICE arrested 7 people as they sought permanent status in Mass., R.I.," by Maria Cramer, Boston Globe: "Federal immigration officials say they arrested seven undocumented immigrants who visited government offices in Massachusetts and Rhode Island last month to begin the process of becoming legal residents. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials made the disclosure in an affidavit filed Wednesday in US District Court in Boston, a week after Judge Mark Wolf demanded answers from the agency about the Jan. 17 arrest of a Guatemalan woman."
- "'Black Panther' Boom for Grove Hall business, by Daniel Sheehan, Dorchester Reporter: "While Black Panther was breaking box office records in its opening weekend, one Dorchester business was seeing an healthy uptick in profits as well. At Elegance African Fashions in Grove Hall, business is booming. Founder and owner Ebere Ihionu said orders began trickling in during the lead-up to the movie release last Thursday, and she has received dozens of orders in the last week alone."
- "Post-Rafael, New Bedford fishing industry looks to move forward," by Michael Bonner, SouthCoast Today: "For perhaps the first time, at least publicly, fishermen on Carlos Rafael vessels sat in the same room Wednesday as John Bullard, the former regional administrator for NOAA, who implemented a groundfishing ban for those vessels."
- "Traffic congestion is taking a toll on Boston. Should Boston take a toll on congestion?," by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: "... There are a few cities that have dramatically reduced their traffic through a policy called congestion pricing. There are several different forms of congestion pricing, but all of them follow the same fundamental principle: Charge a fee to drivers in the most high-traffic areas in order to incentivize them to get off the road - or at least drive at a different time. One point of consideration when it comes to any form of congestion pricing is equity, since it is effectively a regressive tax."
- "MBTA apologizes for crippling Red Line derailment, service restored," by Matt Stout and Bob McGovern, Boston Herald: "The T announced shortly after 5:20 p.m. - exactly 8 hours after a Red Line train derailed - that regular train service had resumed between Broadway, Andrew and JFK/UMass stations. Officials said no one was injured, and an investigation into 'all aspects' of the derailment is ongoing."
- "Pollack: Time to build consensus on South Coast Rail," by Jennette Barnes, SouthCoast Today: "It's time to build consensus on South Coast Rail, Massachusetts Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack told a largely sympathetic audience Wednesday at a meeting hosted by business and community leaders. She said the plan needs to get specific fast, because you can't secure permits for a conceptual idea."
- "After 'infamous' party, Framingham creates task force to tackle Airbnb rentals," by Steve Annear, Boston Globe: "Officials in Framingham are putting together a special task force aimed at developing regulations for short-term rentals through services like Airbnb after a raucous party where hundreds of people gathered this month led to a heavy police response from multiple agencies and an officer was seriously injured headed to the scene. The group will look at both how houses and apartments are being rented out to guests and for how long."
- "Massachusetts Students Lead US in Advanced Placement Exams," by Collin Binkley, Associated Press: "Massachusetts edged out Maryland, where 31.2 percent of 2017 graduates scored a three or better, effectively meaning they passed. Nationally, 22.8 percent passed an exam."
- A Massachusetts connection in last night's CNN town hall audience: Michael Falcone (public affairs director at Planned Parenthood) was in the audience at the CNN Town Hall on the Florida school shooting. He graduated in 2004 from Marjory Stoneman Douglas and grew up in Parkland, Florida.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY -- to state Rep. Sean Garballey of Arlington.
THE HOME TEAMS DID NOT PLAY YESTERDAY
FRESH OUT OF THE GATE - THE LATEST HORSE RACE PODCAST EPISODE: CommonWealth Magazine's Michael Jonas descends on the bunker to explain the recent surprise in the Suffolk County District Attorney race, while political observer Josh Gee calls in from New York to dish on frugging (fundraising under the guise of research). Then, Steve and Lauren break down a potentially confusing ballot question regarding the repeal of the transgender accommodations law. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud
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