POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: ROSENBERG’s return questioned — KENNEDY’s BIDEN faith — KOH hires another WALSH
02/06/2018 07:05 AM EDT
By Lauren Dezenski (ldezenski@politico.com; @LaurenDezenski) with Brent D. Griffiths (bgriffiths@politico.com; @BrentGriffiths)
GOOD MORNING MASSACHUSETTS.
ROSENBERG'S RETURN IN QUESTION - The heat has turned up on former state Senate President Stan Rosenberg - from both sides of the aisle. Criticism has ramped up in light of the Boston Globe's reporting this weekend that Rosenberg's husband Bryon Hefner had access to and influence over the Senate's business - despite Rosenberg's repeated (and continued) assurances that Hefner had no influence.
While those on Beacon Hill have by and large held off on publicly criticizing Rosenberg, this latest report has tipped the scales against him.
Some say he's not fit to return to the Senate presidency if the reports are true (like Gov. Charlie Baker and Democratic gubernatorial contender Setti Warren). Another Democratic contender for governor, Jay Gonzalez, who cut his teeth on Beacon Hill in Gov. Patrick's budget chief, is saying Rosenberg should step down from the Senate completely.
Meanwhile, state Senators Barbara L'Italien (who is also running for Congress) and Anne Gobi (who is not) are calling on the Senate to move on from Rosenberg - and to pick a new Senate President.
Rosenberg, for his part, says he maintains his trust in the current ethics investigation underway in his latest statement to reporters: "I did not allow Bryon Hefner to influence my actions and decisions as Senate President, or to influence the Senate's actions and decisions, despite any suggestions to the contrary. I continue to rely on the Senate Ethics Committee investigation to determine all the facts, and I look forward to its completion."
Rosenberg also recently pulled papers to run for reelection to the Senate.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: ldezenski@politico.com.
TODAY - Gov. Charlie Baker addresses the Massachusetts Brewers Guild's annual meeting in Norwood - House and Senate Ways and Means committee members kick off hearings on Gov. Charlie Baker's proposed budget - The Maynard & Hudson Democratic Town Committees and Marlborough Democratic City Committee hold a forum for the 12-person Democratic field vying to replace Rep. Niki Tsongas in the Third district.
DATELINE BEACON HILL -
- "Baker, other top pols back away from Stan Rosenberg," by Joshua Miller, Boston Globe: "A growing group of local politicians, including Governor Charlie Baker, publicly backed away from Senator Stanley C. Rosenberg Monday. Baker on Monday called the new allegations 'deeply concerning' and said if they are accurate, 'there's no way' the one-time Senate president should return to his former leadership post. Acting Senate President Harriette L. Chandler, a Worcester Democrat, said she is 'appalled by the allegations, if they're true.'"
- "After Flirting With Outsourcing, MBTA And Mechanics Reach A Deal," by Colin A. Young, State House News Service: "After months of butting heads, the MBTA and the union that represents its bus mechanics have come to terms on a new collective bargaining agreement, one that T officials say will save the system more than $60 million over the next decade, and that an organized labor official said marks 'a bellwether moment' for labor relations in Massachusetts."
- "Mayor Walsh Wonders How Long Senate Can Go Without Permanent President," by Andy Metzger, State House News Service: "A longtime House member who led the House Ethics Committee before winning the mayoralty in 2013, Walsh was asked about a Boston Globe report that as Senate president, Rosenberg had given his husband Bryon Hefner access to his Senate email despite public claims that a firewall existed to keep Hefner out of the Senate's business. 'The Senate's going to have to do their own questions of how long they do this for,' [Walsh said.] 'It's going to start to affect government.'"
DATELINE DC -
- "Kennedy Could Be the Democrats' Best Hope (But May Not Want to Be)," by Edward-Isaac Dovere, POLITICO Off Message Podcast: "Joe Kennedy says he's willing to consider running in 2020-if Oprah Winfrey asks him to be his running mate. Trump, 'to give him credit,' Kennedy said, 'had his finger on the pulse of something that most people didn't see or feel. Democrats need to do that, too.' In other words, though he campaigned hard for Clinton, he thinks Joe Biden would have won."
- FULL QUOTE FROM THE POD: "I was a very strong supporter of Mrs. Clinton's. I think she would have been a great president. I still am a strong supporter of hers. I do believe, however, that ... if it were a race in the last six weeks of the election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, I think Joe Biden probably would have been successful."
TRUMPACHUSETTS -
- "Mass. delegation to DACA: Republicans control your fate," by Akilah Johnson, Boston Globe: "'At this crossroads, it's really up to the Republican leadership,' said Representative Katherine Clark of Melrose. Political and immigration policy analysts say Democrats ceded much of their negotiating power by agreeing to end a three-day government shutdown after Congress failed to include a fix for the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, in last month's temporary budget deal."
- "Opponents, supporters react to Trump's offshore drilling plan," by Doug Fraser, Cape Cod Times: "Environmentalists, fishermen, and state governments are signaling their opposition to the Trump administration's proposed plan to reopen the ocean off Cape Cod and New England to oil and gas exploration. Governors of all the coastal Atlantic states, with the exception of Maine Gov. Paul LePage, have voiced their opposition to the proposal."
ON THE STUMP -
- CHALLENGER WATCH: GOP Sen. Pat O'Connor has a Democratic challenger for the Plymouth and Norfolk state senate seat: Political newcomer Democrat Katie McBrine.
- "Carvalho has pulled papers to run for state Senate seat," by Meghan E. Irons, Boston Globe: "State Representative Evandro Carvalho has pulled papers to compete in the special election for First Suffolk Senate district, which became vacant when former state senator Linda Dorcena Forry abruptly quit her job last month. Carvalho joins state Representative Nick Collins, who announced Friday ..."
THE TSONGAS ARENA -
NEW THIS MORNING - Dan Koh brings on John Walsh as grassroots advisor, from the Koh campaign: "Dan Koh ... announced that John Walsh will serve as his campaign's Grassroots Advisor. As Campaign Manager for Deval Patrick's first gubernatorial campaign, Walsh was one of the architects of a ground-breaking grassroots strategy that helped propel Patrick to victory and served as a template for the 2008 Obama campaign. Subsequently, Walsh served as the chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party from 2007 to 2013. ... In addition to Walsh, Koh announced the hiring of four full-time Field Organizers: Ryan Kangas, Tyler Wilkinson, Justin Mun, and Andrew Brockwell."
THE WARREN REPORT -
- "Warren demands bipartisan solution as health center crisis looms," by Jennifer Smith, Dorchester Reporter: "Community health centers are edging ever closer to a 'funding cliff' that would severely limit their ability to provide critical local care services, and US Sen. Elizabeth Warren this week leveled a sharp critique at congressional Republicans who she says are the using the centers' funding 'as a bargaining chip.' Federal funding expired for community health centers in October 2017, bringing the providers ever closer to a dire shortage of funds, they wrote."
WOOD WAR - Herald: "UNTHINKABLE," "STOCK SHOCK," "A FEW BUCKS SHY." - Globe: "QUESTIONING ONE'S PATRIOTISM," "Fear, white knuckles grip Wall Street," "After defeat, uncertainties are popping up everywhere," "Stop selling Pats fans this Bill of goods on Butler," "Mother charged with killing boys," "T driver fires, he was using phone before crash, police say," "Hatch says he recruited Romney for Senate post."
THE LOCAL ANGLE -
- "Speakers at BCC hearing seek tweaks in state cannabis rules," by Caroline Bonnivier Snyder, the Berkshire Eagle: "Keep the 'little guy' in the running for revenues from the state's emerging cannabis industry. That was a key message Monday when speakers critiqued draft regulations shaped by the 5-month-old Cannabis Control Commission. Two of the panel's members, Steven J. Hoffman and Kay Doyle, came to Berkshire Community College for the first of 10 public hearings across the state, kicking off a comment period that closes Feb. 15. "
- "2015 letter belies pope's claim of ignorance on priest abuse allegations," by Nicole Winfield, Associated Press: "Pope Francis received a victim's letter in 2015 that graphically detailed how a priest sexually abused him and how other Chilean clergy ignored it, contradicting the pope's insistence that no victims had come forward to denounce the coverup, the letter's author and members of Francis' sex-abuse commission said. The fact that Francis received the eight-page letter, which a commission member said was delivered by Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, challenges his assertion that he has 'zero tolerance' for sex abuse and coverups."
-"Mass. 'selfie kid' on viral Super Bowl fame: 'My phone just exploded'," by Kevin Slane, Boston.com: "During Justin Timberlake's Sunday night performance, the pop star walked through the crowd and came across a teenage boy with a phone in hand. Thanks to Timberlake, that boy, whom Good Morning America identifies as 13-year-old Ryan of Scituate, got a selfie with the star - and loads of internet fame."
-"Boston FBI chief urged agents to stay focused after Comey firing," by Martin Finucane, Boston Globe: "The head of the Boston FBI office asked his agents to 'stay focused' during these 'surprising and tumultuous times' after learning that President Trump had fired FBI director James Comey last year, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information Act to the Lawfare website. Lawfare said it sought the e-mails after the White House claimed, in the wake of Comey's firing, that the rank and file at the FBI had lost confidence in Comey and that the FBI was in turmoil. Lawfare reported that, rather than what the White House had suggested, 103 pages of records obtained under the FOIA indicated there was 'shock' and 'profound sadness' at the bureau at Comey's removal. "
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Webster state Rep. Joseph McKenna.
THE HOME TEAMS DID NOT PLAY
- ICYMI: THE HORSE RACE - Linda Dorcena Forry is out, Ayanna Pressley is in and Beth Lindstrom, John Kingston, and Geoff Diehl fight for the cash in this week's episode of The Horse Race. Plus, Jennifer Smith of the Dorchester Reporter joins us in the studio and a surprise appearance from a familiar voice explains -- you guessed it -- polls polls polls. Subscribe and listen on iTunes andSound Cloud
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