POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: MARCH staging — POLL angling — AirBNB taxing

MARCH staging — POLL angling — AirBNB taxing

03/23/2018 07:22 AM EDT

By Lauren Dezenski (ldezenski@politico.com; @LaurenDezenski) with Brent D. Griffiths (bgriffiths@politico.com; @BrentGriffiths)

GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF!

PREPARING TO MARCH - As marchers around the country prepare for Saturday's March for Our Lives protests inspired by Parkland, Florida, students, three of Massachusetts' ascendant pols have different approaches for how they're taking on the day.

First, there's Attorney General Maura Healey. Healey, who enjoyed a high-profile boost from speaking at the Women's March in Boston last winter, will be in Washington D.C. this Saturday. Parents of Sandy Hook Elementary students asked Healey to march alongside them, she said (which she details here). "I want to tell the story of Massachusetts," Healey told me yesterday. "The strategies are simple: strong gun laws save lives."

Then there's Rep. Seth Moulton. His campaign is covering the round-trip train transport costs for 300 high school students traveling from Salem to Boston on Saturday morning. Moulton, meanwhile, plans to march in San Francisco, per his office - he's in the Golden State for a series of fundraisers in Los Angeles and San Francisco for his 19 congressional candidates from Saturday until Wednesday.

And then there's Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Warren plans to kick off the morning by greeting marchers in Boston at Madison Park Vocational High School at 10 a.m., where they'll stage before heading to the Boston Common. Warren then plans to head to Springfield to march there - it's just a coincidence that Springfield is also home to the Smith and Wesson Corporation, her campaign tells me.

Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: ldezenski@politico.com.

TODAY - The conference committee on criminal justice reform plans to hold a press conference related to its legislation, including state Senators William N. Brownsberger, Cynthia Creem, and Bruce E. Tarr, and state reps. Claire D. Cronin, Ronald Mariano, and Sheila C. Harrington - Gov. Charlie Baker will hold a cabinet meeting at the State House - Rep. Joe Kennedy III visits Child and Family Services, Inc. in Fall River, and participates in Vietnam War Veterans pinning ceremonies in Fall River and Foxboro.

ON THE STUMP -

HOT THIS MORNING - "WBUR Poll: Gov. Baker Maintains Big Leads Over Democratic Challengers" by Anthony Brooks, WBUR : "The survey of 504 registered voters (topline results, crosstabs) found that two-thirds of them have a favorable view of the governor, while a majority still have not heard of the three Democrats: Jay Gonzalez, Bob Massie or Setti Warren. ... what the WBUR poll found: overall support for Baker, but on individual policy questions, voters are less impressed, with only small minorities rating his job as 'excellent.' In several areas, including improving roads, reducing health care costs, addressing the opioid crisis or the high cost of housing, majorities rate his performance as just 'fair' or 'poor.' ... In other words, lots of people feel OK about Baker, even if few are genuinely excited about what he's actually done. Democrats believe that provides them with an opening."

TEAM SETTI WEIGHS IN - Spokesman Kevin Franck emails me: "This poll is the first to take a serious look under the hood of Baker's infamous poll numbers, and it's not good news for him. ...All around the country, Democrats are winning elections in places where we're not usually competitive. A blue wave is building and when that wave crashes in Massachusetts in November with Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Attorney General Maura Healey at the top of the ticket, Charlie Baker's record will catch up with him."

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DATELINE BEACON HILL -

- "Spilka followed Rosenberg playbook," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "Sen. Karen Spilka of Ashland appears to have followed the playbook of the former Senate president, Stan Rosenberg, in pulling together the votes she needed to become the chamber's next president. At a meeting with reporters outside the Senate president's office on Thursday, Spilka offered little in the way of a personal vision for what she wants to accomplish as Senate president. Instead, she stressed over and over again that she would share power with her colleagues, an approach pioneered by Rosenberg."

- "House approves Airbnb tax, regs," by Colin A. Young, State House News Service: "Trying to bring state law in line with the new ways in which people rent short-term lodging, the Massachusetts House on Thursday passed legislation to regulate and tax the short-term rental industry. Short-term rentals through websites such as Airbnb, HomeAway, and VRBO have grown in popularity over recent years, creating new revenue streams for property owners and giving travelers more options, but critics say the trend is changing neighborhoods and should be regulated in the same way hotels and motels are."

- "State bill would ease ways to register voters," by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: "The Massachusetts secretary of state is pushing legislation that would automatically register people to vote through interactions with the Registry of Motor Vehicles and MassHealth. Secretary William Galvin said in a statement Thursday that the bill, which would establish a system that would automatically register eligible residents to vote when they renewed their license at the registry or applied for MassHealth, would 'increase access and voter participation' in Massachusetts."

CHARLIE BAKER ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL!

- "How they got caught: Mass. State Police overtime scandal began with investigation of one trooper," by By Scott J Croteau, MassLive.com: "That first trooper investigated appears to be Eric Chin, according to reports from the Boston Globe. He was suspended without pay in April 2017 while he was investigated for receiving overtime cash for shifts he didn't work, the newspaper says."

CHARLIE BAKER'S FAILURE TO LEAD!

- "State business group warns of energy 'shortage'," by Michael P. Norton State House: "Another business group has joined those already clamoring to let more natural gas into the region, and indirectly clashing with renewable energy proponents who have become an aggressive lobbying force on Beacon Hill. In a March 12 letter to Gov. Charlie Baker and legislative leaders released on Tuesday, the Massachusetts Competitive Partnership said renewables are not coming online fast enough to keep up with demand for energy and the planned retirements of coal, oil and nuclear power sources."

ANOTHER CHARLIE BAKER BRAIN FART?

- "Retailers don't want to be Baker's $1B 'guinea pig,' group says," by Greg Ryan, Boston Business Journal: "The Retailers Association of Massachusetts is opposing a proposal to require retailers to hand over sales taxes on certain purchases to the state daily, rather than monthly."

CHARLIE BAKER IGNORED THE SOARING OVERTIME!

- "Senate Prez Chandler Calls Massachusetts State Police OT Scandal Criminal; Duo Of MSP Retirees Accused Of Fraud ID'd," by Evan Lips, New Boston Post: "Senate President Harriette Chandler is going where Governor Charlie Baker has yet to tread regarding an explosive Massachusetts State Police report accusing more than 20 state troopers of doctoring their overtime filings to haul in paychecks for work they never did. 'They're crimes, and it's something that I assume that the proper authorities will deal with,' the Worcester Democrat told Jim Braude and Margery Eagan during an interview with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday."

WOOD WAR - Herald: "DUEL IN DC" - Globe: "McMaster out, Bolton in at White House," "Boston Calling charges are dismissed," "WINDOW ON THE PAST," "Porn star's savvy has president playing defense," "The calm during the storm," "Energized and emboldened, teens lead the fight against gun violence."

THE LOCAL ANGLE -

- "Massachusetts May Extend The Life Of Controversial Ash Landfill In Saugus," by Craig LeMoult, WGBH News: "In 2011, Wheelabrator [he company that runs the incinerator] paid a $7.5 million settlement to the state for allegedly breaking environmental laws on the site in a lawsuit triggered by whistleblowers working for the company. Wheelabrator denied any wrongdoing. Now, the company is asking the state, once again, to let them keep the landfill open."

- "'Unusual' extortion case against two top aides to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh dismissed," by Gintautas Dumcius, MassLive.com: "A judge on Thursday dismissed a federal extortion case against two top aides to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. Prosecutors alleged that the two aides, Timothy Sullivan and Kenneth Brissette, illegally forced the organizers of the Boston Calling music festival into hiring union labor in 2014."

- "As Students Plan Another March For Gun Control, WBUR Poll Finds Widespread Support," by Max Larkin, WBUR: "As thousands of Massachusetts students are readying another march for gun control this Saturday, most voters stand with them. Seventy-three percent of respondents to a new WBUR poll (topline results, crosstabs) say they support the recent student activism. Even larger majorities favor some of the reforms that many students are calling for. Those positions, if made legally binding, would expand what are already among the nation's most comprehensive gun laws."

- "Adults marvel at youth-led gun control movement; Boston teens say it's about time," by Akilah Johnson, Boston Globe: "Buses from across the country will roll into the nation's capital Saturday, delivering tens of thousands of students and their families to the March for Our Lives, a rally against gun violence sparked by one of the deadliest school shootings in m'odern American history. The speakers? No one over 18."

- "Arroyo uses 70th birthday bash to pay bills from suspension," by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: "Cue the balloons, candles, cake . . . and checks to pay off the bills? Felix D. Arroyo, register of probate for Suffolk County and a former city councilor, is throwing himself a 70th birthday bash and asking for $70 to attend - to help lessen his tab against 'my unjust suspension last year.'"

- "Report shows jump in students living in private Dorchester housing," by Jennifer Smith, Dorchester Reporter: "After a year of near stagnant growth in enrollments, Boston's colleges and universities are now seeing higher numbers and just over 45 percent of all students in the city are now living off campus in private housing, according to the city's fourth annual Student Housing Trends report. Stemming mostly from the UMass Boston, Dorchester saw a boom in enrollments; based on city planning agency districts, it is now home to 2,894 students living in private housing off campus, up from roughly 750 in theneighborhood noted in the 2016-2017 report."

- "Steve Wynn Sells Remaining Shares in Wynn Resorts," by Chris Kirkham, Wall Street Journal: "Steve Wynn sold the remainder of his stake in Wynn Resorts Thursday evening, according to the company, part of a deal with two long-term institutional investors that will 'effectively eliminate his ownership' in the company."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Waltham Rep. Thomas Stanley and Foxboro Sen. Paul Feeney.

HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND - to Rep. Michael Finn of West Springfield, who celebrates on Saturday and Sunday birthday-ers Felice Belman, politics editor at the Boston Globe, and Beverley's own, Rep. Jerald Parisella.

THE HOME TEAMS DID NOT PLAY YESTERDAY!

FRESH OUT OF THE GATE - THE LATEST HORSE RACE PODCAST EPISODE: It's all about polls and emerging political power this week. First, Nichole Mossalam, co-chair of Our Revolution Massachusetts' Coordinating Committee, joins us to discuss ORMA's rise and what the brand new organization sees in its future. Then, Steve drops some serious polling insight - courtesy of his most recent WBUR poll - on Sen. Elizabeth Warren's Republican challengers and major policy initiatives on Beacon Hill. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud

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To view online:
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/massachusetts-playbook/2018/03/23/march-staging-poll-angling-airbnb-taxing-258439

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