POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: Calls for ROSENBERG’s departure — STATE POLICE reform update — WELD 2020?
Calls for ROSENBERG’s departure — STATE POLICE reform update — WELD 2020?
05/03/2018 07:16 AM EDT
By Lauren Dezenski (ldezenski@politico.com; @LaurenDezenski) with Brent D. Griffiths (bgriffiths@politico.com; @BrentGriffiths)
GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Another hot and sunny day on tap before possible thunderstorms roll in this afternoon.
CALLS FOR ROSENBERG'S DEPARTURE COMING FROM INSIDE (AND OUTSIDE) THE SENATE - Pressure on former state Senate President Stan Rosenberg to leave the Senate has amped up, including from two key progressive senators who were once his close allies. Today the Senate enters a day of caucusing followed by formal session to determine how to address the findings of the special investigation into Rosenberg and his husband Bryon Hefnerreleased yesterday.
The independent investigators concluded Rosenberg did not violate any formal Senate rules, and therefore would not consider recommending expulsion. But as the investigator noted, there was a "significant failure of judgment and leadership by Senator Rosenberg in his role and Senate President ... Rosenberg failed to protect the Senate from his husband, whom he knew was disruptive, volatile and abusive."
The findings detailed in the report were enough for a constellation of key players in and around Beacon Hill to call on Rosenberg to step down. That chorus includes AG Maura Healey (who was the first yesterday to call on Rosenberg to resign immediately), Gov. Charlie Baker, and state Senators Jamie Eldridge, Paul Feeney, and Barbara L'Italien (who is also currently running for Congress). Both incoming state Senate President Karen Spilka and current Senate President Harriette Chandler expressed concern at the report, and as Spilka noted, "It is of the utmost importance that the Senate now come together, act decisively, and begin the process of restoring the public trust."
Eldridge detailed his concern in a lengthy post on his Facebook page late last night - " Senator Rosenberg prioritized his position as Senate President, his personal life, and his husband, above the public interest that comes with being an elected official, the State Senate, and State House employees. ... I call on Senator Stan Rosenberg to resign from his position as State Senator, effective immediately. In addition, I urge the Senate Committee on Ethics to recommend stronger punishment for Senator Rosenberg, including immediate censure, and suspension of Senator Rosenberg as a State Senator."
Feeney also called on Rosenberg to resign immediately, citing the report's findings of Hefner's behavior. "It is clear that the public trust has been violated and innocent people were put in harm's way due to the senator's 'failure to protect the Senate from his husband whom he knew was disruptive, volatile, and abusive.'"
Reached by email yesterday evening, Rosenberg declined to comment on the ethics investigation's findings.
Externally, there is another factor to consider: Whether Rosenberg goes forward in filing to run for re-election, which he has said he planned to do. Monday was the deadline for Rosenberg to file signatures with town clerks in order to qualify for the September ballot - which he did file, the clerks in Northampton and Amherst confirmed to me. But that doesn't mean Rosenberg is officially on the ballot for re-election. There's still a final step with the Secretary of State's office where Rosenberg could pull the plug should he decide against seeking a return to the body.
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 joins LG Karyn Polito who will sign final Community Compacts for all 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts. They will also proclaim May as Municipal Month in the Commonwealth with local officials, mayors, town managers, members of the Massachusetts Municipal Association and members of the Legislature at the State House - Freedom for All Massachusetts, the coalition seeking to uphold the state's transgender nondiscrimination law at the ballot in November, will officially launch its campaign and unveil the broad coalition of early support for the law. Attendees will include House Speaker Robert DeLeo - Sen. Ed Markey addresses the New England Council's luncheon in the Seaport.
ON THE STUMP -
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK - "Congressional Black Caucus PAC endorsed State Rep. Juana Matias for Congress in Massachusetts' 3rd District," from the Matias campaign: "Today, the Congressional Black Caucus PAC endorsed State Rep. Juana Matias for Congress in Massachusetts' 3rd District, calling her the best champion for working people in the race."
- "Pressley says she will reject corporate PAC money in her race against Capuano," by Michael Levenson, Boston Globe: "Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley said Wednesday that she will not accept corporate donations in her race against Representative Michael E. Capuano, a pledge designed to paint the 10-term Somerville Democrat as beholden to special interests. Pressley said she would encourage Capuano to join her in refusing donations from corporate political action committees."
- Auditor Bump secures signatures for ballot, from the Bump campaign: "State Auditor Suzanne Bump today secured her name on the ballot this fall by filing more than 6,000 signatures with the Secretary of State's elections office. She is uncontested in the Democratic primary election. Grassroots volunteers from across the Commonwealth collected signatures in an organized effort to support Bump's re-election bid. The official tally of certified signatures is 6,694, well above the required 5,000."
- Harshbarger wades into Middlesex DA's race, per the Donna Patalano campaign: "Scott Harshbarger, who served two terms as both Middlesex District Attorney and state Attorney General, will endorse Donna Patalano's campaign to be the next Middlesex District Attorney at an event at Todd & Weld."
- "Lindsey Esser ends state Senate bid, citing 'serious health issue'," by Jim Russell, MassLive.com: "Monson Republican Lindsey Esser, 34, has ended her state Senate bid, with Esser's campaign saying a 'serious health issue' is why. Esser had been vying to unseat Sen. Anne Gobi, D-Spencer."
DATELINE BEACON HILL -
- "Rosenberg report portrays dysfunction and Bryon Hefner's volatility," by Yvonne Abraham, Boston Globe: "According to the report, Rosenberg was convinced he could not contain the chaos Hefner brought to Beacon Hill, believed him to be mentally ill, witnessed him sexualizing and berating others. Yet the former Senate president gave his husband immense access and influence - even as others counseled him that doing so was dangerous - making a mockery of the so-called firewall Rosenberg had vowed to erect between his personal and professional lives. The report finds that Rosenberg's lapses had 'destructive' consequences for the Senate."
- "State Police to activate GPS in cruisers, restructure staff," by Kay Lazar and Matt Rocheleau, Boston Globe: "More than 1,000 State Police cruisers will be tracked through a GPS system, allowing top brass to more effectively deploy troopers and keep tabs on them, officials announced Wednesday as part of a slate of reforms to the beleaguered police force. Governor Charlie Baker and State Police Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin confirmed the agency was also dissolving the problem-plagued Troop E, which had patrolled the Massachusetts Turnpike, and reassigned troopers to other units."
- "Automatic voter registration in Massachusetts? Former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson lobbies state Republicans to say yes," by Shira Schoenberg, MassLive.com: "Former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson is in Massachusetts this week, lobbying the state's Republicans to back an automatic voter registration bill. Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a bill, H.4320, under which the Registry of Motor Vehicles and MassHealth would automatically register citizens to vote when they complete a RMV or MassHealth transaction. A person would be notified and could choose to opt out. "
- "House Speaker Robert DeLeo supports 'extreme risk' gun bill," by Shira Schoenberg, MassLive.com: "House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, on Wednesday endorsed a bill that would let a judge temporarily confiscate someone's guns if the person poses a danger to themselves or others. DeLeo pledged to bring the bill to a vote in the House. 'This isn't about the politics, it's not about scoring more points or partisanship,' DeLeo said. 'It's about protecting our students and it's about preventing crisis.'"
- "Post-Mount Ida, state seeks more private college oversight," by Kathleen McKiernan, Boston Herald: "Amid the fallout over the closure of Mount Ida College, the state Department of Higher Education is moving to create more government oversight over private colleges and universities to protect students at schools at risk of shutting down, officials announced yesterday. Education Secretary James Peyser and Department of Higher Education Commissioner Carlos Santiago are expected to propose within 30 days regulatory or legislative changes to Gov. Charlie Baker and the Board of Higher Education to enable the department to protect Massachusetts students at private schools in jeopardy of closing."
-"California and other states sue EPA over auto emissions rollbacks," by Alex Guillén and Anthony Adragna, POLITICO: "California and more than a dozen other states are suing EPA over Administrator Scott Pruitt's recent decision to roll back greenhouse gas emissions standards for cars. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa .... Massachusetts ..."
DATELINE DC -
- "US Rep. Richard Neal seeks clarification on GOP tax law's pass-through deduction," by Shannon Young, MassLive.com: "U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, called on the Trump administration this week to clarify details surrounding the new pass-through deduction included in the Republican-backed tax overhaul law passed last year. Neal, the top Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, sent letters to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner David Kautter Tuesday asking for clarifying guidance on the deduction, which he argued has caused confusion among taxpayers."
2020 WATCH -
- "Bill Weld Lays Groundwork for 2020 Libertarian Presidential Run," by Matt Welch, Reason.com: "If you had asked most members of the Libertarian Party on election night 2016 whether vice presidential candidate Bill Weld would be central to the L.P.'s efforts in 2020, you may well have been held in violation of the Non-Aggression Principle.They were wrong. After announcing last November that "I'm going to stay L.P." and declaring the party 'perfectly positioned to fill what's a growing need in the country,' Weld is now openly laying the groundwork for a 2020 presidential campaign."
JUST WAIT FOR THE MERCER ANONYMOUS ATTACK ADS TO BEGIN.
THE WARREN REPORT -
- "New poll shows Elizabeth Warren leading the N.H. Democratic primary field," by James Pindell, Boston Globe: "US Senator Elizabeth Warren has said she is focused on winning reelection in Massachusetts this year and not running for president in 2020 - but Democrats in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state, New Hampshire, sure like the idea. A new poll released Wednesday by the Suffolk University Political Research Center shows Warren as the front-runner for the next New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary."
MUST READ ARTICLE ABOUT A TRUMP CLONE WITH A PRIVILEGED UPBRINGING....NOTICE THAT DIEHL IS JUST ANOTHER REPUBLICAN CLONE SLOGANEERING WITHOUT SUBSTANCE...
- "Diehl brings his bid to topple Warren to Peabody," by Mary Markos, The Salem News: "State Rep. Geoff Diehl, a Republican running for US Senate, came to Peabody in a big red, white and blue bus with a message - He can do better than Sen. Elizabeth Warren. spoke of how he led a grassroots ballot campaign to repeal automatic gas hikes, prevailing with 53 percent of the statewide vote."
THE KENNEDY COMPOUND -
- "From family name to civil rights Congressman Joe Kennedy III talks with Sheedy," by Scott Calzolaio, MetroWest Daily News: "Milford TV's RJ Sheedy interviewed Congressman Joe Kennedy III Tuesday afternoon, where they touched on topics from his family name to civil rights."
MOULTON MATTERS -
- "More than half of Massachusetts has banned legal pot shops. Seth Moulton says that's a mistake," by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com:"Massachusetts is exactly two months away from the day that recreational marijuana will legally be able to be sold. However, the majority of the state's towns have acts to prohibit pot shops from opening within their borders."
WOOD WAR - Herald: "ROCK SOLID IN GRANITE STATE," "HEAT STROKE" - Globe: "'Failures of judgement,'" "GPS to track troopers as part of boost in oversight," "Super PAC aiding Trump not so super," "Turns out boomers aren't the retiring type."
THE LOCAL ANGLE -
- "Should Boston run UMass Boston? Walsh thinks it's an idea worth discussing," by Shirley Leung, Boston Globe: "The thought has crossed Marty Walsh's mind as the mayor watches the only public liberal arts university in Boston twist in the wind. It's always something: deep cost cutting, the sale of the former Bayside Expo Center, and now fears that flagship UMass Amherst may run roughshod over its often-overlooked sibling."
- "Boston makes little progress on school breakfast goal," by James Vaznis, Boston Globe: "Boston Superintendent Tommy Chang promised last September to nearly triple the number of schools that would provide free breakfasts in classrooms - a critical intervention in a city where hunger afflicts many students and can hurt academic achievement. But a report being issued Thursday found that Boston has made nearly no headway in achieving the goal, as slightly fewer than half of the system's approximately 55,000 students are eating breakfasts in class."
- "Northampton City Council to consider asking state legislature to lower local voting age to 16," by Lucas Ropek, MassLive.com: "The Northampton City Council may take steps to lower the voting age to 16 for local municipal elections. A resolution will be discussed at the Council's meeting Thursday that, if passed, would see the Council petition the state legislature to officially lower the voting age in Northampton."
MAZEL! - to Gregory Maynard and Kerry Richards, who got engaged this past weekend. Greg writes: "I asked her on the beach at St. George Island in Florida." Kerry is a former Legislative Director for state Rep. Smitty Pignatelli, and now works for the Kennedy School's Government Performance Laboratory. Greg is a campaign consultant who recently joined Novus Group. We met during the 2013 Boston Mayoral Campaign.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Associated Press scribe Andrew Miga.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes and No! The Red Sox edged out the Royals 5-4, but the Bruins lost to the Lightning 4-1.
CALL TO THE POST - FOR THE LATEST HORSE RACE PODCAST EPISODE: "We'll do it Lively." It's GOP week at The Horse Race. First, we recap the Republican state convention with CommonWealth Magazine's Michael Jonas. Then, some zesty candidate insight from two convention delegates: Ed Lyonsand Jon Fetherston. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud
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