Happening Today:
9:15 a.m. | Massachusetts Gaming Commission holds a public hearing to accept input on nearly 10 sets of regulations related to sports betting and the sports betting licensing process.
10 a.m. | Massachusetts Gaming Commission resumes its review of the six applications it received for mobile sports betting licenses that will not be tied to an existing casino or slots parlor.
10:30.....Congressman Richard Neal, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Springfield Technical Community College President John Cook and Springfield Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Amanda Pham hold a press conference to announce federal funding for Springfield Technical Community College.
11:30 a.m. | Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance hosts a press conference at the Hampshire House with Dan Winslow of the New England Legal Foundation, Greg Moore of Americans for Prosperity in New Hampshire, Nick Murray of Maine Heritage Policy, Rob Roper and Meg Hanson of the Ethan Allen Institute in Vermont, Mike Stenhouse of Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity, and Bryce Chinault of the Yankee Institute in Connecticut.
12 p.m. | Health care workers at Faulkner Hospital hold a walkout during their lunch break to protest wages and staffing levels.
12:30 p.m. | Gov. Maura Healey swears in Lauren Jones as labor and workforce development secretary and Yvonne Hao as housing and economic development secretary in the Governor's Office.
Things may seem to be settling down some.
Gov. Maura Healey is now more than a week into her new job. The Legislature has comfortably slipped back into a pattern of low-key informal sessions as lawmakers wait for leadership to dole out committee assignments. And much of the work of bill filing and budget preparation has moved behind closed doors.
But for people like Attorney General-elect Andrea Campbell, things are just getting started.
Campbell will officially be inaugurated on Wednesday, with an event planned at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center to mark the occasion of her becoming the first Black woman and first woman of color to be attorney general and hold statewide office in Massachusetts.
Campbell has reported raising $117,500 to pay for the celebration from a mix of businesses, individuals, unions, law firms and other entities who are allowed under state law to give unlimited funds for such purposes.
Campbell voluntarily capped contributions to her inaugural fund at $10,000 and reported 18 total donations, including nine donors who maxed out at $10,000.
Max contributors to the Friends of Andrea Campbell Inaugural Committee include Mackay Construction Services, AG Breitenstein of Folx Health, Davio’s, Robert Hogan of Watertown, the Kraft Group, LIUNA political action committee, New England Regional Carpenters, retired founder of Beacon Health Strategies Elizabeth Pattullo, and MassINC chairman Greg Torres.
The sum total is a far cry from the nearly $1.8 million Gov. Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll raised in contributions capped at $25,000 to throw their TD Garden bash, but does feature some of the same donors.
Treasurer Deb Goldberg, Secretary of State William Galvin and Auditor-elect Diana DiZoglio will also take their oaths Wednesday. But Campbell is the only statewide elected candidate aside from Healey and Driscoll who appears to be raising separate money to fund an inaugural.
For Goldberg and Galvin, these types of festivities are becoming old hat, while DiZoglio is planning an event at her alma mater Methuen High School on Wednesday night.
— Celebrating Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Days after unveiling “The Embrace” on Boston Common to commemorate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., Boston civic and political leaders gathered for the traditional MLK Day breakfast at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center yesterday. It was the first in-person breakfast since the start of the pandemic. Gov. Maura Healey spoke about her administration’s efforts to promote equity throughout state government: “The question is simple, but it was at the core of his life’s work: fundamentally to recognize the dignity and the worth and potential of every single person, to lift that up, to acknowledge it, to support it. And that’s what we must do together as a community.” Meanwhile, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu blasted what she described as growing hate and extremism. The Globe’s Matt Yan has more from the breakfast.
…And here’s more from the day from around the state:
- Protesters interrupt Lynn MLK breakfast – The Daily Item
- Rollins, McGovern speak at annual MLK Worcester community breakfast – Telegram & Gazette
- 60 years later, SSU revisits MLK’s Dream – Gloucester Daily Times
- ‘It was never just about this country’: Bristol CC celebrates MLK’s legacy of service – The Herald News
- ‘Our call to action’: Dozens gather to celebrate MLK Jr. Day at Greenfield Community College – Greenfield Recorder
— The race for MassGOP chair is on
If Keller’s column (above) today caught your attention, the Herald’s Matthew Medsger has a roundup of the campaigning to take the reins of the MassGOP for the next two-year election cycle. That includes pitches from challengers Amy Carnevale and Christopher Lyon, who along with party vice chairman Jay Fleitman, are attempting to wrestle the chairmanship away from Jim Lyons.
— Tarr a happy warrior fighting an uphill battle on Beacon Hill
One man who has to live with the consequences of the MassGOP’s shrinking influence on Massachusetts politics is Sen. Bruce Tarr, the veteran Gloucester Republican and Senate minority leader who counts just three members in his GOP caucus. Tarr spoke with The Salem News’s Christian Wade about what it’s like to be a Republican in the legislature when you don’t have the votes to swing any one debate, and how he plans to use what influence he can muster to shape the debate for the next two years.
— The challenges of day care summed up in one story of closing
After 20 years and having survived the COVID pandemic, Tewksbury day care Pattikakes is shutting its doors. The weight of staffing shortages, an inability to offer competitive wages and benefits to educators and an unwillingness to ask families to pay more in tuition finally caught up to owner Patti MacGillivray, writes the Globe’s Katie Johnston. While this is just one center in the Merrimack Valley, the challenges are not unique in an industry that has the attention of policymakers. But how much lawmakers can and will do to help. remains to be seen.
— Hydro-Quebec is still standing by
As offshore wind developers have raised red flags about the economics of the contracts they entered into before inflation and other changing factors, CommonWealth Magazine’s Bruce Mohl reports that Hydro-Quebec is still ready to fulfill its end of the bargain it struck years ago as soon as the hurdles to building a transmission line from Canada to Massachusetts to bring the electricity south can be overcome.
— Who is Yvonne Hao?
As she prepares to take her oath of office today, the Globe’s Shirley Leung looks at Gov. Healey’s new economic development chief Yvonne Hao’s background and why Hao might be a powerhouse you just never heard of.
— Beverly company offered job to West Wing Jan. 6 witness
Transcripts recently released by Congress show that a Beverly company with close ties to former President Donald Trump offered a job to a key witness in the Jan. 6 insurrection probe even as she was in the midst of providing testimony about her time in the West Wing. Paul Leighton of the Salem News reports Cassidy Hutchinson told investigators she received a job offer from Red Curve Solutions in Beverly, which is led by CEO Bradley Crate, who has been listed in campaign filing as treasurer for Trump’s 2024 campaign committee. Red Curve Solutions also handles campaign finance compliance for many Massachusetts Republicans, including former Gov. Charlie Baker.
— Do over: Current debate over city status echoes history in Saugus
As the chair of the Saugus Select Board leads the push to adopt a city form of government, the Item’s Charlie McKenna recaps the two previous and ultimately unsuccessful efforts to alter the community’s charter to make it a city. Voters shot down proposals in 1983 and 2009.
— Greenfield public schools see steep drop in enrollment
Greenfield Mayor Roxann Wedegartner is sounding the alarm as the city’s school district saw enrollment drop by another 10 percent this year, extending a decade-long trend. The Recorder’s Mary Byrne reports Wedegartner said the numbers, driven by demographics as well as increased use of School Choice, are a wake-up call to redouble efforts to improve school performance.
— Dartmouth officials latest to blast state’s new septic regulations
Officials in the South Coast town of Dartmouth are the latest to take aim at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s proposed new septic regulations, saying the rules are not supported by science and could cause major financial hardships for many property owners. Grace Ferguson of The New Bedford Light has the details on pushback against the proposed rule changes that are already causing freakouts on Cape Cod and elsewhere.
MORE HEADLINES:
Metro
Melrose teachers vote to ratify new contract – The Boston Globe
Massachusetts
F is for flag: Many area towns’ banners judged harshly in national survey – Daily Hampshire Gazette
National
Maryland lawmakers seek to remake the state’s health delivery system – The Washington Post