Happening today:
9:30 a.m. | Gov. Maura Healey joins Lt. Gov. Driscoll, Administration and Finance Secretary Gorzkowicz, Education Secretary Tutwiler and local officials to make an announcement "related to affordability in Massachusetts." Sources tell MASSterList the governor is expected to reveal her tax relief bundle before administration officials tour the Y Academy. | Demakes Family YMCA, Community Room, 40 Neptune Boulevard, Lynn
10 a.m. | Former Boston mayor and U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh is scheduled to deliver keynote remarks at the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport ribbon-cutting for its hospitality training center. | Marquee Room, Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport, 450 Summer St., Boston
10 a.m. | Mass. Gaming Commission holds a roundtable discussion to delve into the issue of sports betting marketing affiliates with operators, third-party marketing affiliates, responsible gambling advocates and others to discuss the industry and various compensation arrangements and agreements in other states, how marketing affiliates and their compensation arrangements impact the promotion of responsible gaming and consumer choice, and how regulation impacts the market
11 a.m. | Boston Mayor Wu is a guest on "Radio Boston." | WBUR-FM 90.9
11:30 a.m. | The first meeting of the Governor's Advisory Council on Black Empowerment alongside Lt. Gov. Driscoll privately. The council, led by co-chairs will be Tanisha Sullivan, president of the NAACP Boston, and Anthony Richards, vice president of equitable business development for the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, will advise the administration on "issues related to the economic prosperity and wellbeing of Massachusetts' Black community, including education, health care, housing and workforce development," Healey's office said. | Governor's Office
2 p.m. | Gov. Healey meets privately with legislative leaders after returning to Massachusetts from a family vacation in Florida. | Room 356
Gov. Maura Healey puts her money where her mouth is this week when she reveals her much-anticipated inaugural state budget and accompanying tax relief plan.
The two major spending proposals will be the first concrete steps by the two-month-old Healey administration toward delivering on campaign promises to make Massachusetts more affordable for strapped Bay Staters.
The first-term governor had teased this Wednesday for the big reveal on her inaugural budget and accompanying tax relief proposal, which her administration has said is intended to cut costs in a state where housing and child care expenses are among the highest in the nation.
But the wait for details on Healey’s vision for cutting costs appears to be ending Monday — two days ahead of schedule, sources close to the administration confirmed to MASSterList. The governor is expected to reveal the plan in a Monday-morning announcement in Lynn where she’s slated to visit kids at the Y Academy, according to her public itinerary.
The budget is still reportedly on track to debut March 1.
Administration officials last week already let slip parts of the spending pitch that would deliver a bump in local aid amounting to a nearly 10% increase in education funding and a 2% boost in unrestricted cash for cities and towns.
Healey reveals her spending priorities at a times when state coffers have been fattened by massive COVID-era federal relief disbursements, a spate of historic tax revenue hauls and an anticipated $1 billion raise in annual revenue to be raised through the state’s newly approved millionaire’s tax.
But it’s unclear how the Democratic state Legislator will welcome Healey’s proposal.
Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano, who holds a powerful grip the state’s purse strings and budget priorities, has been noncommittal on supporting relief proposals this year. The Quincy Democrat has voiced concerns over a “changed” economic outlook that could signal hesitance on Beacon Hill.
Healey serves up big boost to education funding
Gov. Maura Healey has already pinpointed education as a major priority for her administration, teeing up a nearly 10% increase in school aid for cities and towns ahead of her big budget reveal later this week, reports The Boston Herald. The freshman Democratic governor this week will lay out her administration’s major spending priorities with a tax relief package coming out alongside her first state budget.
Clock ticking for Ukrainian refugees in Massachusetts, U.S.
One year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many of those who sought refuge from the war in the United States are staring down another threat — the rapidly approaching expiration date on their legal status to stay here. The humanitarian patrol granted to many Ukrainians now living in Massachusetts and across the country granted permission for them to remin in the U.S. for a year minus two days. That clock runs out on April 16, writes Sarah Betancourt for GBH.
Off track: Safety warning system for commuter rail behind schedule
Technology federally mandated to for installation along the commuter rail to prevent train accidents that is already several years behind schedule won’t be ready for at least another year, writes Christian M. Wade of The Eagle Tribune. MBTA officials say installation of the rail safety system is about 72% complete and they expect to finish the project by the federal deadline in 2024.
When will this end? T commuter see no end to system woes
Transit riders continue to face an array of challenges clogging the daily commute. But as the MBTA tackles some of the issues — including a staffing problem — pointed out in a federal safety audit last year, new reasons arise for continued disruptions, slow zones and delays. Chris Lisinski of State House News Service reports the T can no longer blame continued cuts on a dispatcher shortage since staffing up.
Long COVID: Downtown Boston lags in pandemic recovery
Businesses in Boston’s outer ring are rebounding from the pandemic hit than its downtown, it appears.
Diti Kohli of The Boston Globe reports on real estate data showing 12 Greater Boston neighborhoods now have fewer empty storefronts than the Financial District. Some, data shows, are even outperforming pre-pandemic numbers.
A time to die: Lawmakers consider medically assisted dying
Beacon Hill once again is tasked at passing a medical aid in dying bill after the Supreme Judicial Court last year placed the responsibility squarely on lawmakers to consider the emotionally fraught subject. Jennifer Smith of Commonwealth Magazine writes on two bills that would establish a 10-step vetting process for adult patients with a terminal diagnosis of six months or less to live to be given life-ending medication to take if they choose it.
The struggle for rent control that works in Boston
City Council President Ed Flynn sat down with WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller this weekend where he laid out his view on a workable rent control policy and more as Boston Mayor Michelle Wu pushes her progressive agenda. Keller will sit down with Wu next week.
Meanwhile, WBUR’s Walter Wuthmann reports A trade group representing landlords is accusing the city of Boston of shielding emails related to the mayor’s rent control proposal.
Old enough: Essex County Sheriff drops hiring age due to ‘critical shortage’
Essex County Sheriff Kevin Coppinger says his department will drop its minimum age for newly hired correctional officers from 21 years old to 19 years and pay out $2,500 bonuses to new recruits as it tries to reverse long-term trends that have left the county’s jails understaffed, Jill Harmacinski of the Eagle-Tribune reports.
Turnout expectations low for Attleboro special mayoral election
Jim Hand of the Sun-Chronicle sets up Tuesday’s special mayoral election in Attleboro, the first of its kind in the city’s history, where four people are seeking to be elected mayor–though only until November. Election officials were already expecting low turnout figures even before a snowstorm entered the picture.
Meanwhile, some voters in New Bedford will choose a new city councilor in a special election on Tuesday and the New Bedford Light’s Arthur Hirsh reports Facebook posts from one of the candidates about transgender people have some saying he’s not fit for office.
Worcester says it can’t cover $8 million judgment against cops
The city of Worcester says it is prohibited from paying the $8 million judgment returned in a lawsuit against two police officers because of limits on indemnification contained in state law. The Telegram’s Brad Petrishen reports the new development could make a settlement in the case more likely.
Remembering John Olver, who left a mark on Western Mass. politics
It was a weekend of mourning for many in Western Mass. following the death late last week of former U.S. Rep. John Olver at the age of 86. Gov. Maura Healey and current members of the state congressional delegation were among those heralding the impact made by the Democrat, who represented the region at the State House and in Congress for 40 years in all.
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