Happening Today:
11 a.m. | Gov. Maura Healey testifies before the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight to pitch her plan to create a housing secretary under a new Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Lt. Gov. Driscoll also plans to testify. | Gardner Auditorium
9:30 a.m. | The Boston Athletic Association President Jack Fleming joined by Mayor Wu will announce a new sponsorship partner for the Boston Marathon at the New England headquarters for Bank of America. | Downtown Boston
10 a.m. | Sen. Warren tours Nurtury Early Education, where she will discuss federal legislation she filed to expand access to affordable child care and boost investment in the industry. | Nurtury Center at Horadan Way, 38 Horadan Way, Mission Hill
11 a.m. | The Joint Committee on Ways and Means holds next hearing on Gov. Healey's $55.5 billion fiscal 2024 budget with a focus on environment and energy, and transportation investments. | UMass Dartmouth, Carney Library, Grand Reading Room
11 a.m. Treasurer Goldberg and her Office of Economic Empowerment hold a briefing with members of the Legislature on "Baby Bonds" to be created at birth and accessible in adulthood for asset-building investments, like attending post-secondary education, buying a home or starting a business.
3 p.m. | Child care advocates meet to lobby for legislation to create a "Children's Cabinet." A bill by Reps. Khan and Cabral and Sen. DiDomenico (S 79 and H 189) calls for the Cabinet to include the secretaries and commissioners of the major executive offices and agencies that serve children. | Room 428
Beacon Hill gets busy for Gov. Maura Healey this week where lawmakers finally get down to business vetting three of her biggest policy proposals yet.
She could also put pen to paper to sign her first major measure into law.
A $1.1 billion bill addressing “time-sensitive” needs hit her desk last Thursday after the House and Senate pieced together a mishmash of weeks-old Healey legislation attempting to deal with expiring pandemic-era programs.
It includes three months of funding to help families avoid a so-called “hunger-cliff” after an abrupt shutoff of enhanced federal nutrition benefits and would fully fund school breakfast programs through June.
Hearings are also scheduled on the governor’s proposals to create a housing secretary, a nearly $1 billion tax relief bill and to continue vetting her first budget.
It’s a shift in pace for what’s been a particularly slow start to the legislative session — at least when adding up the “imperfect metric” of number of laws made, according to State House News.
Healey’s pitch for a standalone housing secretary is up for a hearing on Monday.
Delivering on a campaign promise, Healey included nearly $1 billion for a housing secretary in her first budget as governor and filed legislation to make it official, but first the Legislature must approve the executive office shakeup under Article 87 of the state Constitution.
There’s been no vocal opposition to Healey’s plan, but a series of statutorily laid out deadlines means it could be as long as 10 weeks before she gets the OK to move ahead.
Healey’s energy, environment and transportation investments also get a closer look on Monday when House and Senate budget writers continue hearings on the governor’s $55.5 billion spending plan for the coming fiscal year.
The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs is in line for a 24% funding increase.
She would also funnel millions to make strides on long-promised transportation expansions including a rail link between the MBTA’s Red and Blue Lines, a passenger train extending service past Worcester to western Massachusetts, and another study into low-income T fares.
Healey’s roughly $1 billion tax package gets its day on Tuesday. Her proposal pitches a new $600-per-dependent tax credit for parents and caregivers with larger breaks for renters and seniors, while tripling the estate tax threshold to $3 million and slashing short-term capital gains tax rates.
It’s received mixed reviews from the right and left, but lawmakers are certain to rewrite it to leave their mark.
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MBTA watch 🚇
Days since the last derailment, fire, falling debris, or critical incident: 5
Days with localized speed restrictions: 17
Days without “normal” weekday subway service: 278
On Jan. 5, Gov. Healey pledged to hire a new MBTA Transportation Safety Chief within 60 days. It has now been 81 days without the position being filled.
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Power play: Mariano won’t comply with State auditor review
House Speaker Ron Mariano sent a scathing letter to the state auditor dismissing her inquiry into legislative affairs and accusing her of wielding her office for political gain during a weekend appearance on WCVB’s “On the Record.” Auditor Diana DiZoglio, a former state senator and frequent critic of Beacon Hill power structures is unlikely to back down without a fight.
The Boston Globe | GBH | WCVB
Third time’s the charm: Warren to run again
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, is once again asking Massachusetts voters to send her back to Washington for another six-year term, telling them twelve years into her service there is still much work to do.
In the running: MBTA eyes former Long Island commuter rail chief for GM
Now topping the list of potentials for the MBTA’s next general manager is Phillip Eng, the former president of the Long Island commuter rail system, writes Taylor Dolven and Samantha J. Gross for The Boston Globe. Previous reports have also put an Ottawa transit head in the running. But Jarred Johnson at Commonwealth Magazine thinks its time to pause the GM search for now and give interim GM Jeff Gonneville the resources he needs, saying “all the hype around it is at best a distraction and, at worst, obscures the difficult work needed to turn around the system.”
The Boston Globe | Commonwealth Magazine
OK NY: Shade for Boston in rebrand of classic New York slogan
A look at New York City’s failed attempt to upgrade the “I HEART NY” slogan, meant to be for the whole state, to “WE HEART NYC” is coupled with some Boston dissing.
You can bank on it: BAA names its new marathon sponsor
The Boston Athletic Association will announce its new sponsorship partner for the Boston Marathon at 9:30 a.m. on Monday. John Hancock has stepped down after backing the race for 37 years. Grant Welker of the Boston Business Journal notes the location choice for presser might hint at the next race sponsor — the iconic building across from South Station in the Financial District is the New England headquarters of Bank of America.
The marathon’s 127th race will take place on April 17 with a new sponsor in tow.
Slippery slope: Landlords fear rent control just the beginning
It’s not the 10% rental cap pitched in Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s rent control policy that’s irking landlords, it’s what they fear will follow: the kind of blunt force rent control regime that squeezed landlords in Boston and neighboring cities decades ago, writes Andrew Brinker for The Boston Globe.
Rep. Katherine Clark says nation ‘way behind’ on cutting child care costs
Congress is “way behind” on its plan to cut child care costs for families, Rep. Katherine Clark, the second ranking Democrat in the U.S. House, told WBZ-TV political analyst Jon Keller for his Sunday show. She placed the blame firmly on a lack of Republican support.
You can thank Ben Affleck for Sunday’s T delays
The 20-minute delays on Red Line shuttle buses on Friday due to “a movie filking near city hall” were the work of Matt Damon and Casey Affleck and their crime-caper film on Sunday. It’s not an atypical scenario on the T, but the reason behind it was a departure from the MBTA’s typical faux pas.
Digital boot camp: Hospital system program makes online health records more accessible
A pilot program at Pentucket Medical Riverwalk in Lawrence connecting “digital access coordinators” with patients to help them access online health tools like electronic health records, registration forms, and home blood pressure cuffs is delivering on the Mass General Brigham system’s health equity goals and making digital records more accessible for older and bilingual patients.
The Salem five: Witch City voters to whittle mayoral field
Dustin Luca of the Salem News has one last look at the five candidates hoping to advance in Tuesday’s special preliminary election to serve out the rest of former Mayor Kim Driscoll’s term in office — a field that includes a former mayor, and Driscoll’s former chief of staff. The top two vote-getters from Tuesday will face off in May.
Spilka goes West, talks boosting rural aid
During a Friday visit to the Mass. Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Senate President Karen Spilka promised her chamber would “take a good look” at dramatically increasing the amount of state aid that goes to rural school districts and expressed support for a controversial plan to house the homeless in a vacant dorm at the Mass. College of Liberal Arts. The Berkshire Eagle’s Sten Spinella reports the trip wasn’t all business for the senate prez: She also visited with her sister, who is an artist-in-residence at Mass MoCA.
Bristol County Sheriff’s Office lowers CO hiring age to 18
Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux says his office will lower the minimum age required to become a corrections officer in the county’s jails from 19 to 18 in the hopes of improving its recruiting odds. Heroux followed the lead of Essex County Sheriff Kevin Coppinger, who announced a similar move in February.
Views vary on Nantucket beachers going topless
Beach season is still a couple months away, but the debate over whether Nantucket is all atwitter over the arrival of island-wide topless beaches is well under way. After the Herald’s Joe Dwinell weighed in with the thoughts of one islander dead-set against the move to allow women to go sans top — which town meeting approved last spring — the Nantucket Current popped up an online poll that found a majority of islanders are greeting the new nudity with a shrug.
The Boston Herald | Nantucket Current
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Send tips to Erin Tiernan Editor@MASSterList.com. For advertising and general inquiries, contact Dylan Rossiter: Publisher@MASSterList.com. Click here to post a job on the MASSterList Job Board. Follow @MASSterList on Twitter.
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