HAPPENING TODAY:
9:30 | The Mass. Gaming Commission meets
11:00 | The House meets in an informal session | House Chamber
11:00 | The Senate meets without a calendar | Senate Chamber
12:00 | Two committees of the Health Policy Commission meet
3:00 | The Advisory Board to the Comptroller meets
Now that Sen. Marc Pacheco‘s made up his mind to leave the Legislature after 35 years, he leaves behind a very important duty — one that a colleague is still “miffed” he was passed over for.
We’re not talking about the subpoena power that comes with Pacheco’s current chairmanship of the Senate Post Audit and Oversight Committee, or his post helping to lead the Emergency Preparedness Committee. He’s the dean of the Senate, a title that largely amounts to running the inaugural session on the first day of each new term until senators eventually elect their president.
Besides enjoying center stage for the one day, past deans didn’t seem to do much with the role, but Pacheco’s prominently featured it in his press releases and even on his page of the Legislature’s website.
The qualification is longevity: Pacheco has served in the Senate since 1993. And while that’s just as long as Sen. Mark Montigny, the tiebreaker is that Montigny’s nine years younger in age. While Montigny is on track for all the splendor and glory of the deanship, provided he does pursue reelection and secures a 17th term, there’s another longtime senator who still has feelings about how it could’ve been him.
Sen. Michael Barrett first joined the Senate six years earlier, back in 1987. He then spent some time out of office, came back and was sworn in again in 2013 representing a new district. The Lexington Democrat described how he would have been the dean for the past 11 years if it weren’t for how, as he put it, he was a “victim of nefarious discrimination, or so I allege.”
The deanship always went to the “eldest senior member,” according to the rulebook. After Barrett’s return, the rule was suddenly changed to “longest continuously serving” — removing him from contention.
“It should have been the senator who started serving the earliest, which would have been me,” Barrett said this month. “But she [Senate President Therese Murray] discriminated against me and appointed Marc Pacheco.”
“I didn’t object, although I was slightly miffed,” he added.
The House still counts seniority based on first year of service. House Dean Kevin Honan‘s office said he’s running for reelection — but if he changes his mind, that position falls to Rep. Tom Walsh, who’s served two separate stints in office. — Sam Doran
Preliminary results say Milton votes ‘no’ on multifamily housing near MBTA station
Milton residents voted ‘no’ on Wednesday on a zoning plan for development of multifamily housing near the town’s public transit, based on preliminary results. The MBTA Communities Act, which 177 Mass. communities must follow, requires towns including Milton to create sustainable, multifamily zoning districts half a mile or less from a transit station — a move to address the regional housing crisis. Gov. Healey already threatened to cut funding if the town voted “no,” and unofficial results show there was less than a 1,000-vote difference between those “no” and “yes” votes. — WCVB
Changes to Senate ‘3C Compensation Plan’ include pay, benefit bumps for chamber’s staffers
Adjustments to the Senate’s “Comprehensive Classification and Compensation Plan” came from a 40-senator, closed-door caucus Wednesday, involving increases in pay, an expanded career ladder and changes to benefits to better recruit and retain Senate staffers. The changes would come out of the Senate’s FY24 budget account, reports MassLive’s John L. Micek, though there is no information now as to how much they would cost or if they’d require a bump in the Senate’s FY25 budget allocation. — MassLive
Report estimates Boston commercial property tax shortfall to be in the billions
A report published by the Boston Policy Institute and the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tufts University this morning estimates that Boston could see a “cumulative commercial property tax shortfall of $1.2B to $1.5B between 2025 and 2029,” reports the News Service’s Chris Lisinski. The report says that the popularity of remote work and high interest rates could put Boston at risk of losing some of its tax base by the end of the decade, as the commercial property market has been lagging, rental office buildings are marked down and one in five offices are vacant. The report details Boston’s vulnerability and potential answers to aid the city’s economic challenges. — State House News Service
Introducing the AI Task Force
Gov. Healey signed an executive order Wednesday creating the Artificial Intelligence Strategic Task Force, which will study AI and advise her administration on how the state can implement and encourage private sector AI use, reports Sam Drysdale for the News Service. The task force will include 25 members representing the business, higher education and state and local government communities. Healey will also seek $100M in her upcoming economic development legislation to create an “Applied AI Hub” in Mass., and the administration also announced “InnovateMA,” a partnership with Northeastern University to strengthen state government AI use. — State House News Service
White Stadium work will slow
The timeline of White Stadium’s renovation is being pushed back by city officials and BPDA, a result of public pushback and city administration’s “ambitious” project start time. A previously-BPDA-approved Open Space Stadium Zoning amendment was taken off the Zoning Commission’s agenda on Monday, showing a pause in the development process, and at a virtual Monday meeting, officials said they are committed to the public-private partnership the Wu administration wants the stadium to become, but demolition won’t begin until the plan meets concerns of BPS and stakeholders. — Dorchester Reporter
Increasing Steward monitoring on a state level
At a Public Health Council meeting Wednesday morning, Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said the state will expand monitoring to all nine Steward Health Care facilities by next week, including staffing, service, supply and equipment evals following concerns about Steward’s facilities amid its ongoing financial crisis. Gov. Healey noted her frustration with Steward’s transparency, as the state is still awaiting details about how Steward plans to improve its facilities and continue handling its financial issues. — State House News Service
Greater Boston immigrants pushed out of urban core: A pattern due to housing costs
A report done by Boston Indicators and Immigration Research Initiative shows that South American and Asian countries are the most common places of origin for Greater Boston’s immigrants, which indicates a shift over the last 30 years. Another shift? While Greater Boston’s immigrant communities are still concentrated in Boston and its immediate suburbs, as housing costs rise, immigrant families are forced to move to other parts of the region. The report also noted economic factors, including that immigrants contribute about $103B in impact annually, or 21 percent of the regional GDP, reports the News Service’s Chris Lisinski. — State House News Service
Warren could face challenge from cryptocurrency lawyer Deaton
Swansea resident and attorney John Deaton is weighing a run against U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren as she seeks a third straight term this fall, Emma Platoff of the Globe reports. Republican operative Jim Conroy has been meeting with Deaton as he considers entering the race, which would likely be fought at least in part over how cryptocurrency should be regulated. Deaton, 56, is a prominent advocate for careful government oversight that allows digital currency to grow without onerous regulations, while Warren has pressed regulators to crack down on crypto in part because its volatility makes it risky for everyday investors. — Boston Globe
Individuals linked to Heath Street gang charged Wednesday for drugs, firearms, fraud
41 members and associates of Heath Street gang were charged Wednesday in federal court following a two-year investigation into gang violence in Boston, reports WBUR’s Anthony Brooks. Among charges include racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking, firearms violations and financial fraud, as the gang is involved in a federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations case and has been active for years in Jamaica Plain. Prison and fines are on the table if individuals are found guilty. — WBUR
FBI charges Framingham man for Jan. 6 Capitol riots role
A 57-year-old Framingham resident is the latest of 14 Bay State residents to face charges for his part in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. Thomas J. Method was arrested by the FBI Wednesday and arraigned on one felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding and several related misdemeanors. Tom Benoit of the MetroWest Daily News reports the arrest comes more than three years after the riots and two years after Method was first interviewed by federal investigators who tracked his cell phone into the Capitol. — MetroWest Daily News
Harvard submits more documents to House committee, awaits word on subpoena
Harvard University said it submitted another tranche of documents to the U.S. House Committee investigating antisemitism on college campuses but it remains unclear whether the records will be enough to satisfy the Republican-led panel. Emma Haidar and Cam Kettles of the Crimson report Harvard delivered the latest batch just before the deadline set by the committee and that Harvard has now submitted 10 batches of documents about efforts on campus to stem a rising tide of antisemitic rhetoric and behavior. — Harvard Crimson
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