01-07-2025
Markey marks his territory
TURF WAR — Sen. Ed Markey is rolling out more than two dozen new endorsements this morning from current and former state and local officials from across a swath of the state.
At first glance, there's no clear connection between the 26 politicians on the list — which includes state Sen. Michael Rodrigues, Bristol County Sheriff Paul Heroux and Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan.
But they share one not-so-subtle connection: The area they represent spans Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District. That just happens to be the home turf of Rep. Jake Auchincloss, one of Markey's more regularly mentioned possible primary challengers.
Auchincloss, who won the seat former Rep. Joe Kennedy III vacated to challenge Markey in 2020 (getting drubbed by double digits) has said he plans to run for reelection to Congress. But when pressed during an interview on WCVB's 'On the Record' at the start of the year, he didn't close the door on the idea. 'I don't rule things out proactively. I'm running for reelection to be a member of Congress,' he said.
The slew of endorsements Markey's campaign is rolling out this morning also includes a batch of politicians from Newton, Auchincloss' hometown. State Reps. Amy Mah Sangiolo and Greg Schwartz, and former state Reps. Kay Khan and Ruth Balser are on the list, as is the city's mayor, Ruthanne Fuller.
Markey, Fuller said in a statement, 'has consistently delivered for our families. Newton needs him back in the Senate as our advocate and champion.'
Rounding out the list: State Reps. Kevin Honan, John Lawn, Brian Murray, Jeff Roy, Bill MacGregor, Josh Tarsky, Adam Scanlon, Tommy Vitolo, Jim Hawkins, Alan Silvia, Steve Ouellette and James Arena-DeRosa — and Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan, Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, former state Sen. Marc Pacheco, former state Rep. Paul Schmid and former Taunton mayors Thomas Hoye Jr. and Bob Nunes.
Point of intrigue: Some of the names are the same ones that have been floated as potential candidates for Auchincloss' seat, should it open up.
Markey didn't address the congressional district connection in a statement shared with Playbook. Instead, he said he's 'deeply grateful to have the support of these tremendous leaders who are dedicated to fighting every day for the health, safety, and futures of Massachusetts communities.'
GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. The congressional tax bill could cover the cost of 10,000 Jayson Tatums, per the Boston Globe. Imagine how many Luke Kornets that would be.
TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey has no public events. Lt. Gov. Kim Drsicoll speaks at the opening of a senior living community in what was formerly a high school at 11 a.m. in Beverly. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is on SparkFM at 10 a.m., cuts the ribbon at the grand opening of Mendez Barbershop at 10:45 a.m. in West Roxbury and attends the Somali Independence Day Festival at 4:15 p.m.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@
EYES ON 2026
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Democratic congressional hopeful Patrick Roath, who is challenging Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch, will report raising more than $286,000 from early May to the end of June, according to his campaign. Roath's haul is close to half of the more than $590,000 a former Lynch primary challenger, Robbie Goldstein, raised from 2019 to 2020 when he ran.
The second quarter covers fundraising from April 1 through June 30, but Roath didn't officially launch his campaign until early May. Federal Election Commission reports are due July 15.
Lynch still holds the cash advantage, with more than $1 million in his campaign coffers as of the end of March.
DATELINE BEACON HILL
— Beacon Hill Democrats ship Gov. Healey budget accord that boosts reliance on surtax by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: 'Massachusetts lawmakers sent a $61 billion budget to Gov. Maura Healey Monday that requires residential brokers' fees to be covered by the party that enlists those services and boosts the state's reliance on a surtax on incomes over $1 million. The votes to advance the budget marked the first time since 2016 that lawmakers have sent a spending plan to the governor before the start of the next fiscal year. But Massachusetts is still set to kick off fiscal 2026 without a budget in place because Healey gets 10 days to review the proposal.'
IN OTHER BUDGET NEWS — 'How do you negotiate with that?' Massachussets lawmakers cut a proposed pay hike for court-appointed attorneys amid work stoppage. by Matt Stout, The Boston Globe: 'Massachusetts legislative leaders sliced a measure from their $61 billion budget plan that would have raised the pay for some, but not all, of the state's court-appointed attorneys at a time many are already refusing to take new cases over pay rates they say are too low. Democratic leaders' decision to omit the proposal from their wider spending plan frustrated attorneys, known as bar advocates, who in late May launched a work stoppage that has pushed the state's courts to a breaking point. The measure contained in an earlier budget bill was far more limited than what attorneys have sought, and several said Monday it would not have addressed some of their deeper concerns about how bar advocates are compensated. The decision to cut it out of the final package nevertheless sent a message, they said.'
— Healey administration shutters hotels, transfers families through HomeBASE program by Sarah Betancourt, GBH News: 'The Healey administration has closed all but a handful of hotel shelters, with two dozen programs shuttering this month alone. The remaining four hotel shelters will close by July 31. 'Providers and on-site case managers have been working closely with all impacted families to help them identify secure housing before the closing date,' said a spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities in an emailed message. At the start of the month, there were 623 families in the 24 hotel programs set to close by the end of June. Thirty total families are moving out of the 11 hotel shelters closing just today, and the rest have been transferred.'
RELATED — 'I'm really worried.' With the state's hotel shelter system closing, families struggle to find places to live. by Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio and Jade Lozada, The Boston Globe.
— Maura Healey loves TripAdvisor, values a good souvenir, and would travel with Oprah if she could by Juliet Pennington, The Boston Globe.
FROM THE HUB
— Boston fire union backs tax provisions in President Trump's 'big beautiful bill' amid local tensions by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: 'Boston fire union leadership was featured in an official White House promotional video for President Donald Trump's 'big beautiful bill' proposal, speaking about the benefits they see in some of its tax breaks for firefighters. Sam Dillon and Leroy Heyward, the respective president and vice president of Boston Firefighters Local 718, joined leadership from the International Association of Fire Fighters in throwing their support behind certain tax provisions in the bill, in an Instagram video posted by the official White House account last Saturday.'
— New England's first public housing complex is getting a makeover by Katie Lannan, GBH News: 'One of the largest public housing complexes in New England will get a complete overhaul over the next two decades in a redevelopment effort that kicked off Monday with a ceremonial groundbreaking. All 1,016 affordable apartments in the Mary Ellen McCormack complex in South Boston will be replaced throughout the course of the project, which will also add more than 2,000 new market-rate and middle-income homes.'
— As foreign students reconsider coming to Boston, local businesses prepare for fallout by Tréa Lavery, MassLive.
— Ruthzee Louijeune is the city's first Haitian American City Council president. Now she's fighting the Trump administration on immigration. by Jule Pattison-Gordon, Governing.
FROM HARVARD YARD
— Harvard inches closer to losing more federal money after civil rights accusation by Juan Perez Jr. and Megan Messerly, POLITICO: 'The Trump administration formally accused Harvard University of violating federal civil rights laws and failing to mount an appropriate response to alleged campus antisemitism. Monday's notice marked a stark and renewed threat to Harvard's federal funding amid quiet negotiations between the elite school and government authorities that have otherwise been replete with court fights, threats to Harvard's research funding and foreign student enrollment — and the recent possibility of a detente raised by President Donald Trump.'
WARREN REPORT
— Senators slam Lloyd Austin over new consulting firm by Daniel Lippman, POLITICO: 'Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Rick Scott are blasting former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for starting a D.C. consulting firm after saying he would not become a lobbyist after leaving the government. '[T]his move is particularly disappointing because you made a clear promise during your nomination hearing to uphold the public trust,' the bipartisan duo said in a letter to Austin on Monday obtained by POLITICO.'
WATCH — Elizabeth Warren shocked to find agreement with Musk over megabill via CNN.
DATELINE D.C.
— The Senate megabill is on a collision course with House fiscal hawks by Benjamin Guggenheim, POLITICO: 'House fiscal hawks are looking at the math underlying Senate Republicans' sprawling domestic policy legislation, and they don't like what they see. As Senate Republicans try to muscle President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' for final passage, they're on track to violate a budget framework brokered between House fiscal hawks and Speaker Mike Johnson. Under that framework, if the GOP piles on tax cuts over $4 trillion, they'd need to match them dollar-for-dollar with additional spending cuts beyond the $1.5 trillion in the House-passed bill.'
FROM THE 413
— Police misconduct, employment allegations have cost Springfield a whopping $11 million in recent years by Danny McDonald, The Boston Globe: 'In one case, police officers allegedly stomped on a man in a package store, breaking his nose and ankle. In another confrontation, cops allegedly shot an unarmed man twice. In a third, a woman died after complaining about chest pains and breathing difficulties while in police custody. In the wake of each of those instances, the City of Springfield paid money to settle claims of police misconduct. In a city dogged by allegations of endemic police malfeasance and corruption in recent years, Springfield has ponied up more than $11 million in taxpayer money to address claims of law enforcement wrongdoing since the second half of 2019, a Globe review of public records has found.'
THE LOCAL ANGLE
— Nearly 1 year after death of state Trooper Delgado-Garcia, family, lawmakers await answers by Kinga Borondy, Telegram & Gazette: 'Two months shy of the first anniversary of the death of Trooper Enrique Delgado-Garcia, the investigation into the circumstances surrounding his collapse and demise is yet to be finalized. Worcester city records show the cause of death is still pending on his death certificate. Like the cadet's family, Worcester lawmakers are awaiting the findings of an ongoing inquiry.'
— Congress may cut funding to MassHealth. For some in New Bedford, it's a major source of support. by Abigail Pritchard, The New Bedford Light.
HEARD 'ROUND THE BUBBLAH
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Tara Healey, Pierson Fowler and Amy Blum.
