| | |  | BY LISA KASHINSKY | WHO WANTS TO BE LG — There’s a wide-open governor’s seat for the taking this fall; yet all anyone seems to want to be is the lieutenant. The state’s No. 2 job brings little formal responsibility. But it’s been attracting outsize attention ever since Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito decided not to seek reelection — to the point where the Boston Globe's twice deemed it the "hottest race" in the state. Now there’s more: FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: DRISCOLL STAFFS UP — Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll is laying the groundwork for a potential LG campaign. Driscoll has tapped Juan Gallego as campaign manager. Gallago served as the statewide Latinx organizing manager for Sen. Ed Markey’s 2020 campaign. Katie Prisco-Buxbaum, an alum of Andrea Campbell’s mayoral bid and Jesse Mermell’s congressional campaign, will serve as general consultant. Prisco-Buxbaum is also consulting on state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz's gubernatorial bid. Driscoll is “seriously considering” a run for LG and has been fielding encouraging phone calls from fellow mayors. If she takes the plunge, she'll face Democratic state Sens. Eric Lesser and Adam Hinds , state Rep. Tami Gouveia and businessman Bret Bero. Dan Koh, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh’s chief of staff, and Salem School Committee member Manny Cruz are among those mulling bids. NEW: GOUVEIA ENDORSEMENTS — Gouveia, the first candidate in the LG race, is rolling out 14 new endorsements today. They are: state Reps. Carmine Gentile, Pat Kearney, Carol Doherty and Michelle DuBois; Boston City Councilor Julia Mejia; Carla Monteiro; Acton Select Board members David Martin and Himaja Nagireddy; Acton-Boxborough school board members Kyra Wilson Cook, Amy Krishnamurthy and Tessa McKinley; Braintree School Committee's Kelly Cobb-Lemire; Berkeley School Committee's Jennifer Vincent and Springfield School Committee's LaTonia Monroe Naylor. GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. With Lesser running for LG, the scramble to be his successor in the First Hampden and Hampshire state Senate district is on. First-term Ludlow state Rep. Jake Oliveira is eyeing the seat and says he’s “likely to make an announcement" in the next few weeks. Veteran Springfield state Rep. Angelo Puppolo told me he’s “definitely looking at it” and that his phone’s been “burning up.” Sydney Levin-Epstein, a Markey and Lesser campaign alum, said she’s “strongly considering running.” Longmeadow Select Board Chair Marc Strange , who’s also Agawam's director of planning and community development, told me he’s “having conversations” with family and others about a potential run. The Springfield Republican’s Jim Kinney has more on all four plus the full rundown of who might be in or out. Running for something? Email me: lkashinsky@politico.com. TODAY — Secretary of State Bill Galvin opens a Commonwealth Museum “Defending Democracy” special exhibit at 1 p.m. and attends a 5 p.m. lantern-lighting ceremony at the Old North Church to remember the U.S. Capitol riot. Rep. Jake Auchincloss talks his first year in Congress with the Charles River Regional Chamber at 4 p.m. Rep. Seth Moulton hosts “ Building Inclusive Teams & Communities in Massachusetts’ Sixth District” at 5 p.m. | |
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| – “Massachusetts reports 16,621 new coronavirus cases, breakthrough infections surge,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “The state Department of Public Health reported 45,029 breakthrough cases in the week between Christmas and New Year’s, a 122% spike from the previous week as the extremely contagious omicron variant spreads at an astronomical rate. The 16,621 new daily cases on Tuesday are the third highest case count of the entire pandemic, following two days of more than 21,000 infections last week.” | | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
| – BACK TO BUSINESS: The second year of the legislative session formally gets underway today (though the State House itself remains closed to the public). To mark the occasion, Playbook asked House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka to share their priorities beyond the pandemic: Spilka is looking to get Senate-passed bills to enshrine mail-in voting and expand access to mental health signed into law this year. “At the same time, I am excited for the Senate to address the critical issue of child care — a crucial piece of our effort to bolster intergenerational care. The Senate also plans to look at reforms to the criminal legal system and how it disproportionately impacts underserved youth and adults, as well as revisit the Senate’s prescription drug cost containment legislation, known as the PACT Act,” Spilka said. Mariano is prioritizing developing the state’s offshore wind industry and passing a reform bill to increase oversight of the Holyoke and Chelsea Soldiers’ Homes. “The House of Representatives has been a leader in offshore wind and will continue to advance this industry in Massachusetts. If we want to lead our clean energy future, we must improve our bidding process to remain competitive with neighboring states, invest in our port infrastructure, and incentivize economic development opportunities,” Mariano said. – “Many Massachusetts state lawmakers earning six-figure salaries, state payroll shows,” by Erin Tiernan, Boston Herald: “State Sen. Cynthia Friedman was the highest-earning lawmaker of 2021, taking home $220,544, state payroll data shows. The Arlington Democrat earned more than $41,000 more than the next highest earner, Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano. Mariano, D-Quincy, collected $179,276. His counterpart in the Senate and the Legislature’s third-highest earner Senate President Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, was paid $178,276.” – “Commission Wrestles With Incarceration Costs, Benefits,” by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service (paywall): “The incarcerated population in Massachusetts has been dropping steadily for close to a decade at the same time that spending on corrections has been growing, divergent trends that prompted reform advocates to call Tuesday for more transparent reporting from state government.” – “Massachusetts legislators propose free college for law enforcement to boost new recruits,” by Amy Sokolow, Boston Herald: “As new potential recruits to the police force plummet, some state lawmakers have proposed a creative workaround to both boost recruits and diversify the police: free tuition.” – "Massachusetts Teachers Association president supports bill that would extend in-school mask mandate through June," by Michael Bonner, MassLive: “Lawmakers listened to hours of testimony from community members threatening to remove their children from schools in Massachusetts if a bill is passed requiring all children older than 2 years of age to wear a mask. Amid the anger toward the bill, the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association supported the bill.” | | VAX-ACHUSETTS |
| – “‘We may reach a level of staff absences that compromises our ability to safely operate’: Schools hammered by COVID grapple to remain open,” by Travis Andersen and Bianca Vázquez Toness, Boston Globe: “Boston central staff administrators are rolling out lesson plans. Teachers aides in Lowell are stepping in to oversee students — anything to keep classes going while schools try to ride out the latest and most contagious COVID surge so far." – “Major hospital systems mandate COVID-19 boosters for staff,” by Felice J. Freyer and Amanda Kaufman, Boston Globe: “Mass General Brigham, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Wellforce (the parent company of Tufts Medical Center), and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute informed employees Tuesday that they must present documentation of a booster shot within the next several weeks. Boston Children’s Hospital said Tuesday that it also intends to require booster shots but had not yet worked out details such as the deadline for compliance.” – “COVID is raging at some, but not all, congregate care facilities in Mass.,” by Deborah Becker, WBUR: “State data suggest that so far in some congregate care facilities, there has been no spike in cases. In others, the jump is dramatic. The biggest spike in positive coronavirus tests was observed inside group homes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities that are operated by private vendors, according to state data released on Dec. 28.” – “'No ICU beds left': Massachusetts hospitals are maxed out as COVID continues to surge,” by Craig LeMoult, GBH News: “Dr. Melisa Lai-Becker, the medical director for the emergency department at Cambridge Health Alliance's Everett Hospital, spent much of Monday afternoon urgently calling hospitals all over the state. 'I was searching for an ICU [intensive care unit] bed for one of our patients, and every single facility is full,' she said." – “Biz groups speak out against local COVID-19 restrictions,” by Christian M. Wade, CNHI/Eagle-Tribune: “Business groups are urging local governments to back off from tougher COVID-19 restrictions and provide more financial relief for employers struggling to survive amid the prolonged pandemic.” – “COVID Detecting Dogs Begin Working In 3 Massachusetts School Districts,” by CBS Boston: “COVID sniffing police K-9s will be in some Massachusetts schools this week. The one-year-old labs with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office have been trained to detect COVID-19. On Wednesday, Huntah and Duke will go to work in Freetown, Lakeville and Norton school districts.” | | FROM THE HUB |
| – NEW this AM: Sandy Zamor Calixte is running for Suffolk County sheriff. The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Zamor Calixte has worked her way up through the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department since 2006, most recently serving as chief of communications and external affairs. She’ll launch her campaign this morning in Mattapan. Current Suffolk County Sheriff Steve Tompkins couldn’t immediately be reached about his 2022 plans. – "BPDA staffer weighs run for Miranda’s House seat," by Gintautas Dumcius, Dorchester Reporter: "Christopher Worrell, a 36-year-old lifelong Dorchester resident, is talking with family members and friends about a run. [He's the] younger brother of newly elected District 4 Councillor Brian Worrell." – “Mayor Wu explores Long Island, the possibility of a long-term recovery plan for those at Mass. and Cass,” by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: “ Boston is on track to create new, transitional housing for up to 150 people living at the tent encampments near the area known as Mass. and Cass by a Jan. 12 deadline, Mayor Michelle Wu said Tuesday, after taking a morning boat ride to Long Island to explore the possibility of rebuilding a more long-term recovery campus for people in mental health and substance abuse treatment.” – Wu said the Long Island plans are in the “very early stages” and that the city will need to determine who a campus there would serve — those just entering recovery or those further along in the process, reports the Boston Herald’s Sean Philip Cotter. Meanwhile, GBH News’ Saraya Wintersmith writes that Wu “has picked up the fight against the city of Quincy and the Native American tribes attempting to intervene in the legal dispute over a new bridge to Long Island.” – “Mayor Wu vows Boston will address its ‘unacceptable’ COVID-19 testing wait times,” by Christopher Gavin, Boston.com: “Wu told reporters that officials are looking to open more sites, including a higher capacity site. … Boston Public Health Commission Director Dr. Bisola Ojikutu said the city has a goal to open at least three new testing sites in the coming weeks throughout Boston.” – “Already battered by pandemic, restaurants wrestle with Omicron outbreaks,” by Elizabeth Koh, Boston Globe: “Partway through her shift the Sunday before Christmas, a server at Fox & the Knife in South Boston started feeling sick. She worried it wasn’t just a headache. There were whispers among employees at the Italian restaurant that colleagues at its sister establishment, Bar Volpe, had tested positive for COVID the day before, Dec. 18, and staff sometimes moved between the two places. But Fox & the Knife remained open as usual, with no word from management. ‘I think I might have COVID,’ the worker — who requested anonymity for fear of retribution — said she told her manager that day. She recalled his reply: ‘I think I have it too.’” | | THE RACE FOR CITY HALL |
| – FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Tania Del Rio is staffing up in her campaign for the District 1 Boston City Council seat likely being vacated by Lydia Edwards in coming weeks. Olivia Roskill will be Del Rio’s campaign manager; Izzy Klein will serve as field director; Josh Schmidt joins as treasurer and Andrea Werner Solorzano as a campaign fellow. Del Rio has also tapped Brian Muldoon and Chavez Group partners Doug Chavez and Eldin L. Villafañe as general consultants. | | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES |
| – “FTA appears to greenlight Boston’s fare-free bus trial,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “ The Federal Transit Administration issued a statement on Monday suggesting the agency would have little problem with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s plan to launch a two-year experiment with fare-free buses on three MBTA routes.” – “MBTA double-dipper paid $75,000 here last year,” by Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald: “An MBTA double-dipper who worked at both the T and Denver’s transit agency ended up collecting $75,000 here, records show." | | FEELING '22 |
| – FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Emily Burns, a Republican challenging Rep. Jake Auchincloss in the 4th District, will report raising $106,000 last quarter, according to her campaign. Burns also loaned herself $250,000 to kickstart her campaign. – “Two Western Mass senators face off in lieutenant governor race,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “Sen. Eric Lesser’s decision Tuesday to jump into the primary race for lieutenant governor will pit the Longmeadow Democrat against Pittsfield Sen. Adam Hinds, who launched his campaign in October. … While the race is now more likely to pay attention to issues important to the western part of the state, the danger is that the two Western Mass pols could cancel each other out in a crowded field and make it easier for a politician from the eastern part of the state to win the election.” | | DAY IN COURT |
| – “With Jasiel Correia's prison date looming, court grants an extension for appeal filings,” by Jo C. Goode, Herald News: “Former Fall River mayor Jasiel Correia II, scheduled to self-surrender to a yet-undisclosed federal prison next Monday to begin serving a six-year sentence on a fraud and corruption conviction, was granted two more months to file briefs with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, where he could be seeking a new trial.” | | DATELINE D.C. |
| – “Behind the scenes, but at the scene of the crime: Congressional staffers recall the lingering trauma of the Jan. 6 attack,” by Jazmine Ulloa, Boston Globe: “Sarah Groh, chief of staff for Massachusetts Representative Ayanna Pressley, still does not know what happened to the panic buttons. … Their disappearance is one of many details from the Jan. 6 insurrection that remain under investigation, and a memory that continues to haunt her.” | | FROM THE 413 |
| – “Nursing home owners blame Medicaid shortfalls for staffing struggles. Critics say they're being cheap for profit,” by Heather Bellow, Berkshire Eagle: “The people who run Berkshire County’s nursing homes agree with their critics that workers need better wages — and the buildings need more staff — to provide a higher quality of care. They disagree about how to do this." – “New Holyoke councilor Israel Rivera ends contention by quitting school job,” by Dusty Christensen, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “The lead-up to Monday’s meeting of the Holyoke City Council was filled with dramatic moments, including councilors and members of the public yelling at one another during several recent council meetings. But when the council’s 13 members sat down for their first meeting Monday, the expectation of more conflict melted away after At-large Councilor Israel Rivera announced that he had resigned from his job with Holyoke Public Schools — a position some said disqualified him from serving as a councilor.” | | THE LOCAL ANGLE |
| – “Boxborough police chief placed on paid leave,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “The Boxborough Select Board placed Police Chief Warren Ryder on paid administrative leave Tuesday. No explanation was given, but the board had previously asked the FBI to investigate allegations that members of the Police Department had received stipends for advanced degrees they had not earned as well as comp and holiday time to which they were not entitled.” – “Amid process dispute, Barnstable County asks for public input on ARPA spending,” by Jeannette Hinkle, Cape Cod Times: “Squabbling continues over the roles that Barnstable County’s legislative and executive branches should play in spending more than $41 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act relief money as county officials turn their focus to soliciting community input on how the massive pot of funding could benefit Cape Codders.” – THERE’S ALWAYS A MASSACHUSETTS CONNECTION: “I’m from Boston. We don’t have strong accents,” new LSU football coach Brian Kelly — who is *checks notes* from Chelsea and is the son of a former Chelsea alderman — said on live television last night after facing criticism for apparently possibly faking a southern accent when he joined the team from Notre Dame, which your Playbook scribe has been informed is a big deal in the college football world. – THERE’S ALWAYS A MASSACHUSETTS CONNECTION II: "College students from Mass. were stranded for hours after being trapped in major Virginia snowstorm," by Amanda Kaufman, Boston Globe. – THERE’S ALWAYS A MASSACHUSETTS CONNECTION III: “[Randolph native] Audie Cornish leaving NPR and ‘All Things Considered’ to ‘try something new’,” by Brittany Bowker, Boston Globe. TRANSITIONS — Dr. Atul Gawande has been confirmed as assistant administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Global Health. FAREWELL — To Beacon Hill staple High Spot Deli. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Holly Morse. Happy belated to Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson. REWIND — I joined WBUR's Tiziana Dearing and Gary Daffin, co-chair of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, on "Radio Boston" to talk the upcoming year in #mapoli. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com. | |
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