POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: The AG race gets underway

 

BY LISA KASHINSKY IT'S ON — Brookline labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan is running for state attorney general, kicking off what could become a crowded primary now that the state’s top law enforcement officer, Maura Healey, is running for governor. Liss-Riordan will launch her campaign at noon  at the Iron Workers Local 7 union hall in Boston, where she'll formally receive the union's endorsement, her campaign said. Liss-Riordan has spent weeks staffing up for her latest statewide run (she challenged Sen. Ed Markey in 2020, but exited the race after then-Rep. Joseph Kennedy III jumped in). A partner at Boston’s Lichten & Liss-Riordan, she's known for taking on big corporations on behalf of workers and has recently been supporting the Coalition to Protect Workers’ Rights, a group that opposes ballot initiatives aimed at blocking app-based drivers from being classified as employees. She could face competition from fellow Democrats Quentin Palfrey, the party’s 2018 lieutenant governor nominee, and former Boston city councilor and mayoral hopeful Andrea Campbell, who’s mulling a run for the seat. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell haven’t ruled out bids. GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Gov. Charlie Baker said in last year’s virtual State of the Commonwealth address that the “end is in sight” for Covid-19. A year and some 5 million vaccinations later, Baker will deliver his annual speech on the back end of a massive surge in a socially distanced convention center. The pandemic, and the state’s preparedness for what comes next with it, will feature in Baker’s remarks tonight. The outgoing governor will also frame his speech partly as a reflection on his past seven years in office and partly as an appeal to accomplish his myriad legislative aims before session, and his second term, end. He is expected to touch on several pieces of legislation he recently refiled — bills tackling marijuana-impaired driving, criminal dangerousness and “revenge porn” among them — and outline new proposals to reduce the cost of housing and living, Baker’s office said. He also plans to discuss mental health priorities and the fiscal year 2023 budget he’ll file Wednesday. And the GOP governor who’s built a reputation for working across the aisle in a time of hyperpartisanship and vitriolic politics will again call for bipartisanship and cooler heads to prevail. “I appreciate the fact that despite the increasingly bitter and adversarial and somewhat toxic nature of a lot of what passes for political discourse … in this country, people in Massachusetts have been pretty good about treating each other with respect when we agree and with respect when we don’t,” Baker told reporters yesterday at the State House. TODAY — Baker delivers his State of the Commonwealth address at 7 p.m. at the Hynes Convention Center. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito attends Baker’s speech and testifies at a judiciary committee hearing at 10 a.m. Sen. Elizabeth Warren holds a roundtable with independent restaurant owners at 9:45 a.m. in Cambridge. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announces new affordable housing investments at 10 a.m. in Roxbury. Senate President Karen Spilka is on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” at 11:30 a.m. Rep. Lori Trahan joins a Progressive Policy Institute panel on Covid-19 at 1 p.m. Assistant House Speaker Katherine Clark joins an 1199SEIU PPE drive in Malden and a Common Start Coalition virtual roundtable on child care at 6:30 p.m. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky is on GBH’s “Greater Boston” at 7 p.m. Tips? Scoops? Email me: lkashinsky@politico.com. Also, we're aware that some links may be missing from Playbook when we publish. Our engineers are working on it. NOT FEELING '22 — NEVER SAY NEVER: Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said Friday that he won’t be running for governor this year. But on Monday, in a sit-down interview with POLITICO’s Eleanor Mueller in D.C., he didn’t rule out a future bid for Massachusetts' top job: “I live my life one day at a time,” Walsh said with a laugh, pointing to a sign on the wood-paneled wall of his office that read the same. “I can’t rule anything out — but I can’t promise anything, either. I’m trying to focus on what I have in front of me now.” — "State Rep. Angelo Puppolo won’t run for Eric Lesser Senate seat ," by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: "In an early-morning news release, Puppolo said he is reluctant to give up his seniority and leadership position in the House. He will run for re-election to the House, he said." FEELING '22 — GETTING IN: Republican Robert “Bob” May, a Peabody businessman, is challenging Rep. Seth Moulton in MA-06. May blasted the incumbent for being “more interested in the delusions of running for president than in representing his constituents” in a press release and said he wants to provide “North Shore residents with a seat at the table.” May unsuccessfully ran for state representative in the 13th Essex District in 2020. — Boston state Rep. Nika Elugardo will formally launch her campaign for the Second Suffolk state Senate seat at noon in Nubian Square. Elugardo said in December she was running for the state Senate seat being vacated by governor hopeful Sonia Chang-Díaz. Elugardo faces fellow Democratic state Rep. Liz Miranda. — John “Jack” Carey, a U.S. Navy veteran and Sandwich attorney, is launching his campaign for the open Cape and Islands district attorney seat. — “The ‘Seder Guy’ attempting a leap to the LG’s office,” by Gabby Deutch, Jewish Insider: “The Democratic frontrunner for governor is Attorney General Maura Healey, who officially entered the race last week after months of speculation. She has worked in the Boston area her whole career, and [state Sen. Eric] Lesser thinks a lieutenant governor from further west than Worcester will even out the ticket." THE LATEST NUMBERS — “Massachusetts reports 24,512 new coronavirus cases over the weekend, hospitalizations dip below 3,000 patients,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “The 24,512 infection total was significantly down from the surge of 60,986 cases two weekends ago — a 60 percent plunge in two weeks. … The positive test average has been coming down in recent weeks. The average is now 11.72 percent — a major drop from 23 percent in early January.” DATELINE BEACON HILL — IN MEMORIAM: “Bill Owens, first Black state senator in Massachusetts, dies at 84,” by Bryan Marquard, Boston Globe: “A historic figure in Massachusetts politics, Bill Owens was the first Black candidate elected to the state Senate during a career in which he was ahead of his time with proposals such as calling for governments to pay reparations to the descendants of enslaved Black Americans. Mr. Owens, who served one term as a state representative before spending several terms in the Senate, was 84 when he died Saturday in a skilled nursing facility in Brighton. He had moved there a few months earlier from his longtime home in Mattapan as his health was failing, and more recently he tested positive for COVID-19, his family said.” — “Massachusetts State House could partially reopen next month, Senate President Karen Spilka says,” by Alison Kuznitz, MassLive: “The Massachusetts State House could reopen to the public in February — though the exact timeline and coronavirus safeguards, including requiring proof of vaccination, remain murky despite ongoing Senate and House discussions on the matter. Senate President Karen Spilka told reporters at the State House Monday she was ‘optimistic’ to see some type of reopening next month.” — “Same-day voter registration could be sticking point,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “Same-day voter registration could become a sticking point between the two branches as the House this week prepares to take up a voting reform bill that passed the Senate last year.” — “MCAS subject tests could be scaled back,” by Christian M. Wade, CNHI/Eagle-Tribune: “Education Commissioner Jeff Riley is recommending that the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education eliminate two of the four MCAS subject tests for chemistry and technology/engineering. The board is expected to vote on Riley’s proposal at Tuesday’s meeting.” — “Commission probes uneven sheriffs’ spending,” by Shira Schoenberg, CommonWealth Magazine: “The Bristol County sheriff’s department spends around $50,000 per year for each inmate it incarcerates, and around $1,000 per inmate on programming. The Barnstable County sheriff spends twice that — an average of $100,000 per year per inmate – and around $6,000 per inmate on programs. Essex County has less than half a full-time staff position employed per inmate, while Berkshire County employs more than one staff person for every inmate. A special commission formed to examine correctional funding is putting in stark term what some critics have long noted: that there is no uniformity in how much money each sheriff’s department gets from the Legislature and spends on incarceration.” — “State losing millions in revenue due low interest in sports betting,” by Jodi Reed, WWLP: “Massachusetts continues to lag behind the rest of the region on sports betting and it’s costing us millions of dollars a year in revenue. … There is a lot of support here at the statehouse to legalize sports betting, including from Governor Baker who said he’d like to sign a sports betting bill into law before leaving office.” — “Demand for welfare spikes as jobless benefits end,” by Christian M. Wade, CNHI/Eagle-Tribune: “The elimination of federal unemployment programs last year caused a surge in requests for food stamps and other public assistance programs. That's according to newly released data by the state Department of Transitional Assistance, which shows the number of Massachusetts households seeking food assistance through the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has jumped to more than 570,000 — a 27 percent increase over pre-pandemic levels.” VAX-ACHUSETTS — “Unvaccinated Students In Some Schools Can Go Maskless,” by Katie Lannan, State House News Service (paywall): “When state education officials earlier this month announced the extension of masking requirements in K-12 schools, they also quietly tucked in a change affecting a small number of schools where local officials have opted to drop the mask mandate.” — “Judge considers request for injunction over Salem vax mandate,” by Julie Manganis and Dave Rogers, Salem News: “The owner of a Salem indoor sports training facility admitted in court Monday that her business is not following a temporary vaccine requirement that took effect in the city earlier this month.” FROM THE HUB — “More than 94 percent of Boston city workers vaccinated, as Mayor Wu extends deadline for showing proof of COVID vaccine,” by Emma Platoff and Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: “It’s the second time the new mayor has postponed enforcement of the mandate amid a fight that has already drawn an unfair labor practice complaint against the city and a lawsuit. … At a City Hall news conference on Monday, Wu celebrated the high proportion of municipal employees who are already vaccinated, ticking off high vaccination rates for a number of city departments, including 91 percent among firefighters and over 95 percent for Boston police. She said she is giving workers another week to comply in the hope that more will choose to get the shot.” Wu said the city’s labor relations office is having productive “impact bargaining” conversations with labor unions over the vaccine mandate. The mayor confirmed Playbook’s report yesterday that there’s a deal “on the table right now” with the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association that would give two additional mental health days to officers who comply with the mandate and allow for rehiring officers who come into compliance by a certain date. — “Omicron surge receding in Boston with trends ‘going in right direction,’ but hospitalizations still high,” by Erin Tiernan, Boston Herald: “Boston’s highest test positivity rate amid the ongoing omicron surge soared to over 32 percent earlier this week. The city’s average test positivity rate had dipped to 24 percent as of Monday.” — "City Clerk Maureen Feeney, a fixture in Boston politics for nearly 35 years, to retire," by Saraya Wintersmith, GBH News: “Boston City Clerk and former City Council member Maureen Feeney is as down to earth as your favorite aunt and as savvy as any political sharpie. That rare blend of talents has won her widespread respect during the 34 years she has worked in City Hall. Feeney, 74, confirmed to GBH News Monday that she will be retiring.” PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES — “Commuter rail signal worker placed on administrative leave after fatal crash in Wilmington,” by Taylor Dolven, Boston Globe: “The signal maintainer who officials said failed to restore a railroad crossing safety system less than an hour before a fatal train crash in Wilmington has been placed on administrative leave, the MBTA’s contractor Keolis said Monday.” DAY IN COURT — “Future of affirmative action in higher education in limbo as Supreme Court agrees to hear Harvard case,” by Laura Krantz and Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: “The Supreme Court on Monday announced it will hear a case challenging Harvard University’s use of race in college admissions, a striking development that could lead to the demise of affirmative action.” — “SJC extends jury trial pause in Mass. by two weeks,” by Breanne Kovatch, Boston Globe: “Jury trials in Massachusetts state courthouses will remain paused until Valentine’s Day because of concerns about the spread of COVID-19, the Supreme Judicial Court said Monday.” THE CLARK CAUCUS — “Katherine Clark's Melrose Home Sees Significant Price Drop,” by Mike Carraggi, Patch: “The house at 64 Prospect St. had its price slashed this week from $2.1 million to $1.925 million — a $175,000 decrease.” KENNEDY COMPOUND — “RFK Jr. remarks on Anne Frank, vaccines draw condemnation,” by Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press: “Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made ‘deeply offensive’ comments when he suggested things are worse for people today than they were for Anne Frank, the teenager who died in a Nazi concentration camp after hiding with her family in a secret annex in an Amsterdam house for two years, several Jewish advocacy and Holocaust remembrance groups said Monday.” FROM THE 413 — “Would-be Adams cannabis merchant, a vaccine critic, seeks Senate seat in Vermont,” by Danny Jin, Berkshire Eagle: “The Vermont man who seeks to open a retail cannabis business in Adams is also a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Vermont and a promoter of conspiracy theories that attribute COVID-19 spread to vaccines. … When asked about his background, including his Senate campaign and his record as an investment broker, [Kerry] Raheb threatened to sue The Eagle or reduce his promised donations to the town after publication of this article.” — “A look inside the first few weeks of Mayor Macksey's time in office and priorities for North Adams,” by Greta Jochem, Berkshire Eagle: “‘The last three weeks, we’ve spent a lot of time managing weather, managing COVID and really talking to people about some of their concerns or fears in the community,’ [Mayor Jennifer] Macksey said.” THE LOCAL ANGLE — “Taxi and rideshare drivers take their chances, and precautions, to work during the pandemic,” by Bob Seay, GBH News: “Taxi driver José Rodrigues has been busy providing non-emergency medical transportation for low income, disabled and elderly people through Wayfor Taxi Alliance's contract with the state and city of Boston. But if his passengers have tested positive for COVID-19, he doesn’t take them home.” — “‘In the End, You’re Treated Like a Spy,’ Says M.I.T. Scientist,” by Ellen Barry, New York Times: “When Gang Chen returned to his laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday, the day after the government had dismissed charges of lying on grant applications, he was surrounded by well-wishers, offering hugs and congratulations. … After the experience of the last year — the early-morning arrest, the handcuffs and shackles, being described, in a news conference, as loyal to China — he is uncertain if he will ever feel safe applying for U.S. government funds for research again.” MEANWHILE IN RHODE ISLAND — “Restaurant owners are divided on lifting the ban on Happy Hour in Rhode Island,” by Alexa Gagosz, Boston Globe: “[Happy Hour] has been prohibited in Rhode Island since 1985, just like in neighboring Massachusetts. But a new bill, introduced by Representative Karen Alzate, a Pawtucket Democrat, could possibly lift the ban.” MARIJUANA IN MASS. — Former state Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty , who recently opened lobbying firm Ballard’s Boston office, is co-chairing the firm’s national cannabis practice group. SPOTTED — Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan, Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria and New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell at the U.S. Conference of Mayors conference in Washington, D.C., last week. The mayors met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, and sat in on President Joe Biden’s keynote address. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Ted Chambers, Heather Bellow and David Newman. 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.   Follow us on Twitter Lisa Kashinsky @lisakashinsky   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters FOLLOW US

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Probe of corrections finding big gaps, lack of understanding of inmate services amid rising budgets

Chris Lisinski

State House News Service

Published Jan 14, 2022 

When a panel of lawmakers, experts and corrections officials combed through data from county sheriffs in Massachusetts, they found rates of mental health issues among inmates ranging from 14 percent all the way up to 90 percent.

And in the eyes of commission co-chair Sen. William Brownsberger, that 76 percentage point gap must be incorrect — a microcosm of a larger problem the panel is poised to flag in a report to the Legislature.

"You're telling me it's that much worse in some counties than others? No way," Brownsberger, a Belmont Democrat, said Thursday, Jan. 13, at a meeting of the Special Commission on Correctional Funding.

Without a uniform set of reporting standards, commissioners said, lawmakers face a tall task in determining how much money the state's prisons and jails need to provide necessary services and programs.

For years, the state's incarcerated population has been in decline. From 2012 to 2021, the count of inmates under Department of Correction jurisdiction dropped 42 percent to 6,848 from 11,723. Correctional spending in Massachusetts has increased over that span, though, as several speakers noted at a previous meeting of the special commission.

Rep. Michael Day, a Stoneham Democrat who co-chairs the panel with Brownsberger, said at Thursday's hearing that the state is "now providing a lot more services" for its smaller population of inmates, driving up costs.

"What we need to understand in the commonwealth and certainly in the Legislature is: what are those services, what value are they delivering, where are the gaps in the different facilities, some of which are necessitated by the facilities themselves and others are determined on a policy level, and how do we as a commission and a Legislature figure out what should be funded and what shouldn't be funded?" Day said.

"We don't have uniform reporting standards, uniform definitions of what constitutes mental illness, what constitutes programs, what constitutes health services," he added.

Several commissioners agreed that the state needs to take additional steps to standardize correctional facility reporting as a component of budgetary reforms. "Across the board, we could do better on that front," said MassINC Research Director Ben Forman.

Brownsberger suggested that the most viable option may be to stand up a new state agency or impose requirements on an existing office to assess inmate needs and ensure sheriffs and the DOC are funded accordingly.

Information the special commission has compiled to date about programming in correctional facilities, he said, "is all over the map."

"There is no way, from all the data we've assembled, for this commission to have an opinion at all whether inmates are getting the programming they need in any facility," Brownsberger said, calling for an "empowered agency" to address the needs. "Let's make sure we have an agency that's going to identify those needs for each inmate and then have some kind of process for assessing whether those needs are being met."

Rep. Timothy Whelan, a Brewster Republican who is running for Barnstable County sheriff, said law enforcement officials are "willing to take on that task" so long as state government provides sufficient resources.

"What you're describing, I think, sounds excellent as an idea and a general principle," Whelan, himself a former correction officer and former State Police trooper, said. "But it's going to cost money, and I just want to make sure that as we approach this, we're not going to start walking down the road of unfunded mandates on the Department of Correction or our sheriffs."

"I would fully agree with that. We're not going to pass this legislation without 10 million bucks behind it," Brownsberger replied.

The push for more standardized data reporting and centralized budget oversight will feature as one of the panel's main recommendations, and others continue to take shape.

Former Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe pitched fellow commissioners on a seven-point outline to define correctional funding allocation in Massachusetts. Those include providing engagement rather than "warehousing" during incarceration; ensuring security staff are appropriately sized for inmate populations; offering evidence-based programs to address root causes of criminal behavior; and beginning inmate release and reentry planning on day one.

At one point, Ashe suggested the Legislature convene a second commission that will continue to explore the complex web of correctional budgeting.

"My fear is that this is going to be the end, and boy, we don't want to be here 10 years from now looking back and saying what a mistake we made not building on the great work that's being done," Ashe said.

Lawmakers originally created the commission in the fiscal 2020 state budget and gave it a deadline of Sept. 1, 2020, to submit a report and recommendations concerning "the appropriate level of funding for the department of correction and each sheriff's department." After two extensions, the panel now faces a Jan. 31, 2022, deadline.

Brownsberger said chairs intend to complete a draft report "over the next eight or nine days" and circulate it to commissioners. The panel will then meet again Jan. 24 to discuss the draft.

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