| | |  | BY LISA KASHINSKY | CLASSIC CHARLIE — Gov. Charlie Baker hewed close to his Republican roots in his final State of the Commonwealth address, rolling out a raft of proposed tax breaks for low-income workers and others struggling with the high costs of housing and living. Baker is pitching tax breaks for families, renters and seniors as part of the budget he’s expected to submit to lawmakers today. He also called to “eliminate income taxes for the lowest paid 230,000 taxpayers” in Massachusetts. The governor urged the Legislature to get moving on bills he recently refiled that would reform criminal dangerousness and criminalize “revenge porn.” He also called to do more to expand access to mental health services, a shared priority with Senate President Karen Spilka. Baker's working to avoid the lame-duck label in his last year in office. But it’s unclear how willing the Democratic-run Legislature is to push the Republican's goals across the finish line. Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano were noncommittal about Baker’s yet-to-be-filed budget proposal when speaking to reporters after his speech last night, with Mariano saying the "devil is always in the details." A couple of eagle-eyed reporters noticed Mariano and Spilka both remained seated when Baker received a standing ovation for saying his criminal justice aims “deserve a vote ... this session.” Instead of further needling the Legislature, Baker held up his history of working with lawmakers across the aisle as an example of the bipartisan collaboration necessary to get things done in an era of political divisiveness. “We should continue to focus on building and maintaining positive, collaborative relationships,” he said, “because they work for the people we serve, and it’s what most voters expect from us.” Mariano, for his part, described a "pleasant" working relationship with the governor. While Baker’s not running for reelection, the four major candidates for governor still weighed in on his remarks. State Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz and Harvard political theorist Danielle Allen called for more urgency in tackling cost-of-living issues and the state’s pandemic response. Republican former state Rep. Geoff Diehl offered a video rebuttal . State Attorney General Maura Healey, who attended last night’s event alongside other state constitutional officers, kept up her streak of declining to jab Baker by praising his “message of collaboration and resilience.” GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Scroll down for more coverage of Baker’s big speech, because we’ve got something else to tackle: Voting reforms are on the move once more on Beacon Hill, but same-day voter-registration could be a sticking point. The House will likely release its version of the voting reform bill that passed the Senate last October today. Like the Senate bill, the House version is expected to include expanded mail-in voting and early in-person voting. But whether it includes same-day voter registration, a major component of the Senate legislation, is less clear. House lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected same-day registration as an amendment to voting reforms in a supplemental budget last June. And Mariano was among the nays. Asked earlier this week whether he still feels the same, Mariano said, “I’ll listen to the debate and see if someone changes my mind.” TODAY — Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito make a FY ‘23 budget announcement at 2 p.m. at the State House. Polito chairs a Governor’s council meeting at noon. State Auditor Suzanne Bump testifies before the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security at 11 a.m. Rep. Lori Trahan hosts a Facebook Live with Dr. Ashish Jha at 3:30 p.m. Rep. Seth Moulton 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.
|  | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
| — “Baker pushes tax breaks, trust,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “In his final state of the Commonwealth speech, Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday night tried to encapsulate his political philosophy, extolling the fiscal discipline that enabled him to propose five new tax cuts and the trust he has built up over the last seven years with voters, lawmakers, and municipal officials that has allowed his administration to deal with snowmageddon in 2015, Lawrence gas explosions in 2018, and the coronavirus pandemic over the last two years. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who took a bow, introduced Baker as a different type of leader who isn’t interested in scoring political points but instead is focused on working hard and paying attention to detail.” — “Gov. Charlie Baker pushes for mental health reform, sexual violence protections in final State of the Commonwealth address,” by Alison Kuznitz, MassLive: “Despite advances in legalizing tele-health medicine, there are gaping holes in the state’s mental health infrastructure that must be remedied after 22 brutal months of enduring COVID-19, Baker said as he stressed his priorities for the remainder of the legislative session.” — “Read Charlie Baker’s full State of the Commonwealth speech,” via the Boston Globe. Here are some other highlights from the Hynes Convention Center: — Polito compared Baker to Brady: “We may have lost Tom Brady to Tampa,” Polito said with a knowing nod in the direction of where Patriots owner Robert Kraft was sitting. “But when it comes to governing, we still have our GOAT.” — The governor returned the praise: “There’s a reason a lot of people are running to serve as the next lieutenant governor. They’ve seen the way she’s done the job, and they believe that they can follow in her very large footsteps,” Baker said of his No. 2. “They can try, but they’ll be wrong. She broke the mold and the new one belongs to her.” — The bromance between Baker and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh continues: Baker seated Walsh, the former Boston mayor, front row center. In an off-script introduction, Baker gazed at Walsh and said, “I miss you, man.” Walsh later told me “we've been through a lot together” and that what Baker said “about working together, that's as much for Democrats as Republicans.”
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Gov. Charlie Baker delivers his final State of the Commonwealth address. | Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via AP | — “State board votes to phase out two of four science MCAS exams,” by Marie Szaniszlo, Boston Herald: “The board of Elementary and Secondary Education on Tuesday decided — some members reluctantly — to phase out two of the four MCAS high school science exams currently offered to students who want to meet competency requirements for graduation.” — “State health care watchdog censures Mass General Brigham for high spending,” by Jessica Bartlett, Boston Globe: “The state’s health care watchdog has criticized Mass General Brigham for pushing health care spending above acceptable levels and will require the health system to clamp down on costs or face financial consequences. The decision by the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission is the first time the agency has held a health system accountable for its spending in the six years it has reviewed market transactions.” — “Bill to give driver’s licenses to undocumented immgrants gains steam among law enforcement,” by Amy Sokolow, Boston Herald: “A bill has circulated for at least two decades in Massachusetts, aiming to give undocumented immigrants the ability to earn a state driver’s license. Now, it’s picked up more steam than ever before, bolstered by the likes of Attorney General Maura Healey and 55 heads of Massachusetts law enforcement agencies.”
| | ON THE STUMP |
| — “Deb Goldberg to seek third term as Massachusetts state treasurer,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “Massachusetts State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, a former businesswoman who has embraced mixing public and private funding in bids to expand the office’s reach, said she will run for a third term, which could make her one of the office’s longest-serving incumbents.” — THAT’S A WRAP: With Goldberg’s widely-expected decision, we now know the 2022 intentions of each of the state’s six constitutional officers. To recap: Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and state Auditor Suzanne Bump are out. Goldberg and Secretary of State Bill Galvin are in. And state Attorney General Maura Healey is running for governor, creating a fourth open seat. — "Moderate Republican to enter governor’s race," by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: "Chris Doughty, a Republican businessman from Wrentham, plans to announce that he’s running for governor on Wednesday, joining a field of candidates vying to succeed Governor Charlie Baker. A self-described moderate, Doughty will be competing for his party’s nomination against Geoff Diehl, a conservative former state lawmaker who has been endorsed by former president Donald Trump." — TAKE A BOW: Doughty's entrance also means Taunton Mayor Shaunna O'Connell , who'd been considering her own bid, is not running for governor, per GOP strategist Holly Robichaud, who's working with Doughty and had worked with O'Connell. — “Healey's bid for governor launches with backing from business leaders,” by Steph Solis, Boston Business Journal: “In the days after Gov. Charlie Baker announced he wasn’t seeking reelection, the donations poured in. Real estate insiders, health insurance executives and law firm partners opened their checkbooks for one of the state's foremost politicians — even though she hadn’t even entered the governor's race yet.” — “Liss-Riordan formally launches campaign for Mass. attorney general,” by Gal Tziperman Lotan, Boston Globe: “‘The people need a champion,’ [Shannon] Liss-Riordan said at her campaign announcement Tuesday, standing outside the South Boston union hall of Ironworkers Local 7, which endorsed her. ‘We need someone to push our legal system to be better, to enforce and reform our laws.’” — “Attleboro resident Julie Hall to kick off campaign for Congress,” by George W. Rhodes, The Sun Chronicle: “Julie Hall, a former Attleboro city councilor, is kicking off her second run for the 4th District Congressional seat on Thursday. Hall, a Republican and Air Force veteran, will hold a fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Dublin Rose, 940 Fall River Ave., Seekonk.” — Senate President Emerita Harriette Chandler, 84, will discuss the "future of her career in public service" at a 9:45 a.m. press conference at Worcester City Hall. — Boston state Rep. Nika Elugardo will formally launch her campaign for the Second Suffolk state Senate seat at noon in Nubian Square with former Boston acting mayor Kim Janey and state Rep. Russell Holmes. 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.
| | THE LATEST NUMBERS |
| — “Massachusetts reports 7,120 new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations keep dropping,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “The 7,120 new cases reported on Tuesday was a 60% plunge from the 17,802 daily cases reported two Tuesdays ago. The state’s positive test average has been declining, too. It now stands at 11.40% after peaking at 23% in early January. The daily positive test rate for Tuesday’s report was 9.81%.”
| | VAX-ACHUSETTS |
| — “Charts show hospitalizations edging down in Mass. as Omicron weakens, but deaths are still rising,” by Martin Finucane and Ryan Huddle, Boston Globe: “COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths, which lag behind case numbers because of the time it takes for people’s condition to worsen, haven’t seen the same decreases. Hospitalizations in the state have only fallen slightly, while deaths are actually ticking up.” — “UMass Lowell working to freeze-dry COVID-19 vaccines for easier transport,” by Trea Lavery, Lowell Sun: “Scientists at UMass Lowell are researching a process that would freeze-dry messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccines so they can be transported and stored at room temperature.”
| | FROM THE HUB |
| — “Who Is Dianne Wilkerson?” by Catherine Elton, Boston Magazine: “Just her considering a run [for her old state Senate seat] has been enough for Wilkerson’s past to become present again. Virginia Morrison, the executive director of the Grove Hall Neighborhood Development Corporation and a Wilkerson ally, says she doesn’t understand why people don’t just move on and focus on all the good that Wilkerson has done and not her arrest and jail time.” — “Wu: No Boston businesses fined over coronavirus vaccine mandate,” by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: “Mayor Michelle Wu said no Boston businesses have been fined yet over the vaccine mandate, and she suggested a continued downward trend in cases could mean changes to the policy.” — “Mayor Wu commits $40 million to affordable housing projects, including building hundreds of new units,” by Danny McDonald and Gal Tziperman Lotan, Boston Globe: “In her latest move to chip away at the city’s housing crisis, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is committing $40 million to create or preserve 718 affordable units across the city, she announced during a news conference Tuesday morning.” — “Boston rent prices could soon surpass San Francisco’s as second-most expensive in U.S.,” by Amy Sokolow, Boston Herald: “San Francisco is known for having some of the most expensive rental prices in the country. A new report from housing rental website Zumper found that the Bay Area has a new, and expensive, competitor: Boston.”
| | THE OPINION PAGES |
| — “Charlie Baker won’t call it a clawback. But the state still wants unemployment money returned,” by Shirley Leung and Larry Edelman, Boston Globe: “Governor Charlie Baker, the compassionate technocrat, was all technocrat and no compassion on Monday as he attempted to downplay the state’s efforts to recoup billions of dollars in jobless benefits it has mistakenly paid since the start of the pandemic.”
| | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES |
| — “Bridge linking East Boston and Chelsea goes up with vehicle on it,” by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: “Two employees working for a MassDOT contractor were fired after the Chelsea Street Bridge connecting Chelsea and East Boston started being raised Friday while a vehicle was on it, officials said Tuesday.”
| | FROM THE DELEGATION |
| — “Long COVID patients: Ayanna Pressley urges CDC to report data on long haulers,” by Rick Sobey, Boston Herald: “Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is pushing the CDC to reveal how many Americans are suffering from Long COVID as millions reportedly face lingering coronavirus symptoms. Pressley on Tuesday wrote to the CDC as Boston-area researchers recruit long haulers for studies on the debilitating condition.” — “Massachusetts restaurant owners call on Congress to add emergency funding through omicron surge,” by Meghan Ottolini, Boston Herald: “Massachusetts restaurant owners continuing to struggle during the omicron surge lobbied Sen. Elizabeth Warren to push for additional funding to help survive another pandemic winter.”
| | KENNEDY COMPOUND |
| — “RFK Jr. apologizes after condemnation for Anne Frank comment,” by Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press: “Anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apologized Tuesday for suggesting 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.”
| | FROM THE 413 |
| — “Belchertown voters reject recall effort for 2 School Committee members,” by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “Both School Committee incumbents retained their seats Monday as voters resoundingly rejected an effort to recall them at a special election. … The recall was triggered by residents angry that [Michael] Knapp and [Diane] Brown supported a policy that would have required students 16 and over participating in extracurricular activities, including sports, to receive COVID-19 vaccinations, once fully FDA-approved for their age groups.”
| | THE LOCAL ANGLE |
| — PATRICK'S NEW GIG: Former Gov. Deval Patrick is joining Harvard Kennedy School next month as a professor of the practice of public leadership and as co-director of the school’s Center for Public Leadership. "With the scale and scope of the challenges facing humankind, the world needs conscientious, dedicated leaders at every level in every sector, people willing to spend their ‘political’ capital, not just accumulate it. I am looking forward to working alongside and encouraging leaders like that at the Kennedy School," Patrick said in a statement. — "Slugger David Ortiz, Red Sox legend and three-time World Series champ, elected to Baseball Hall of Fame," by Peter Abraham, Boston Globe: "David Ortiz, the ebullient slugger who carried the Red Sox and their fans to unimagined heights, is the newest member of baseball’s Hall of Fame. The news only a few players ever receive came Tuesday night in a call that traveled from Cooperstown, N.Y., to the Dominican Republic. Ortiz was in with 77.9 percent of the votes cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America." — “WPI student death is 7th in last 6 months,” by Christopher Gavin, Boston.com: “The death of a Worcester Polytechnic Institute student was under investigation on Tuesday after the individual was found dead in an off-campus apartment, according to a school spokesperson.”
| | MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| — “N.H. was supposed to be the GOP’s best chance for a Senate pickup in 2022. After a few Republican false starts, it’s unclear where things stand,” by James Pindell, Boston Globe: “Nevertheless, while Republicans have committed a number of self-inflicted wounds the last few months of this race, they should hardly be counted out. [Democratic Sen. Maggie] Hassan is still very unpopular even though she has spent millions in ads this fall trying to turn that around.” SPOTTED — at Gov. Charlie Baker’s SOTC address: Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins, former House speaker Bob DeLeo; UMass President Marty Meehan; Patriots owner Robert Kraft; Reps. Lori Trahan, Jake Auchincloss and Richard Neal; Boston Mayor Michelle Wu; former Boston acting mayor Kim Janey; Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll; Gardner Mayor Mike Nicholson; Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders; various lawmakers including state Sens. Diana DiZoglio and Lydia Edwards; former Boston city councilor Annissa Essaibi George; MassDevelopment chief Dan Rivera; Massachusetts Competitive Partnership's Jay Ash; and sheriffs Steve Tompkins, Tom Hodgson, James Cummings and Peter Koutoujian. TRANSITIONS — Enrique Pepén is director of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s Office of Neighborhood Services; John Romano is deputy director; and Nathalia Benitez, Chulan Huang and Ciara D'Amico are neighborhood liaisons. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to state Sen. John Velis. 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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