Friday, September 25, 2015
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By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) with Keith Regan
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Today: Baker talks drug safety
Gov. Baker will be urging drug safety today as he joins Lt. Gov. Polito, Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders, Department of Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel and members of law enforcement to announce Drug Take-Back Day and encourage safe disposal of unused medications. Press Briefing Room, State House Room 157 2:45 pm.
Senate President Stanley Rosenberg speaks at the Harvard Club's Friday Forum to "help us better understand the critical intersection between state government and the important work of state non-profits," according to the forum's website, Harvard Club, 374 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, noon.
Mayor Marty Walsh joins co-hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan for their monthly "Ask the Mayor" segment on Boston Public Radio, WGBH Radio 89.7 FM, noon.
Hub will be in the middle of drug-pricing battle
A pharmaceutical company buys a 62-year-old drug that treats a parasitic infection and promptly raises the price per pill from $13.50 to $750. Turing Pharmaceuticals, based in New York City, has become the poster child for drug price gouging, and its remarkable greed may eventually spark enough political outrage to usher in some form of price-control legislation. An editorial in today's Boston Globe suggests it may be time to allow Medicare to negotiate reduced drug pricing with the pharma industry. It seems inevitable that every presidential candidate will have a drug price control plan - Hillary Clinton announced hers on Tuesday.
What the editorial doesn't touch on is no region in the country will be more affected by legislation that limits drug prices than Boston. Already, there's a local effort: In August, legislation was filed on Beacon Hill to compel drug companies to reveal how much they spend on R&D and marketing, and would cap prices on some of the most expensive drugs. Naturally, the idea of price controls makes investors run for the hills. By one estimate, from Tufts University, it costs $2.6 billion to bring a drug to market. That's in part because only one in eight succeeds. The tension between the high cost of innovation and the high cost of drugs will only grow in the next year, and the issue will put the region's biotech titans on the spot - along with the state's 60,459 biotech/pharma jobs.
Mass. Transit: The future of transportation -- a MASSterList/State House News Service event
Join us for a panel discussion featuring Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, Charlie Chieppo, principal of Chieppo Strategies, and Rick Dimino, CEO of A Better City, on the vision for transportation in Massachusetts. It will be held Oct. 13, 7:30-9:30 at the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education center, 10 Winter Place, Boston.
More details and registration here: http://bit.ly/1KADgeC
Hillary to talk about substance abuse Oct. 1
Clinton comes to the Bay State for a conversation about drug abuse prevention and her $10 billion plan to combat addiction next Thursday, Oct. 1. Clinton will appear with Mayor Marty Walsh and Attorney General Maura Healey. The event reportedly will be held at Kings, a Back Bay bowling alley. The Globe's Jim O'Sullivan has more details, including about a Boston fundraiser to be held for Clinton the same day. http://bit.ly/1iOKPrw
Bernie Sanders is coming Massachusetts, too: He'll be at the BCEC Oct. 3, 6 pm. Here's more from MassLive: http://bit.ly/1VeRCGP
Senate votes to repeal license suspensions for drug offenses
The Senate yesterday passed a bill to repeal a law that automatically took away drivers licenses for up to five years from those convicted of drug offenses. Many believe the 26-year-old law adds a counterproductive burden on former convicts. Shira Schoenberg at MassLive has more:http://bit.ly/1Fk1cGo
Bill would screen students for drugs
A bill that would require all Massachusetts schools to screen students for drug abuse is expected to reach the Senate floor for a vote next week. There are some caveats to the screening plan, however: Parents can have their kids opt out, and the students would not be subjected to actual drug tests, but instead questions about drug use from a school nurse or counselor. As Joshua Miller explains in the Globe, the bill still is a work in progress. http://bit.ly/1FiYd10
A tax break grows in Springfield
Another day, another tax corporate tax break. This one is targeted for the Chinese-owned subway car manufacturer CRRC USA Rail Corp., which is planning to build a $95 million facility in Springfield and will create 150 jobs. The facility will build subway cars for the MBTA. CRRC is in line to receive a $9.95 million tax break from the city through reduced property taxes for several years. The Springfield City Council is mulling it over, as MassLive reports. http://bit.ly/1KCJYjq
GlobalPost hitches up with WGBH
Phil Balboni's ambitious undertaking to create a digital news service will soon be in the hands of WGBH, which announced yesterday it was acquiring the startup and moving its staff to its Brighton offices. As the Globe's Jon Chesto and Jack Newsham report, GlobalPost never achieved profitability; WGBH sees the acquisition as a chance to bolster its international coverage, especially Public Radio International's "The World." http://bit.ly/1YF5BtP
Fate of Route 1 orange dinosaur up in the air
No one knows exactly what's going to happen to the orange dinosaur that stands on Route 1 Miniature Golf & Batting Cages, but there's a reasonable chance it may fall victim to evolution - development evolution, that is. A developer has purchased the property as part of a plan to build 256 apartments, retail space and two hotels. The 12-foot dinosaur definitely isn't history yet, as the Globe's Kathy McCabe explains. http://bit.ly/1VdX90c
For the record, today is not National Dinosaur Day (that's May 15), but it is National Lobster Day, as decreed by the US Senate. http://bit.ly/1LB2ga7
Peak-pricing parking plan panned
The specifics of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's proposal to embrace variable parking meter rates of up to $7 per hour is still being worked out, but it already has its share of detractors among residents and business groups, the Herald reports. Walsh's team believes the demand-pricing scheme, based on experience from a plan already in place in San Francisco, will actually make it easier for would-be parkers to find a meter.
Curtatone: Drop charges against highway blockers
Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone tells the Herald he'll fight to have the charges dropped against Black Lives Matter protestors who blocked I-93 in January and now face jail time and fines of up to $15,000. "I question how does this further justice?" the mayor said. http://bit.ly/1KyEuJL
Yellen predicts rate hike, causes medical scare at UMass
Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen's talk at UMass Amherst caused quite a stir in a couple different ways, according to MassLive. During her remarks, Yellen said it looked likely that the Fed would hike interest rates by year's end as the economy tracks toward the 2 percent inflation rate the Fed targets. Then, she abruptly ended her speech before a crowd of 2,000 and scores of media from around the world, and was examined by EMTs. She was given the OK to continue her schedule and was diagnosed as being dehydrated, according to MassLive.
Brockton casino decision will wait until 2016
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission told the developers of a proposed resort casino in Brockton they will have to wait until February or later to receive a decision, the Globe reports. Mass. Gaming & Entertainment had asked the MGC to act immediately on its submission-setting aside whether a tribal casino will be erected in Taunton. The commission offered no guarantees, but after the meeting, the company said it would continue its pursuit of the license.
Commission 'troubled' by MGM redesign
Meanwhile, commission members expressed "concern and frustration" over MGM's decision to cut a 25-story tower hotel from its plans for a resort casino in downtown Springfield, according to an Associated Press account via WBUR. MGM also admitted the change was driven by high construction and materials costs and MGM Chairman Steve Crosby wondered how word of the change took so long to reach the commission. http://bit.ly/1Oy2znE
CommonWealth: Tribal land lawsuits could be lengthy drama
For even more gaming context, CommonWealth offers a backgrounder on the prospects for lawsuits to jam up the Taunton tribal casino and leave the state's casino industry in a state of limbo. "The big unknown for the state Gaming Commission is whether the Mashpee Wampanoag casino will ever get built," Bruce Mohl writes, noting that litigation in Rhode Island over a similar land case took 20 years to wend its way through the courts. http://bit.ly/1PAC7Y2
Number of the day: $1.5 billion. That's the estimated worth of car mogul Herb Chambers, according to Bloomberg. http://bloom.bg/1PzAFoG
Sunday public affairs shows
THIS WEEK IN BUSINESS, NECN, Sunday 12:30 pm and 8 pm
Michael Mathis, MGM Springfield President on the company's new casino proposal; and state Treasurer Deb Goldberg on lottery revenues, unclaimed property and other initiatives
CEO CORNER, NECN, 8:30 pm Sunday, Guest: CarGurus CEO Langley Steinert
KELLER AT LARGE, WBZ-TV, 8:30 am, Guest: Suffolk County DA Dan Conley on the Baby Bella case and police body cameras.
ON THE RECORD, WCVB-TV, 11 am. This week's guest: Attorney General Maura Healey. Moderated by NewsCenter 5 anchor Ed Harding and featuring State House reporter Janet Wu.
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