Thursday, September 3, 2015
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By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) with Keith Regan
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Today: Baker, Ash in Springfield for rail car assembly plant; Kennedy at MIT
Gov. Baker and Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash, among other officials, attend a groundbreaking for a CNR MA's facility that will assemble Red and Orange line cars, 655 Page Boulevard, Springfield, 11:30am... Congressman Joseph Kennedy III joins Massachusetts Institute of Technology President L. Rafael Reif to host a discussion with education experts examining how technology can provide opportunities to expand science, tech, engineering and mathematics education for all K-16 students at the MIT Media Lab (Building E14), 6th floor, 75 Amherst St., Cambridge, 3pm.
Is legalizing pot the next wedge issue -- among Democrats?
Two questions to legalize marijuana cleared the next hurdle to get on the ballot in 2016, setting for an intense debate about the merits and risks of decriminalizing recreational use. This will be one issue where there is no Massachusetts Democratic orthodoxy. Just yesterday Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in her chat with Globe political reporter Joshua Miller, said she was "open" to legalization of marijuana, a reversal from her 2012 campaign position. Congressman Mike Capuano, in an interview with Jim Braude on 'Greater Boston' last night, said: "Conceptually I've always been in favor of (legalization). I think it's ridiculous to criminalize it." Marty Walsh, whose previous alcohol struggles are well-known, has vowed to lead the charge against legalization. "I've seen too many lives ruined by starting to smoke weed and then, eventually, going to other types of drugs," he told the Globe in June. Maura Healey, one of the brightest lights among the Massachusetts Dems, clearly is opposed, as one would expect from the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth. You can expect to hear plenty about the experiences of Washington state and Colorado, where legalization has been a mixed bag, to say the least.
Two marijuana petitions move forward, among 20 others
Speaking of pot, Bay State voters very well may face two questions on its legalization, if advocates are able to obtain the requisite number of signatures. The two questions are destined to cause a haze of confusion, as Shira Schoenberg's story on MassLive suggests. The story is one of many that are sure to come to explain the dueling efforts, which now have to gather 64,750 signatures. "The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is better funded and has more powerful backing, including from those within the marijuana industry, than Bay State Repeal. The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol raised $30,000 by the end of 2014, compared to just $3,000 by Bay State Repeal."http://bit.ly/1JPIwK8
For a fuller scorecard of the ballot questions that cleared the AG's constitutional hurdle, see Schoenberg's overview here: http://bit.ly/1ijSbmm
Meanwhile, at the North Shore dispensary...
The state's first medical marijuana dispensary served as many customers in two months -- 1,500 -- as it projected it would handle in its first full year of operation, the Globe reports. Alternative Therapies in Salem was also granted permission to expand its product offerings and a second dispensary, in Brockton, was given permission to begin selling its wares despite delays at a state lab certifying the safety of the weed being peddled. http://bit.ly/1JDjDEA
Breaking: Shroud of secrecy lifts on search for state's life sciences chief
The State House News Service is about to post this story with this lead-in: "After months of stonewalling, the Baker administration agreed this week to release some information about the search for the state's top life science official, helping the News Service to learn that the process has been so secretive that even members of the search committee didn't know they were on it." See the State House News site: http://statehousenews.com/
Rubin signs on with hourly worker initiative
Doug Rubin, the founding partner of Northwind Strategies, has one certified potential ballot question this cycle -- a bid to give fast food and retail workers benefits when their hours are adjusted. Like some other ballot question proponents, Rubin said he hopes the proposed referendum will spur action in the Legislature. Rubin spoke to MASSterList at a Boston Globe/Suffolk University event featuring an interview with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who backs different but similar federal legislation that would also give hourly workers more rights around scheduling. Drawn to the stream of consumers coming in and out, initiative petition proponents often set up shop outside supermarkets to gather the signatures needed to place a question before voters. In this case, supermarkets and other large retailers could be directly affected by the petition Northwind is backing. "We'll go where people want us to go," Rubin said. He said strategy about gathering signatures, including the potential of paying signature gatherers, has not yet been worked out. -Andy Metzger, SHNS.
Walsh prefers legislative solution on charters
Charter school, business, and education advocates are pressing ahead with a 2016 ballot question to allow the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to authorize up to 12 new public charter schools or existing school expansions each year. But it appears top public officials will press for a legislative alternative. Gov. Charlie Baker still plans to file his own charter school bill and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, a potentially critical player in the charter school movement given his union background, said Wednesday he'd prefer that the issue be handled by his old friends in the Legislature. Walsh reiterated his support for charter schools to reporters at Boston City Hall and said he had discussed the issue a couple of weeks ago during a meeting with Gov. Charlie Baker. "I would much rather increase the cap through the legislative process and not through the ballot question initiative," Walsh said, suggesting a bill crafted on Beacon Hill would be a more precise way to make sure cap increases occur in communities that need them. -Mike Norton, SHNS.
Crosby: Faith in Wynn to fix traffic woes
Former Department of Transportation chief Fred Salvucci is predicting traffic disaster for Route 93, and his recent quote to that effect was put to Massachusetts Gaming Commissioner Steve Crosby last night by Jim Braude. Here's Crosby's the glass-is-half-full answer: "I love Fred Salvucci but the DOT engineers, our traffic engineers, Wynn's traffic engineers, everybody has looked at it and said yes there will be an impact, it will tend to be off peak, it will not be its worst at the peak hours, and the impact that there are, Wynn will put up the money to ameliorate them. "
Baker to greet Obama
When President Obama arrives in Boston to speak at Greater Boston Labor Council Labor Day Breakfast Monday, Gov. Baker will be at the airport to greet him. It's not only the right thing to do, said Baker. "...Any time the president comes to visit Massachusetts, if I can get there and greet him or her when they arrive, I want to be there." http://bit.ly/1fWaAng
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