Tuesday, February 23, 2016
By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) and Sara Brown
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Today: Criminal justice reform; Race Amity Day
MassINC and the Criminal Justice Reform Coalition hold a policy forum on young adults in the criminal justice system. Panelists include Judiciary Committee co-chair Sen. William Brownsberger, Probation Commissioner Ed Dolan, Citizens for Juvenile Justice executive director Naoka Carey, ROCA chief executive officer Molly Baldwin and Vinny Schiraldi, director of the Kennedy School's program in criminal justice policy and management. Room 428, 11:00 am.
Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairwoman Sen. Karen Spilka and Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, co-chairs of the Legislative Tech Hub Caucus, host a legislative briefing and panel discussion on the state of the high tech industry and its impact on businesses in Massachusetts. Panelists include Brian Cusack of Google, Manuel Zapata of Verizon, and Rich Breault of Lightspeed Manufacturing. House Members Lounge, 1:00 pm.
Gov. Baker attends an event to recognize Massachusetts Race Amity Day at the Great Hall, 3:00 pm.
In his own image: Baker's moderate GOP push
On one level, it's a classic inside baseball political story: Gov. Baker is tapping his donor network to fund a slate of moderate Republicans for state committee elections. Frank Phillips of the Globe reports this fund-raising has taken place under the radar, as Baker is not required to disclose any of the activity. "Nobody reports this. Nobody. No one has ever reported it. Ever. In any of these races, ever," Baker said to Phillips, one imagines, with complete equanimity.
But a bigger story is playing out beyond the rousting of obscure local Republicans. Baker is trying to remake the party in his own image. In creating a GOP that has more curbside appeal -- fiscally conservative, pro-business, progressive on social issues -- Baker is trying to build a foundation for a party that may ultimately have some clout in the Legislature and create more balance in state government. It starts with wrestling power away from the conservatives at the grassroots level. http://bit.ly/1Uk3WZ2
Approve your own OT at the T
You can't make this stuff up. An MBTA maintenance foreman who earned $327,000 last year regularly signed off on his own overtime, which accounted for about $240,000 of his pay. That's according to an audit of overtime practices by KPMG, which found "substandard documentation" for overtime within the T. As Matt Stout of the Boston Herald reports, that translates into an average of 50 hours of overtime per week and an average of 90 working hours per week. This worker, who retired on Jan. 31, is only the tip of the iceberg: T workers logged $75 million in overtime last year. Stout reports that the union says most workers don't approve their own overtime. But one can help but juxtapose the rampant OT with the pending efforts to raise fares.http://bit.ly/1KGEzPp
Meanwhile, the T and its workers will have to kick in more money to bolster the T workers' underfunded pension, Beth Healy of the Globe reports. The T is lowering its expected rate of return and still more issues could surface as management awaits a review of the pension fund. http://bit.ly/1LE1Z2E
And the T's decision on fare hikes is expected March 7, the State House News Service's Andy Metzger reports. The Fiscal Control Board will deliberate at its Feb. 29 meeting ahead of a vote the following week. Two proposals, one raising fares at 6.7 percent and the other averaging 9.7 percent, on are on the table. http://bit.ly/1PVeNFM
Latino voters in Salem claim harassment
Latino voters in Salem say they have encountered several instances of harassment and intimidation while voting in the 2012 and 2014 elections. One policeman seized a sample ballot from a voter, even though it's legal to have one, accusing the voter of stealing it. Salem News reporter Paul Leighton reports that Mayor Kim Driscoll and Salem Police Chief Mary Butler plan to sign a memorandum of understanding that would "promote and safeguard the voting rights of eligible residents regardless of their race, ethnicity, or limited English proficiency through increased language access to voters, training, and voter education." City Clerk Cheryl LaPointe, whose office oversees elections, won't sign, saying she's not allowed "to choose one group over another." Which makes one wonder, what's the other group? http://bit.ly/1VBpb7k
Globe: Trump must be stopped
The Boston Globe, which already endorsed John Kasich ahead of the New Hampshire primary, has issued a sharp non-endorsement of presidential candidate Donald Trump: "Trump's campaign has revived some of the ugliest traditions in American politics, including the scapegoating of religious minorities and immigrants. He has yet to put forth a serious platform of ideas about how he would govern or what a Trump administration would seek to accomplish. Just his nomination by one of the nation's major parties would be an international embarrassment." http://bit.ly/1LE2Znj
Suffolk saga -- pushback from trustees
The back and forth at Suffolk University continues, following remarks Suffolk University President Margaret McKenna made recently to the Boston Globe editorial board centering on her troubled relationship with some of the trustees. A memo from board chairman Andrew Meyer disputes McKenna's claim that the board has ignored an order to update its bylaws, reports the Globe's Laura Krantz. http://bit.ly/1LE46U7
McKenna is scheduled to appear on "Greater Boston" tonight, 7 pm, to discuss the controversy.
Bill would ban local gun restrictions
Gun rights groups are among those backing a bill that would prohibit local communities from passing gun ordinances that are more strict than state laws, Kyle Plantz of the Lowell Sun reports. The legislation dropped after Second Amendment groups railed against a new Lowell ordinance that requires more extensive background checks and a safety course before residents can obtain gun permits. http://bit.ly/1Uk4SwH
State reprinting some primary ballots
Thousands of primary ballots sent to communities ahead of next Tuesday's primary vote had to be reprinted because some older voting machines could not read them, Erin Tiernan of the Patriot-Ledger reports. A spokesman for Secretary of State William Galvin says the problem traces to the method of printing used, that costs of the re-do will be borne by the vendor that prints the ballots and that new ballots will be in the hands of impacted cities and towns by Wednesday. http://bit.ly/1PV3FZr
Herald endorses for Rubio
The Boston Herald has formally endorsed Marco Rubio ahead of next week's Republican primary contest, saying he has "proved his conservative but practical bona fides" throughout his career. The Herald endorsed erstwhile candidate Chris Christie ahead of the New Hampshire primary. http://bit.ly/1g3AhR6
Weld backs Kasich
Meanwhile, former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld came out in support of Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the GOP primary, calling him a "born executive," Shannon Young of MassLive reports. http://bit.ly/20Sxe0O
Could 351 become 350?
Groton Selectman Joshua Degen floated a proposal Monday that his town consider merging with neighboring Dunstable, a move that would help smooth out issues with regional school funding and also save the small towns on other operating costs, Pierre Comtois of the Lowell Sun reports. Degen admitted his idea counts as "thinking outside the box," but it would actually reunite the communities, which were split up in 1673. http://bit.ly/20SxnkU
Markey maintains opposition to FDA pick
U.S. Senator Edward Markey continues to oppose President Obama's nominee to become Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, citing his past research work on behalf of drug companies that produce opioids, Sophia Bollag of the Globe reports. Citing the country's opioid "epidemic," Markey said the FDA needs to change how it handles relations with the drug industry. Dr. Robert Califf is expected to be confirmed by a wide margin despite Markey's reservations. http://bit.ly/1RkhfpG
Callie Crossley's name was misspelled in yesterday's edition, which linked to her piece arguing in favor of nominating former Gov. Deval Patrick for the Supreme Court.
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