Mondauy, February 1, 2016
By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) and Keith Regan
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Today: Big day in Iowa
Health Policy Commission Executive Director David Seltz will talk about health care costs at the 2016 Government Speaker Series hosted by ML Strategies, where he will give an outlook on the key trends driving activity in 2016. One Financial Center, 38th Floor Conference Center, Boston, 12:00 pm.
The MBTA's Fiscal and Management Control Board meets to discuss service delivery, including evaluation and service planning, and the T's existing debt obligations. The board will also meet in executive session to discuss pending litigation and labor negotiations, 10 Park Plaza, Suite 3830, Boston, 2:00 pm.
All eyes are on Iowa, where voters will caucus and display their presidential preferences. A Des Moines Register poll over the weekend gave Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton narrow leads.
How does a college fire its board of trustees?
Suffolk University has a dynamic new president. Wait a minute, she's about to be fired by a weirdly agitated board of trustees that has mounted what seem like a series of trumped up charges. The drama playing out in the media creates a feeling of helplessness for students, faculty (I teach one course there each fall) and alums, begging an odd question about university governance: Who gets to fire the board of trustees?
Seven months into the job, Margaret McKenna, who ran Lesley University for 22 years, is walking the plank. She was placed under a gag order by the chairman of the board this weekend, told not to use university resources to defend herself, while the head of the public relations firm the university pays $300,000 a year to is calling for her head. McKenna would not stay silent, shooting off a letter to the trustees yesterday rebutting allegations of mismanagement against her, outlined in a story posted last night by the Globe's Laura Krantz. It should be noted that Suffolk is not in a seller's market for seats in its next freshman class, and has benefited from the influx of international students in Boston -- 22 percent were from abroad in the 2014-215 academic year. The board reportedly wants to replace someone with decades of leading a university with former AG Martha Coakley, who has zero years in higher education. Why Coakley would want to enter this hornet's nest is something only she can answer, and she's not speaking to the media.
Globe columnist Adrian Walker makes some interesting observations about the Suffolk situation, including the outsized role public relations executive George Regan is playing in this mess. Walker is pessimistic about the outcome for McKenna. Maybe I'm naïve, but I want to believe the board as a whole (I counted 26 trustees on the website) has more common sense than we've been led to believe. Board chairman Andrew Meyer said, "We are not potted plants." Students, faculty and alumni have decided they're not potted plants either and are rallying behind McKenna.
'Fire Suffolk's president? How about starting with the university's board of trustees': That's the headline for the column Craig Douglas of the Boston Business Journal published this morning. "... No college president can effectively do his or her job with two dozen overlords scrutinizing every move, especially at a flailing organization in need of a turnaround."
Rosenberg: Baker budget leaves 'gaping holes'
From the groupthink that has characterized the creation of the 2017 fiscal year budget, a dissenter has emerged in Senate President Stan Rosenberg, who pointed out there isn't enough money to go around. "The governor couldn't fund education at the level he thought we needed to fund it at. So it just suggests to me that as hard as he and the Legislature work to craft a balanced budget that meets our needs, there are some big, gaping holes," Rosenberg said on New England Cable News' "This Week in Business." http://bit.ly/1QROliz
MASSterList op-ed: New model for primary health care
A new model for primary care can improve patients' health and take costs out of the health care system, writes Dr. Jeffrey S. Gold in a MASSterList op-ed. "When we opened the first primary care practice in Massachusetts a year ago, we stepped off the hamster wheel that most primary care physicians experience every day." http://bit.ly/1KlcsVn
A millionaire's tax for colleges?
Globe columnist Meredith Warren doesn't like the millionaire's tax, but she is partial to an idea that was floated a few years ago to tax college endowments at 2.5 percent. "Aside from any voluntary payments these universities make, their nonprofit status amounts to a tax shield, even though they look and act a lot more like private corporations these days."
Healey's drug-price challenge based on untested legal theory
Attorney General Maura Healey's threat of legal action against a drug company that she says is over-charging for drugs to treat hepatitis C would rely on a largely untested legal theory, the Globe's Robert Weisman reports. The company, Gilead Sciences Inc., has said it wants to engage in talks with Healey about its two treatments -- which cost $84,000 and $95,000 apiece -- but if the case goes to court, it would require the state to prove the company is engaged in "unfair and deceptive" trade practices. http://bit.ly/1PLtRTd
Money pours into ballot question battles
The Herald's Matt Stout details the "tide of money" flowing into the coffers of groups on both sides of several ballot initiatives that voters will decide in November. More than $1 million has been directed toward a question that would require all eggs in the state be from cage-free chickens; just under $500,000 has made its way to the proponents of a question that would lift the state's charter school cap; and the committee pushing a proposal to legalize recreational marijuana has taken in nearly $270,000. http://bit.ly/1P02AiE
Higher donation cap means more cash for pols
A higher cap on individual contributions to political campaigns has helped several Massachusetts politicians set new high-water marks for fundraising, Steve LeBlanc of the Associated Press reports in a story carried by the Telegram and numerous other outlets. Gov. Charlie Baker benefited the most from the increase in the cap from $500 to $1,000, bringing in 1,267 donations of that amount as he set a record of $2.8 million in first-year fundraising. http://bit.ly/1nYqLoZ
Low turnout seen in Brockton primary
Election officials in Brockton are expecting just 10 percent of voters to turn out tomorrow for a primary election that will essentially fill the vacant 9th Plymouth District representative seat, the Enterprise's Marc Larocque reports. No Republicans have stepped forward to seek the vacant seat, meaning the winner among three Democrats -- Shaynah Barnes, Shirley Asack, and Gerry Cassidy -- will have a clear path to claim the seat in the final election on March 1. http://bit.ly/1nHKzwW
Charlie Card maker plans new Lowell HQ
The company that makes the MBTA's Charlie Card passes are will open a new headquarters in Lowell and expand its workforce, reports Catherine Carlock of the Boston Business Journal. Scheidt & Bachmann USA says the move will enable it to expand production and hire more workers. http://bit.ly/1JTxrhW
Lawrence sees windfall from Affleck movie
The city of Lawrence received $330,000 for hosting filming of the Ben Affleck movie "Live by Night," Jill Harmacinski of the Eagle-Tribune reports. The city was originally slated to receive $100,000 for allowing the star's production company to shut down and transform some downtown streets. About half of the money will go directly to businesses impacted by the shoot. http://bit.ly/1KlekNK
What is the Barr Foundation?
In the February issue of Boston Magazine, Patti Hartigan seeks to shed light on the Barr Foundation, a $1.6 billion philanthropy that has taken roles in local debates on everything from arts and education to climate change to Hubway bicycles. Hartigan says some City Hall insiders privately question how much clout the organization carries. http://bit.ly/1VBJLEl
A sister in his cornerHouse Speaker Robert DeLeo's older sister Carol Maniglia was up near the rostrum when the speaker gave his annual address to the House on Wednesday: pledging work on energy, a firm line against taxes and fees, and legislation to regulate Lyft and Uber. So what did she think? "It was short, succinct and to the point. In other words: We're going to get it done," said Maniglia. She said, "It was full of everything he wants to get done this year and I'm sure he will do it." Maniglia said she is a fraud examiner, lives in Lynnfield and is DeLeo's only sibling. "I'm very supportive of my brother," she said.
- Andy Metzger/State House News Service
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