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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
— Rep. Seth Moulton raised some eyebrows yesterday when the Boston Globe reported he's heading to Bedford, N.H., to talk to Democrats next month. And whether Moulton is dipping his toe into the 2020 presidential race, or just likes going to New Hampshire, there's no doubt the trip will attract some attention.
"He's smart enough to know it's going to raise speculation,"political consultant Scott Ferson told me. No stranger to the Granite State, the North Shore lawmaker crossed the border to Bow, N.H. over the summer to talk to Democrats at a picnic. At that point, he said he wasn't running for president. But Moulton didn't give a flat-out "no" when the Globe's editorial board raised the presidential question with him last week, the paper reports.
Ferson worked with Moulton on his successful House bid in 2014, and said the congressman could find a lane in the crowded primary running on his military service. The caveat: That didn't bring it home for presidential hopefuls former Sen. John Kerry, late Sen. John McCain or former Sen. Bob Dole
"The biggest obstacle as a member of the House of Representatives is that very few have a national profile and national reach," Ferson said. "Seth hasn't been there very long, he doesn't have a national profile but he certainly has national reach. He proved that through the last election all over the country, putting his money where his mouth was and raising money and providing real support for people running for congress."
Moulton's Serve America leadership PAC was a top fundraiser in the 2018 midterm, and he crisscrossed the country to campaign for candidates with military service. Moulton could draw on that network of newly-elected lawmakers, organizers and fundraisers if he does pursue the White House. Ferson, founder of the Liberty Square Group, said he isn't working with Moulton in any official capacity right now.
I'll be interested to see whether New Hampshire voters push Moulton on his failed crusade against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He faced pushback from some constituents, many of them women, when he called for Pelosi's ouster. And he might face a primary challenge in his 2020 for his House seat because of it.
Speculation aside, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is heading to New Hampshire tomorrow, and we know she's in the 2020 race. Warren will hold an organizing event in Claremont, N.H. on Friday night, a small city on the border of Vermont about 30 minutes south of the Upper Valley towns of Lebanon and Hanover, the home of Dartmouth College. Since Warren's last trip to the Granite State on Saturday, the 2020 presidential field has continued to swell. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand announced her presidential exploratory committee on Tuesday. Warren's reaction? "Good for Kirsten," Warren said. "I think it's great.
KENNEDY'S BORDER CRISIS CASH — Since President Donald Trump announced his family separation policy last summer, Rep. Joe Kennedy III has raised more than a quarter of a million dollars for people seeking asylum at the southern U.S. border.
Through his email list, Kennedy hit $250,000 in funds raised for groups like the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project earlier this week, according to his office.
"Since Trump announced his zero-tolerance policy at the border, our movement has stepped up again and again to show that millions of Americans reject the scapegoating and dehumanizing of immigrant families searching for a better life," Kennedy wrote in a recent fundraising email.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY - Gov. Charlie Baker, Secretary of Education James Peyser and Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Mike Kennealy announce $3.3 million in skills capital grants educational institutions. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and Fitchburg Mayor Stephen DiNatale, state Sen. Dean Tran and state Rep. Stephen Hay announce grant funding in Fitchburg.
Polito, Marlborough Mayor Arthur Vigeant and state Rep. Carmine Gentile announce grants in Marlborough. Baker is a guest on WGBH. House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Karen Spilka speak at Sexual Health Lobby Day. State Rep. Paul Brodeur rallies for federal workers impacted by the government shutdown. The Massachusetts Republican Party votes on a new chair.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Top state representative grabbed incoming lawmaker's backside, colleagues say," by Andrea Estes and Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "A member of House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo's leadership team walked up behind an incoming legislator and grabbed her backside last month during an orientation cocktail hour for newly elected lawmakers, according to several officials who either witnessed or were told of the alleged incident. The allegations against Representative Paul McMurtry, a Dedham Democrat and, at the time, chairman of the House personnel committee, have roiled several new members of the Legislature, who gave voice to fears that the climate of harassment House leaders vowed to address last year hasn't abated."
- "HEALEY OUTLINES PRIORITIES IN 'TIME OF CONSEQUENCE,'" by Matt Murphy, State House News Service:"Attorney General Maura Healey committed herself on Wednesday to an ambitious new clean energy goal and promised to fight gun violence, reduce barriers to mental health treatment, and support increased funding for education as many Democrats continue to look to her as the future of the party. Healey, who easily won re-election in November, is widely viewed within the Democratic Party as a likely and formidable candidate for governor in four years, if she doesn't run for federal office sooner."
- "Advocates aim to add over $500 million a year to Massachusetts public higher education funding," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "The CHERISH bill would establish in state law a minimum funding level for public higher education, which is no less than the per-student funding level in fiscal 2001, adjusted for inflation. Fiscal 2001 was the highest level of state funding the public education system has seen. Advocates for the bill estimate that that would require the state to spend about $574 million more each year ."
- "SEN. BRENDAN CRIGHTON RENEWS PUSH TO BRING BLUE LINE TO LYNN," by Gayla Cawley, Daily Item: "State Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) knows the skepticism that surrounds any mention of extending the Blue Line from the Wonderland Station in Revere to Lynn. It's been mentioned as a priority of elected officials and those seeking election for decades, with discussion dating back to the 1930s. But on Thursday, Crighton will renew the push when he plans to file a bill in the state legislature that, if passed, would require the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) to conduct a feasibility study on how to extend the Blue Line, or rapid transit, from Revere to Lynn."
- RELATED: "IT'S TIME FOR A BLUE LINE ACTION PLAN," by Sen. Brendan Crighton, Daily Item.
- "Baker appoints Andrew Maylor as comptroller," by Mary Markos, Boston Herald: "Andrew Maylor, the North Andover town manager who stepped up as a leader in addressing the Merrimack Valley gas disaster, will assume a new role as Comptroller of the Commonwealth next month. Gov. Charlie Baker announced the appointment Wednesday, effective Feb. 18, of Maylor as the independent overseer of the commonwealth's financial transactions, accountability and service delivery across all branches of state government."
- "Mass. state payroll climbs to $7.2 billion in 2018," by Matt Rocheleau, Boston Globe: "The Massachusetts state payroll climbed to $7.2 billion in 2018, an increase of 2.5 percent over the previous year, according to new data from the state comptroller's office. The number of state workers earning six figures also grew by about 14 percent from 2017, according to the data. Last year, more than 13,500 people took home $100,000 or more, up from 11,900 the previous year. Twenty-four workers made upward of $100,000 in overtime pay alone ."
- "BAKER HIGHLIGHTS FIRST RESPONDER COUNSELING LAW," by Matt Murphy, State House News Service: Gov. Charlie Baker helped police and firefighters from around the state on Wednesday celebrate a new law protecting the confidentiality of first responders who seek mental health support from their peers to deal with the stresses of the job. Baker signed the bill in late December as lawmakers rushed piles of legislation to his desk before the previous two-year legislative session ended after the New Year."
- "Legal sports betting may be coming to Massachusetts," by Christian M. Wade, The Daily News: "States are rushing to legalize wagers on professional sports following last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and Massachusetts could be getting a piece of the action. On Beacon Hill, lawmakers are filing proposals this week that would authorize sports betting at the state's casinos and establish a system to tax and regulate the new industry."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Boston, Cambridge mayors plan visits to safe injection sites in Canada," by Felice J. Freyer, Boston Globe: "The mayors of Boston and Cambridge are traveling to Canada this week to visit centers where people can inject drugs under medical supervision. Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Mayor Marc C. McGovern of Cambridge, both members of a state commission investigating the idea of opening such facilities in Massachusetts, planned their trips separately and won't be traveling together, officials said. Walsh plans to visit Montreal and Toronto, while McGovern will stay in Montreal."
- OVER IT: "Companies are plastering the Boston accent all over ads, and some locals have had enough," by Dugan Arnett, Boston Globe: "Blame it on the Wahlbergs — or all those Boston-set movies — but lately, advertisers seem to have decided that the only way to win over Boston consumers is by playing up The Accent. On billboards and subway placards popping up across the city, companies peddling everything from bourbon to cold medicine are dropping their r's in the name of sales."
- "UMass Boston severs ties with Confucius Institute," by Colman M. Herman, CommonWealth Magazine: "THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON has severed its ties with the Confucius Institute, an on-campus academic center funded by the Chinese government that has stirred controversy on campus and among some Massachusetts politicians. Katherine Newman, the interim chancellor at UMass Boston, declined to give a specific reason for the decision to part ways with the institute after 12 years on campus."
- "For the first time, Massachusetts cellphone users can text 911," by John R. Ellement, Boston Globe: "It may be the only way someone who needs police — but has to remain as quiet as possible — can summon help. For the first time in Massachusetts, cellphone users can now text directly to 911 dispatchers, a major upgrade to the Next Generation 911, or NG911, system that is designed to match changes in society with the unchanging need to summon police, fire, and paramedics at a moment's notice."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "4 Things Elizabeth Warren's Last Election Can Tell Us About 2020," by Nathaniel Rakich, FiveThirtyEight: "For Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the race was little more than a tune-up for the 2020 presidential campaign she is now gearing up for; she breezed to re-election by 24 points (although it was arguably an underwhelming performance given the state's blue hue). But we can look at who voted for Warren in 2018 for clues as to who might vote for her in 2020 — both in the primary and, if she gets there, in the general election."
- "TMZ keeps peppering Elizabeth Warren with questions about the Patriots," by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren may be exploring a 2020 presidential campaign on a platform of economic fairness and getting rid of corruption in government, but the prolific gossip website TMZ appears chiefly concerned with her opinion on one subject: The New England Patriots. Perhaps hoping to induce a memorable sports gaffe (which Massachusetts politicians know all too well), the Trump-friendly tabloid outlet has made a recent habit of asking Warren about her home state's favorite football team."
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| ON THE STUMP |
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- "Heroux repurposing mayoral emails for campaign," by Colman M. Herman, CommonWealth Magazine: "ATTLEBORO MAYOR PAUL HEROUX, in what may be a violation of the state's conflict of interest law, is pulling the addresses off the emails he receives in his official mayoral capacity and using them as part of campaign efforts. The practice came to light when a reporter submitted a public records request to Heroux and subsequently received a six-page email from his campaign committee that recounted his activities as mayor the prior two weeks, provided links to articles in which he was mentioned, featured photos of him, and invited recipients to 'Buy Paul's book on the Middle East.'"
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| FROM THE DELEGATION |
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- "For Ayanna Pressley, the beauty of unexpected wins led to Congress and a historic office," by Kayla Epstein, Washington Post: "There are many political stars in the class of freshmen elected to Congress last year. Some are new to politics. Many will burn bright and fade. Pressley, who has worked in politics for more than 20 years, could be in Washington for the long haul."
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| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
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- "Marijuana products improperly dumped behind Framingham lab, police say," by Naomi Martin, Boston Globe: "One of the state's two marijuana testing labs is under investigation this week after Framingham police accused the lab of improperly throwing hundreds of vials of cannabis products into an unlocked dumpster. An officer investigating a suspicious car near the trash bins behind MCR Labs on Sunday peered inside the dumpsters and saw the glass vials. Some were filled with a green liquid, others a brown sticky substance believed to be marijuana extract, police said, adding they also found green cannabis buds and powdery residue."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "STATE OF DISUNION," — Globe: "Lawmaker groped, officials say," "Bomber kills 4 from US in Syria," "You're not from around here, are you?" |
| BEHIND THE TOFU CURTAIN |
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- "Trying times for Hampshire College," by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine: "IT WAS STILL very much the thick of Eisenhower-era conformity, in 1958, when the presidents of Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst put together a document called The New College Plan. It envisioned a fifth college in the Pioneer Valley that would break from the conventional norms of higher education with a focus on self-directed learning and greater interdisciplinary study. Twelve years later, the vision matured into reality with the opening of Hampshire College on an 800-acre parcel of former apple orchards and farmland in South Amherst. Now, nearly 50 years after its opening, the once new college is on the ropes."
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| NO PLACE LIKE THE CITY OF HOMES |
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- "Activists rally in downtown Springfield for incarcerated immigration activist Eduardo Samaniego," by Lucas Ropek, Springfield Republican: "Activists rallied in downtown Springfield Wednesday in an effort to support Eduardo Samaniego, an undocumented immigrant and political activist who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials late last year. Samaniego, a Mexican national who crossed into the U.S. illegally when he was 16, had, until his arrest, been at the forefront of various activist efforts to critique and curb the Trump administration's immigration policies."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Local businesses chip in to help unpaid Coast Guard members," by Mary Whitfill, Patriot Ledger: "As nearly 1 million government employees mark their 25th day without pay under a federal government shutdown today, a growing number of South Shore businesses are stepping up to help out. One North Scituate cafe is offering free food to active and former Coast Guard members, a Hull museum has started collecting gift cards to help families who are struggling financially, and the Quincy Credit Union has launched a relief program to help furloughed government employees get by."
TRANSITIONS - Harvard Institute of Politics has named its spring 2019 fellows. Resident fellows include: former Reps. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) and Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), Andrew Gillum, Aisha Moodie-Mills, Catherine Russell and Michael Zeldin. The spring visiting fellows include: Gary Cohn, former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Mitch Landrieu and Michael Nutter.
- Rep. Ayanna Pressley named Sarah Groh chief of staff, Aissa Canchola as legislative director, Kalina Frances as communications director, Eric White as district director, Lynese Wallace as policy adviser, Lona Watts as director of scheduling, Erina Colombo as civic engagement manager, Ronald Claude as field representative, Colin Remal as constituent services manager, Dennis Barrett as legislative correspondent, Errin Douglas as staff assistant and Luz Villar as executive assistant.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to former Sen. Paul Kirk who turns 81, David Jacobs, publisher of the Boston Guardian, and Shane Cardillo, senior analyst at Hamilton Lane.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes and no! The Celtics beat the Raptors 117-108. The Flyers beat the Bruins 4-3.
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