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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
PRESSLEY ON THE HOUSE FLOOR — Rep. Ayanna Pressley delivered a sharp rebuke to President Donald Trump's push for a border wall in her first-ever speech on the House floor yesterday. Beyond Pressley's stance against the government shutdown, what she said also offers a glimpse into what kind of lawmaker the Boston congresswoman will be in Washington.
"I rise today in opposition to the occupant of the White House.Mr. Trump," Pressley said. "You devalue the life of the immigrant, the worker and the survivor. I see right through you and so do the American people."
In her minute-long speech, Pressley highlighted families worried about WIC benefits running dry, survivors seeking shelter and workers with "calloused hands and broken spirits" working for no pay. Pressley will do a more formal maiden speech in the future, her office says. But this first floor speech shows Pressley is bringing her brand of activism and representation that helped set her apart from former Rep. Mike Capuano and propelled her to victory over the summer.
"I rise today to lift the voices of the unheard," Pressley said. "I rise as one and I stand as thousands." Pressley's sharp lines against the president earned her a warning from North Carolina Rep. G.K. Butterfield, serving as speaker pro tempore, who said she should "refrain from engaging in personalities toward the president."
Pressley also introduced a bill on Tuesday that would guarantee back pay for government contractors, a group of workers who get their wages via federal money but aren't employed directly by the government. In past shutdowns, government contractors, which includes food workers and people who provide social services, haven't been paid their missed wages.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY - Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito chairs a Governor's Council meeting. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, Rep. Mary Keefe and state Rep. Aaron Vega gather in support of education funding bill the Education PROMISE Act. Boston City Councilor-elect Althea Garrison is sworn in. State Senate President Karen Spilka speaks at an Environmental League of Massachusetts breakfast. Spilka and state Rep. Russell Holmes are guests at a live taping of "The Horse Race" podcast. Rep. Katherine Clark is a guest on WGBH's "Morning Edition."
State Sen. Michael Rodrigues speaks at a press conference calling on Beacon Hill leaders to include $30 million in supplemental funding for a low-income home energy assistance program. Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders attends a behavioral health forum hosted by Massachusetts Association for Mental Health, the Association for Behavioral Healthcare and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation at the UMass Club.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "REFORMERS WEIGH POSSIBLE NEXT CHAPTERS IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE OVERHAUL," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "No matter how they described it, lawmakers and advocates involved in passage of the 2018 criminal justice overhaul agreed Tuesday that their work was not over, pointing to elements of the new law that have yet to take effect and other reforms to pursue in the future."
- "PUSH FOR FLAME RETARDANT BILL COUNTERED BY INDUSTRY CALL FOR VETO," by Matt Murphy, State House News Service: "Gov. Charlie Baker is facing mounting pressure to sign a bill that would ban the use of certain toxic flame retardant chemicals in many products as industry groups lobby hard for the Republican to veto the bill. Sen. Cynthia Creem and Rep. Marjorie Decker brought together environmental advocates and firefighters on Tuesday to press publicly for the governor to sign the bill, which would ban the use of 11 flame retardant chemicals in children's products, household furniture and bedding."
- "State rep's rail-car warning echoes in DC," by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine: "STATE REP. SHAWN DOOLEY acknowledged last month that some might think he had a screw loose for sounding a warning over the cybersecurity risks posed by the MBTA contracting with a Chinese rail car maker to deliver 400 new Orange and Red line subway cars. The Norfolk Republican said he was concerned that the contract with the state-owned China Railway Rolling Stock Corp., or CRRC, could expose the T to sabotage — everything from spyware that captures information from riders' smartphones to an ability for foreign players to shutdown the system or cause a collision."
- "LAWMAKERS SAY SHUTDOWN MIGHT REQUIRE EMERGENCY STATE $$$," by Colin A. Young, State House News Service: "Two freshman lawmakers wrote to Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday to urge him to immediately request emergency funding for regional food banks if the federal government shutdown drastically reduces the availability of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in Massachusetts. Sen. Jo Comerford of Northampton and Rep. Mindy Domb of Amherst, both of whom previously worked in fields addressing chronic hunger, said there will be 'a significant shortfall in SNAP benefits' if the shutdown extends into February."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "'ZooMass' no more. Is turning UMass Amherst into an elite university what the state needs?" by Neil Swidey, Boston Globe:"Because UMass sits in the western part of a state dominated by eastern private colleges, it has struggled to get on the radar of the Bay State's power structure. Subbaswamy now spends a day or two a week in Boston trying to change that. He regularly reminds business and government leaders that his institution, with its 30,000 students (22,000 of them undergrads), is the chief trainer of the state's workforce."
- "'Patriots Day' got a $16 million state subsidy, new records show," by Matt Stout and Matt Rocheleau, Boston GLobe: "The state issued nearly $90 million in film tax subsidies in 2016, a new high-water mark that includes tens of millions in previously unreported incentives paid out to movies inspired by the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. 'Patriots Day,' the 2016 Mark Wahlberg-led film about the terrorist attack at the finish line that killed three people and injured hundreds more, collected $15.7 million worth of credits — the fifth most for any project to date, according to newly revised state data."
- "Cambridge advances proposal to add gender-neutral option to city birth certificates," by Steve Annear, Boston Globe:"Cambridge officials Monday advanced a proposal to add a gender-neutral option to birth certificates issued in the city while letting those who don't identify with the gender assigned to them at birth amend the document without having to jump through certain administrative hoops. The policy order, which was introduced this month by Mayor Marc McGovern, was passed unanimously by the City Council during the first meeting of the New Year Monday night."
- "As shutdown drags on, consequences mount in Mass." by Brian MacQuarrie, Boston Globe: "At the US Coast Guard Base in Boston, the partial government shutdown has become more than a long list of impersonal numbers recited in the news media of the furloughed and unpaid, and those in danger of losing benefits. It now is a case, for some members of the world's most powerful military, of searching for ways to feed their families."
- "Massachusetts AG Maura Healey gives $3 million to address social factors that affect health," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "Housing. Legal services. Walking paths. While these things are not typically thought of as health care, they do have a significant impact on people's health. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey on Tuesday announced $3 million in grants to 13 community organizations that address things like housing, hunger and other societal factors that affect someone's health. Healey announced the grants at an event at the Greater Boston Food Bank."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "SJC says spouses are entitled to part of significant other's estate when they are left out of will," by John R. Ellement, Boston Globe: "In what a lawyer cautioned could become a 'rude awakening' to blended families, the state's highest court ruled Monday that spouses are entitled to one-third of their deceased spouse's estate — when they are not mentioned in the spouse's will. The Supreme Judicial Court ruled unanimously for the second wife of a Charlton man who demanded her share of the real estate her husband had willed his four adult children."
- "US Supreme Court: States cannot sue Massachusetts in high court over cage-free egg law," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that it will not allow 13 states to sue Massachusetts in the nation's highest court over a law that will ban the sale of eggs and meat from animals that are too tightly confined. In 2016, Massachusetts voters passed a ballot question that will prohibit the confinement of pigs, calves and chickens in tight quarters, and prohibit the sale of meat and eggs from animals that have been confined."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Elizabeth Warren says the minimum wage no longer keeps a single mother out of poverty. Is that true?" by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren made her first visit to Iowa this past weekend after announcing the formation of her presidential exploratory committee. And during the three-day trip, the Massachusetts Democrat's message centered around addressing two major problems: economic inequality and the influence of money in politics — with the latter often driving the former."
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| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
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- "Pittsfield, Hudson marijuana stores given green light to open Saturday," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican:"Temescal Wellness has received final permission to open recreational marijuana stores in Pittsfield and Hudson. The Cannabis Control Commission said Tuesday that it gave Temescal Wellness the green light to open as early as Saturday, Jan. 12. Temescal Wellness would be the second retail marijuana store to open in the Berkshires. The first, Theory Wellness, plans to open for recreational sales on Friday."
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| TRUMPACHUSETTS |
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- "Here's How Mass. Politicians Reacted To Trump's Oval Office Address," WGBH News: "President Donald Trump made a televised plea for border wall funding Tuesday night, seeking an edge in the shutdown battle with congressional Democrats as he declared there is 'a humanitarian crisis, a crisis of the heart and a crisis of the soul.' Addressing the nation from the Oval Office for the first time, Trump argued for funding on security and humanitarian grounds as he sought to put pressure on newly empowered Democrats amid an extended partial government shutdown."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "GET THIS DONE!" — Globe: "Trump makes his case on wall," "State gave out $89m in film credits, the most ever." |
| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Cape Cod Community College receives $5M, its largest-ever donation," by Doug Banks, Boston Business Journal: "Cape Cod Community College has received a $5 million donation — its largest-ever gift — as part of its construction of a new science and engineering building. The donation is the largest in the history of the two-year college, located in West Barnstable. It comes from Maureen Wilkens, a longtime benefactor who, with her husband, Frank, a former investment manager, established the Wilkens Family Trust Scholarship in 2007, which provides annual scholarships of $4,000 each to 10 Cape Cod Community College students who are single parents."
MAZEL! - to Nicole Herendeen of Benchmark Strategies, who was selected for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce "Boston's Future Leaders" program.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY - to former Democratic gubernatorial contender Jay Gonzalez.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to former Rep. Mike Capuano, who is 66; North Reading State House Republican leader Rep. Brad Jones; Dan Blank, press secretary for Rep. Joe Kennedy III; Sasha Goodfriend , assistant director of communications and public affairs at Simmons, president of MassNOW, vice chair of the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth and council member at SPARK Boston (h/t Amy Mahler), SPARK Boston Director Amy Mahler, Gustavo Quiroga, director of neighborhood strategy and development at Graffito SP, and Marjorie Nesin of Fresenius Medical Care North America.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Bruins beat the Wild 4-0.
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