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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
EXCLUSIVE: WU TAKES ON THE MBTA — When the MBTA huddles to hear from the public about a fare increase tonight, Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu will offer an opposite vision for public transit: Make the T free.
Wu will deliver a petition with more than 2,252 signatures opposing the proposed fare hike to MBTA officials tonight during a public hearing. The proposed 6.3 percent fare increase would deliver an estimated $32 million in new revenue, but Wu says the MBTA is having the wrong conversation.
"We're talking about a 6 percent increase that would sustain and delay the current financial conversation for a little longer, but it also means we're driving more people into cars and onto congested streets. We can't afford that," Wu told me last night. "We need to shift the direction of what we're thinking and where we're aiming because there's no time left to keep kicking the can down the road."
Wu says making the T more affordable would ease climate change by getting drivers off the road, and a fare increase would put added financial pressure on riders whose only option is to take the T. The petition also calls on the MBTA to reduce barriers to T access via initiatives like a year-round student pass, fare capping and a low-income fare.
"The last thing we should be doing right now , given the threat of climate change, given our worst traffic in the country designation, the last thing we should be doing right now is make it harder for people to use public transportation," Wu said. "We're never going to be able to take full advantage of the potential of our whole commonwealth if we continue to regressively burden people who need public transpiration the most."
Nearly two dozen elected officials have signed the petition , including 11 members of the Boston City Council. State Sens. Sonia Chang-Díaz and Sal DiDomenico are among the 11 state lawmakers who have signed their names. First-year lawmakers state Reps. Liz Miranda, Maria Robinson, Tram Nguyen, Nika Elugardo and Tami Gouveia all signed onto the petition, according to Wu's office.
Wu will continue to collect signatures this morning at Park Street station . Over the last several days, Wu has passed out fliers and spoken with riders at MBTA stations along her commute, including Ruggles and Forest Hills. Wu said many commuters she heard from were unaware fares are slated to go up July 1, but weren't surprised.
The fare increase would increase the cost of a subway ride from $2.25 to $2.40. Fares have gone up four times over the last decade or so. A subway ride cost $1.70 in 2012. Officials say the increase keeps pace with inflation and will bring in money to improve the aging transit system.
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 and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito announce housing legislation with Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Mike Kennealy and other officials. Polito chairs a Seaport Economic Council meeting. State Senate President Karen Spilka speaks at A Better City meeting.
The House meets in formal session to vote on a supplemental budget bill. The Governor's Council meets. Jane Doe, Inc. and a coalition of advocacy groups hold a briefing on priorities related to domestic and sexual violence. Rep. Stephen Lynch previews Michael Cohen's testimony on WGBH. Rep. Bill Keating speaks to the New England Council in Washington, D.C.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Gov. Baker renews push for Mass. housing production bill," by Catherine Carlock, Boston Business Journal: "Gov. Charlie Baker will again ask state lawmakers to get a housing production bill to his desk, arguing that workers and young families will flee the state without a boost in the Massachusetts housing inventory. Baker is calling for 135,000 new units of housing by 2025. Baker reiterated his call for the housing production bill while speaking to a group of business leaders at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce's government affairs forum, held Tuesday morning at the Westin Copley Plaza."
- "Should drug users have a safe place to inject? State panel says yes," by Felice J. Freyer, Boston Globe: "A state commission recommended Tuesday that the Legislature approve one or more "safe consumption sites" for drug users, embracing an approach to addressing the opioid crisis that has drawn criticism from Governor Charlie Baker and the US attorney for Massachusetts. The Harm Reduction Commission, at its seventh and final meeting, agreed on language explicitly calling for pilot sites where people can consume illegal drugs in hygienic surroundings with trained staff who can revive those who overdose."
- "Governor Baker 'shocked and surprised' by allegations against Kraft," by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "Governor Charlie Baker said Tuesday he was "shocked and surprised" by allegations that New England Patriots owner Robert K. Kraft paid for sexual encounters at a Florida spa, but he declined to say whether Kraft should step down from the team he's owned since 1994. Speaking at the State House, Baker said he has not spoken with Kraft about the charges leveled against the 77-year-old, who police say twice visited a massage parlor that was among 10 targeted amid a major crackdown on human trafficking and prostitution in Florida."
- "Charlie Baker's chief legal counsel steps down," by Mary Markos, Boston Herald: "Lon Povich is leaving his position as chief legal counsel for Gov. Charlie Baker and will be replaced by attorney Bob Ross, current general counsel at the Executive Office for Administration and Finance. Povich managed attorneys across the executive branch as chief legal counsel and helped the administration craft legislation. In his current role, Ross has helped build the five state budget proposals and worked with legislative leaders and administration officials on several other initiatives."
- "Healey says her office may have role in Wynn review," by Colin A. Young, State House News Service: "ATTORNEY GENERAL MAURA HEALEY is anxious to read the findings of the Gaming Commission's investigation into Steve Wynn and Wynn Resorts and is not foreclosing upon the possibility of her office becoming involved in the ongoing quarrel. "Yes, I think there is and will be a role for our office, though it depends on what the report ultimately says," Healey said Tuesday during her semi-regular "Ask the AG" appearance on WGBH's Boston Pubic Radio in response to a question from co-host Jim Braude."
- "LESS STAFF, MORE RESPONSIBILITY AT STATE ENVIRO AGENCIES, GROUPS SAY," by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service: "The state Department of Environmental Protection is at its lowest staffing level in 12 years, leading to fewer enforcement actions and fine collections. At the Department of Conservation and Recreation, there are almost 400 fewer full-time positions now than there were a decade ago. And the Division of Ecological Restoration needs to address thousands of dams and culverts that have gone past their planned lifespans. Advocacy groups agree: several state agencies charged with protecting the environment need more funding, particularly as climate change continues to increase risks and challenges."
- "Task force weighs raising juvenile court age," by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: "FERNANDO WILLIAMS was just 14 when he entered the juvenile justice system. Eleven years later, he's gone through both the Department of Youth Services and, starting at 19, the Middlesex House of Correction. He has perspective on the differences between the juvenile and adult systems to offer to a state task force weighing whether to recommend raising the age for entry into the adult criminal justice system."
- "Do we need a new state seal, motto?" by Annika Hom, Boston Globe: "Should the state scrap its official seal and motto? A Hadley couple wants their town to join five other Massachusetts communities in pushing for a change, saying the images that appear on the state flag are inaccurate and offensive to Native Americans. Michele and Andrew Morris-Friedman are circulating a petition that calls upon the town to support legislation that would create a committee to study the issue and potentially recommend replacements."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Boston has always been no fun. So a crackdown on beer gardens isn't a surprise," by Janelle Nanos, Boston Globe: "There was something suspiciously un-Bostonian about the beer gardens that popped up in spots like the Greenway and the Seaport over the last two years. Something about people drinking beer, outside, at night, surrounded by the twinkling lights of the city, in a place that wasn't quite a restaurant and wasn't quite a bar. It was far too much fun."
- "Nevada regulators fine Wynn Resorts $20 million for failure to investigate sexual misconduct claims against Steve Wynn," by Dan Glaun, Springfield Republican: "The Nevada Gaming Commission has fined Wynn Resorts a record $20 million after an investigation found that senior executives knew of sexual misconduct allegations against company founder Steve Wynn but failed to act, the Las Vegas Review Journal reports. The company agreed to settle with Nevada regulators in January, acknowledging that it had failed to comply with Nevada gaming laws. Wynn Resorts is currently building its $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor gaming resort in Everett."
- "ARC OF THE MORAL UNIVERSE," by Chris Faraone, Celine García, Annika Hom, Daysia Tolentino, Andrew Stanton and Curtis Waltman, Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism:"Depending on the person doing the explaining, the story of expanding stun gun use by cops in Massachusetts is either emphatically positive, with wayward perpetrators spared from bullet-ridden endings by restrained and gracious law enforcement officers, or the most harrowing development since pepper spray and far more painful for those on the receiving end of the blast. Ask people who have been shocked how they feel about year-over-year jumps in the deployment of stun guns, and many will describe the nightmare of having a dart probed underneath their skin, followed by a surge of electricity pumped through them as they lost control of mind, body, and muscle. On the other side, ask those who are tasked with administering shocks, or companies that hock electronic control weapons (ECW), and you will probably hear one of the defensive arguments that ECW proponents push on their communities through friendly and complicit media."
- "Violence survivor to Councilor Wu: Stop talking and act," by Taylor Pettaway, Boston Herald: "City Councilor At-Large Michelle Wu filed an order to continue the conversation surrounding violence and trauma in Boston, but some say they are tired of talking and want action. "They are just putting people back to their trauma by continuing to have survivors tell their tragic stories with no outcome," said activist Mary Franklin. "People wouldn't mind sharing their stories if there was an outcome or if there was a support system to help."
- "Boston ICE chief: We only target 'worst of the worst,'" by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: "Boston ICE chief Todd Lyons pushed back against proponents of "sanctuary city" policies, saying his immigration-enforcement organization needs the cooperation of local law enforcement to get its targets: illegal immigrants who commit crimes here. "When you politicize law enforcement, it makes it bad for everyone," Lyons said when asked about people who support sanctuary cities — places where local law enforcement can't cooperate with federal authorities."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "Former Everett schools boss is charged in indecent assaults on employees," by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: "Former longtime Everett Public Schools Superintendent Frederick F. Foresteire, who abruptly retired in December amid sexual harassment allegations, was charged Tuesday in indecent assaults of school employees, authorities said. In a joint statement, Middlesex District Attorney Marian T. Ryan and Everett Police Chief Steven Mazzie confirmed that Foresteire, 75, was charged with "indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 60, five counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14, and assault and battery in connection with allegedly inappropriately touching three female Everett Public Schools employees who are known to him."
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| ON THE STUMP |
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- "Weld wants to debate Trump 'as one large, orange man to another.' But even GOP dissidents have their doubts," by Michael Levenson, Boston Globe: "If William F. Weld stands any chance of weakening President Trump in the 2020 primary, it will be with the support of Republicans like him who are appalled by the president's temperament and disregard for political norms. Yet few sound ready to help Weld storm the castle, at least not yet. In interviews, Republicans who have criticized Trump offered more polite praise for Weld's courage than enthusiasm for his exploratory campaign."
- "It's time," from the Brandon Bowser campaign: "Right now, the future of Allston-Brighton is uncertain. It is time for new leadership willing and ready to meet today's challenges with forward-thinking solutions. With that in mind, I am now announcing my candidacy for Boston City Council representing District 9. I believe we have an incredible opportunity to build a campaign that bridges the past, present, and future of Allston-Brighton. Our campaign will build coalitions across neighborhood lines to advocate for equitable workforce housing, developing homes that we can all afford, and multi-modal transit solutions that fit every budget and lifestyle."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Elizabeth Warren accuses the Fed of working for 'big, rich banks,'" by Matt Egan, CNN: "Senator Elizabeth Warren believes the regulatory system is rigged in favor of "big, rich banks." The Massachusetts Democrat slammed the Federal Reserve on Tuesday for a "backroom" bank merger review process that never results in acquisitions getting blocked. "Your approval process in itself appears to be a rubber stamp. Everything is happening behind closed doors," Warren told Fed chief Jerome Powell during a Senate hearing. Warren, a presidential candidate, took issue with a practice the banks use to privately discuss potential deals with Fed staff members — and then quietly withdraw merger applications if there's opposition."
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| DATELINE D.C. |
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- "Pressley And Her Bloc Of Progressive Women Colleagues Prepare To Take On Cohen," by Kimberly Atkins, WBUR:"Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley promises to pull no punches when she questions President Trump's former lawyer and "fixer" Michael Cohen, who will testify publicly before the House Oversight and Reform Committee Wednesday. "I don't want to tease or reveal too much about my line of questioning, but just trust that it will be hard and direct," Pressley said of her plans for Cohen, who will reportedly detail wrongdoing by the president both before and after he was elected."
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| THE CLARK CAUCUS |
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| ALL ABOARD |
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- "T notes: Blue Line an outlier on ridership," by Andy Metzger, CommonWealth Magazine: "WHILE WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP has generally dropped on MBTA subway and bus routes, boardings on the Blue Line have been on an upswing, according to data presented by the T's research director, Laurel Paget-Seekins, at Monday's meeting of the agency's Fiscal and Management Control Board. Joe Aiello, the board chairman, said it would be "interesting to know what evidence we have about what's driving" the upsurge in Blue Line boardings, and said the overall drop-off is 'troubling.'"
- "Parking woes at North Quincy MBTA station," by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: "IN QUINCY, IT'S LIKE WHERE'S WALDO, but instead, where are the parking spaces? Quincy city councilors are seeking answers to how the MBTA will accommodate commuters who just lost nearly 600 of the 1,200 parking spaces at North Quincy Station to make way for construction of a new 1,600-spot public parking garage."
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| TRUMPACHUSETTS |
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- "Woman who was arrested after allegedly knocking off a man's 'MAGA' hat at Cape Cod restaurant taken into ICE custody," by Jacqueline Tempera, MassLive.com: "The woman who was arrested at a Cape Cod restaurant last week after she allegedly harassed a man wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat has been taken into ICE custody. Rosiane Santos, 41 from Brazil, was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Tuesday morning, the agency said. Santos was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge in Falmouth Feb. 15 after she allegedly insulted and knocked a hat off of a man eating with his friends at the Casa Vallarta Mexican Restaurant. He was wearing a hat bearing President Donald Trump's campaign slogan 'Make America Great Again.'"
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "WYNN'S ENCORE," — Globe: "Wynn Resorts fined $20 mil in Nevada but keeps license," "House says no on emergency," "Concept of injection sites for drug users gets a boost." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "DAs join to provide new resources to clergy abuse survivors," by Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle: "Prosecutors in Western Massachusetts are joining to help families affected by clergy sexual abuse, bringing a public sector resource to bear on a continuing global problem. Representatives of the district attorneys' offices in the four western counties of Massachusetts are looking for ways to assist clergy abuse survivors. At the same time, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield said it is revising how it reports instances of clergy abuse to prosecutors, in light of questions about its follow-through."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Plymouth to go another summer without the Mayflower II," by Rich Harbert, Patriot-Ledger: "For the third year in a row, Plymouth will head into the tourism season this summer without the iconic wooden ship that had been the centerpiece of its harbor for more than 60 years. The Mayflower II, a replica of the 17th century square-rigger that carried the Pilgrims to Plymouth, will remain in dry dock in Connecticut until September as crews continue a $11.2-million restoration restoration project aimed at preparing the ship for the 400th anniversary of the town's founding in 2020."
- "Black Lives Matter poster going back up at Worcester charter school," by Mark Sullivan, Telegram & Gazette: "A Black Lives Matter-themed poster of Colin Kaepernick, affixed with pictures of African-American victims of alleged police brutality, was set to be put back up this week at Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School, according to the school's director. The charter school's executive director, Brian Haas, said the poster was expected to be re-hung by high school students on Tuesday after a dialogue Monday between students and administrators."
TRANSITIONS - Stacey Monahan joins Liberty Square Group as a senior vice president.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to state Sen. Eric Lesser and reporter Susan Zalkind.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes and no! The Bruins beat the Sharks 4-1. The Raptors beat the Celtics 118-95.
Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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