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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF!
IT'S HEARING DAY — Expect a packed room at today's Joint Committee on Education hearing at the State House. Gov. Charlie Baker, Secretary of Education James Peyser and four New England Patriots Players will be on deck to testify on more than a dozen education funding reform bills, along with a slate of lawmakers, mayors, parents, activists and students.
A 2015 report from the state's Foundation Budget Review Commission found the state's existing education funding formula underfunds public schools by more than $1 billion. Since then, lawmakers and advocates have been looking for ways to bridge that gap.
Talks to update the way the state finances education fell apart late last session, and a wide cast of Beacon Hill lawmakers and officials say they're determined to get something done this time around. State Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz filed the Education PROMISE Act earlier this year, and Gov. Charlie Baker filed his school finance reform proposal in January.
"The bills filed by the governor and members of legislature have considerable overlap which shows the momentum is there to get the differences resolved," Education Committee chair state Rep. Alice Peisch said over text last night.
Peisch told me she's looking out for testimony related to how the state calculates funding for low-income students, which was an area where lawmakers disagreed last session. "The bills vary with respect to that and I will be interested in hearing what that amount should be and why," Peisch said.
If you're headed to Beacon Hill this morning, keep your eye out for Patriots players Devin McCourty, Jason McCourty, Matthew Slater and Duron Harmon, who will testify as part of the Players Coalition advocacy group on behalf of the Senate bill. On the mayoral front, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell, Brockton Mayor Bill Carpenter, Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle and Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty are among the city leaders who plan to testify. Peisch said it's likely that hundreds of people will attend the hearing.
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 Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeff Riley testify before the Joint Committee on Education. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito participates in a State Street Corporation forum on STEM and the Massachusetts Workforce Challenge. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh attends the Boston Children's Hospital 150th anniversary celebration. The Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools holds an "Invite Your Legislator to School" day at the Meeting Street School in Dartmouth.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Improving The MBTA Will Come At A Price — Maybe From Drivers," by Mike Deehan, WGBH News: "Lawmakers are finally committed to passing legislation this session that could revamp the MBTA and make it easier for drivers to get into Boston. But the solve will come at a price, and likely a high one. As lawmakers prepare to debate higher taxes in exchange for better roads, bridges and train service, the vice chair of the MBTA's fiscal management control board, Monica Tibbits-Nutt, plans to make the case that the T needs more revenue to meet riders' expectations."
- "Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker says President Trump's comments about John McCain are 'completely inappropriate,'" by Jacqueline Tempera, MassLive.com: "Gov. Charlie Baker called the late Sen. John McCain a "great man and a great American" following President Donald Trump's disparaging comments this week. "By any standard John McCain was a great man and a great American, period," Baker said on WGBH Thursday. "I was brought up in a house where you don't speak ill of the dead." Baker was referencing recent remarks by Trump who complained that he was never thanked for the funeral for McCain, who died in August after a battle with brain cancer."
- "Gov. Baker: Safe Injection Sites A 'Non-Starter,'" by Tori Bedford, WGBH News: "Despite calls from other local leaders to open supervised drug consumption sites in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker says he has no intention of going against federal policy. Mayor Marty Walsh has advocated for safe injection sites as part of an ongoing effort to combat opioid abuse. Yet Baker says he can't go against the federal direction of U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling, who vowed to crack down on the sites in a January op-ed in The Boston Globe."
- "STUDENT DEBT ACTIVISTS READY TO GO TO BALLOT FOR TUITION-FREE COLLEGE," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "Students, educators and others who say the cost of a college education has ballooned out of control took their calls for relief to the State House on Thursday and said that if lawmakers don't act, they're prepared to ask voters to deliver results instead. Zac Bears, executive director of the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM), encouraged the hundreds who attended an advocacy day his organization hosted to "demand action" on legislation they support."
- "Rep. James O'Day files bill to make drugmakers pay for opioid crisis," by Susan Spencer, Telegram & Gazette: "tate Rep. James J. O'Day, D-West Boylston, filed a bill this week that would assess payments from drug manufacturers to defray the cost of prevention, intervention, recovery and treatment of opioid use disorders. Unlike other proposals seeking to make pharmaceutical companies pay for the opioid epidemic, Mr. O'Day's bill would set up a monitoring and corrective action system to prevent manufacturers from passing on the cost of the assessment to consumers."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Biogen halts late-stage trials on Alzheimer's drug," by Felice J. Freyer, Jonathan Saltzman and Adam Feuerstein, Boston Globe:"The Cambridge biotech company Biogen announced Thursday that it is scrapping tests on an experimental treatment for Alzheimer's disease, dashing hopes among advocates and caregivers for a medication to tame the devastating illness. Biogen — the largest biotech based in Massachusetts — and its Japanese partner Eisai said they were halting two late-stage clinical trials of the drug after concluding it was unlikely to benefit patients."
- "Boston City Council rejects proposal to let public petition for hearings," by Christopher Gavin, Boston.com: "The Boston City Council this week rejected a proposed ordinance that would have given residents a guaranteed hearing on an issue they wanted to talk about if they collected 500 signatures on a petition. At-Large Councilor Michelle Wu, the lead sponsor of the measure, billed the proposal as a direct way for constituents to have a hand in shaping council affairs and forming its agenda."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "Judge pledges he'll rule soon in battle over Fall River election results," by Laura Crimaldi, Boston Globe: " Ten Fall River residents who voted in favor of recalling Mayor Jasiel F. Correia II allege the ballot used in last week's special election violated the city's charter. The city's lawyer counters that the residents are just unhappy that Correia remains in power and now want the courts to intervene. Correia, a 27-year-old Democrat, was recalled and reelected on the same ballot. The recall election was organized after Correia was charged last year in federal court with fraud and tax evasion."
- "Mass. State Police trooper in OT scandal destroyed citation records, federal prosecutor says," by Scott J. Croteau, MassLive.com: "The Massachusetts State Police trooper who appears to be the worst offender in the overtime scandal destroyed copies of citations in an attempt to cover up his misdeeds, a federal prosecutor wrote. Gregory Raftery, 48, of Westwood, who retired amid the overtime investigation within the state police, admitted to skipping specialized patrol shifts in 2015 and 2016, resulting in him collecting $51,337 in overtime pay."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "2020 Democrats Think The Rent Is Too Damn High," by Kevin Robillard and Arthur Delaney, Huffington Post: "The rising cost of housing has become an issue on the presidential campaign trail for one of the first times in living memory, thrilling advocates who are hopeful that tackling housing affordability can merit inclusion on a crowded 2020 Democratic policy agenda. Housing affordability is a major problem in the U.S., with nearly half of all renters paying more than a third of their income just to keep a roof over their heads. The median rent has risen 20 percent faster than inflation since 1990, according to Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, while the median home price has risen 41 percent faster. "
- "Is This What Could Doom Elizabeth Warren?" by Jeff Greenfield, POLITICO Magazine: "Elizabeth Warren "is facing tough questions about fundraising and electability," or so says The Associated Press. She is languishing in fifth place in a spate of polls of Democratic primary voters; Bernie Sanders and Beto O'Rourke are dominating the money race; and her detailed and thoughtful position papers on health care, monopolies and tax policy threaten to define her as the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy Winner of 2020—the candidate who wins a prize from policy wonks and civic-minded pundits, but who never wins the nomination. There's no single answer for Warren's slow start. You could blame the self-inflicted wound of the DNA test and the media's fascination with the Bright Shiny Object of Betomania. Perhaps it's because she's a woman in an era in which misogyny remains all too rife. Maybe, after years in the spotlight, she feels too much like yesterday's news. But there might be a more difficult hurdle for her to overcome: Warren may be too much of a senator."
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| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
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- "You can't own more than three pot shops, but these companies are testing the limit — and bragging about it," by Beth Healy, Dan Adams, Nicole Dungca, Andrew Ryan, Todd Wallack and Patricia Wen, Boston Globe: "Sea Hunter, along with a large rival called Acreage Holdings, is using complex corporate structures to acquire or manage store licenses from the Berkshires to Cape Cod, commanding high-interest loans and strict management contracts as they become quiet titans of Massachusetts marijuana. Their aggressive growth plans are not just pushing the limits built into the state law, but may be busting them entirely. Their early moves also threaten the state's promise to not just legalize recreational marijuana but to make the marketplace for the drug a fair one in which diversity of ownership is prized and small players have a chance. Massachusetts, in short, had hoped to get legalization right. But out of the gate, that dream faces an existential threat, the Spotlight Team has found."
- "From Boston's Mayor: Marijuana and Diversity," by Mayor Marty Walsh, The New York Times: "As the first major city on the East Coast to allow retail sales of recreational marijuana, Boston is taking proactive steps to ensure much-needed equity in this new industry. Cities in other states with recreational marijuana have run into serious equity problems, in both where facilities are sited and who is profiting from them. Boston differs by making sure that retail establishments are spaced across our city and that the communities that suffered the most in the war on drugs have access to the new economic opportunities presented by legalization."
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| ALL ABOARD |
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- "Your Uber and Lyft ride at Logan Airport may soon change," by Adam Vaccaro, Boston Globe: "Those Lyft and Uber rides to and from Logan may be getting more expensive — and they probably won't be dropping you off in front of the terminal anymore. The Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Logan International Airport, on Thursday unveiled details of its plan to rein in the thousands of Uber and Lyft rides clogging its terminals and narrow roads, and a fee increase that would make its ride-hailing charge among the highest of any airport in the country."
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| TRUMPACHUSETTS |
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "Seth Moulton, once the man of the moment, struggles to find his path to the presidency," by James Pindell, Boston Globe: "At a time when even long-shot presidential candidates like spiritual guru Marianne Williamson and Andrew Yang attract crowds of hundreds, Representative Seth Moulton came face to face with cold reality this week on a trip to South Carolina. There, at the student union of the University of South Carolina, a group of 22 students sat politely Tuesday to hear a pitch from the Salem Democrat, who is openly mulling his own bid for the White House. After rearranging the chairs into a circle, Moulton ran through issues like the latest college admission scandal and the death penalty, filling in silences with attempts to engage the students."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "WHERE CAPITALISM IS A DIRTY WORD." — Globe:"Uber, Lyft could face new rules at Logan," "Another Alzheimer's drug, another disheartening failure." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- MORE: "Humason Starts the Music for Whip City & Beyond," by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight. Link.
- "Ken Burns, other famous alumni join new Hampshire College committee," by Dusty Christensen, Daily Hampshire Gazette:"Hampshire College's president has announced the creation of a new committee full of famous and influential alumni to serve as an independent sounding board for the school's leaders as they move closer to a decision on the college's future. President Miriam "Mim" Nelson announced the creation of the President's Options Working Group in an email to campus Wednesday, representing the latest step in the search for a "strategic partner" to solve the college's financial struggles."
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| ODDS AND ENDS |
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- FROM CONNECTICUT: "Brexit: US must 'put the EU first and Britain second', senator warns on UK visit," by Kim Sengupta, The Guardian: "The US congress is not going to pass a trade deal with Britain in the event of a hard Brexit, which would inevitably "blow up" the Northern Ireland peace process, a visiting American senator warned, as he spoke of "deep concern" in Washington about the chaotic state of the political process in this country. Chris Murphy stressed that there was strong and growing bipartisan view in the Senate and House of Representatives that the US should have a trade agreement with the European Union before one takes place with the UK."
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| MEDIA MATTERS |
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- Mary C. Serreze will provide communications and public relations services for K2 Management. Serreze covered environmental issues for the Springfield Republican and MassLive.com.
SPOTTED: At Carrie Nation on Wednesday night for the Beacon Hill Politics Chess Tournament ... Jay Ash, Steve Koczela, Maeve Duggan, Max Grinnell, Gintautas Dumcius, Rachel Dec, Paolo DiFabio, Ed Lyons, Andy Metzger, Christian Greve, Will Rasky, Sarah Betancourt, Brad Wyatt, Matt Giancola.
TRANSITIONS - Simmons University tapped Susan MacKenty Brady to run the Simmons University Institute for Leadership.
MAZEL! to Sen. Mitt Romney and Ann Romney, who celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary yesterday. Insta pic.
ALSO MAZEL! to Matt Zieper, who is celebrating his 20th anniversary at The Trust for Public Land. (h/t Joe Blumenfeld).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to former state Rep. Tom Sannicandro, Daniel Sullivan , RIPTA Capital Planner Zachary Agush and Playbook's unofficial ketchup chips correspondent Larry Farmer.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Bruins beat the Devils 5-1.
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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