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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF!
PELOSI AND CLARK VISIT TUFTS — As Congress and the Trump administration battle it out over Attorney General William Barr's handling of the Mueller Report, it'll be business as usual for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when she visits Tufts University to talk about childcare with Rep. Katherine Clark, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Rep. Lori Trahan today.
"The Democrats in the House have been putting together an economic agenda for the American people based on our For the People platform and childcare is a critical plank. It is the way that we not only support working parents, but it is such an incredible tool to make sure that every child starts school ready to learn and is healthy and can be a great leader," Clark told me yesterday.
The group will privately tour the Eliot-Pearson Children's School at Tufts, then hold a public forum at university. The focus will be on childcare for kids ranging from infants to 5 years old. Pelosi previously appeared with Clark and Trahan at Lawrence General Hospital for a health care forum just before the 2018 midterm.
As Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, Clark is the sixth-highest ranking House member and the second-highest ranking woman, second to Pelosi. She acknowledged yesterday that House Democrats are using their majority to both advance party priorities —like childcare, equal pay and workers' rights - and hold the Trump administration accountable at the same time. For example, Pelosi yesterday suggested Barr committed a crime by lying to Congress, adding that "nobody is above the law."
"We are moving ahead with our Article I responsibilities and obligations to oversight and to making sure that we are holding this administration accountable. We have been operating since we took the majority on those two tracks and we're going to continue to do so," Clark said.
EMILY'S LIST IN BOSTON — EMILY's List, the political action committee that backs pro-choice women, will hold a training in Boston this weekend. A diverse group of more than 100 women have signed up for the free training, according to EMILY's List spokesperson Tonya Williams.
The training is focused on helping women run for local, state and federal positions. The PAC has previously endorsed Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell and state Rep. Joan Meschino, among others. EMILY's List President Stephanie Schriock helped recruit Sen. Elizabeth Warren to run for her Senate seat, Williams said.
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 attends the 29 Who Shine Awards at the State House. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, state Rep. Chynah Tyler and Boston City Councilor Kim Janey participate in a Dudley Square cleanup as part of the "Love Your Block" program. Walshspeaks at a "stand down" event in the Seaport to honor construction workers who die of opioid overdoses.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Katherine Clark, Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Rep. Lori Trahan speak at Tufts University. Rep. Joe Kennedy III visits Solomon Schechter Day School in Newton, an open house at Rare New England in Attleboro, Hopkinton Middle School and the opening of the Beth Israel Deaconess outpatient clinical center in Needham. Philip Morris International CEO André Calantzopoulosspeaks at a Boston College Chief Executives Club luncheon. Sen. Elizabeth Warren campaigns in Iowa.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "BAKER FILES POLICY-FILLED $23.7 MIL SPENDING BILL," by Matt Murphy, State House News Service: "Gov. Charlie Baker filed a policy-heavy, $23.7 million spending bill on Thursday to provide funding for state legal settlements and public defenders coping with increased caseloads. The governor also renewed a number of his previous requests of the Legislature, writing in a letter that he'd still like to see them clarify the state's marijuana laws to allow hemp to be grown on land preserved for agriculture and to explicitly ban the use of welfare benefit cards to purchase marijuana products."
- "No Republicans named to anti-Citizens United commission created by Massachusetts ballot Question 2," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "A former congressman. Law professors. Advocates for campaign finance reform. But no Republicans. The so-called Citizens Commission, created by Question 2 on the November ballot, now has all 15 of its members. The ballot question, which passed with 71% of the vote, established a commission to research and advocate for a constitutional amendment overturning the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 ruling in Citizens United. That decision allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money supporting or opposing a candidate as long as they do not coordinate directly with the candidate."
- "Senate takes on racial profiling, again, in distracted driving bill," by Andy Metzger, CommonWealth Magazine: "THE SENATE WAYS AND MEANS Committee unanimously endorsed legislation on Thursday banning handheld cell phone use by drivers and requiring law enforcement to collect racial data on every traffic stop. The full Senate will take up the bill in one week, on May 9, according to Senate President Karen Spilka's office. There has been momentum in both the House and the Senate behind efforts to ban the dangerously distracting use of cell phones by drivers, but similar momentum has fizzled in the past."
ANOTHER POLITICAL HACK!
- "Appointment of Karyn Polito associate draws criticism," by Mary Markos, Boston Herald: "A member of the Governor's Council accused the Baker-Polito Administration of playing favorites after the body named Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito's college pal, Sharon Shelfer Casey, clerk magistrate of the Cambridge District Court. "This nominee has shattered the illusion of the level playing field — being a privileged insider is obvious — the opportunity for special access is clear," Councilor Marilyn Petitto Devaney said. "This was not an open process. Simply said, it was an appointment." Casey, a longtime friend of Polito since they met at New England Law Boston, was given the lifetime position despite having no experience in district court."
- "Newton chamber joins Charlie Baker's housing fight," by Jon Chesto, Boston Globe: "Want to see what the front lines of Greater Boston's housing crisis look like? Try the employer next door. That's what the Newton-Needham Regional Chamber did for a video kicking off its campaign focused on the housing shortage and its ripple effects: a restaurant owner, a hotel manager, a nonprofit executive, a startup founder. All tell of stiff challenges as they look far beyond the Newton area to find workers. This is shaping up to be the chamber's biggest public policy initiative in recent memory, and for good reason. Chamber president Greg Reibman has his eyes on three major projects in Newton that could collectively bring more than 1,900 new units of housing. But Reibman has a broader purpose: He argues Boston's inner suburbs aren't doing enough to fix the problem, and that all need to step up."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Boston awarded $664m in contracts. Less than 1% went to women- and minority-owned businesses," by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: "Less than 1 percent of the $664 million Boston awarded last year for contracts for construction and professional goods and services went to minority- or women-owned businesses, according to data released Thursday that paint a dire picture of the city's quest for more equity in taxpayer-funded contracts. The tallies were the first annual figures released pursuant to an ordinance that requires quarterly reporting on discretionary contracts. The contracts involve things like buying paper products, construction, and landscaping projects."
- "License in hand, Wynn Resorts poised to open Everett casino in June," by Mark Arsenault, Boston Globe: "After nearly eight years of false starts and high-stakes votes, a host of lawsuits and abundant drama, Greater Boston seems finally on the verge of getting its first Las Vegas-style casino. With its gambling license secure, Wynn Resorts now has about seven weeks to prepare Encore Boston Harbor, the company's $2.6 billion resort on the Mystic River in Everett, for its scheduled June 23 opening. Pencil in the date, but maybe don't use ink just yet. Construction should be done with time to spare, but a workforce of more than 5,000 must be fully hired and trained and the company and state officials have a mountain of regulatory requirements to complete before the doors can open."
- "In the wake of harassment case, Harvard report finds 'prolonged institutional failure,'" by Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: "For decades, Harvard government students warned each other to wear heavy clothing and avoid late-afternoon appointments with the university's renowned Cuba expert and one-time vice provost Jorge Dominguez to fend off his inappropriate behavior. But little was done, in what an internal report now calls a "deplorable situation" and a "prolonged institutional failure." Dominguez's behavior was a "open secret" until he suddenly retired last year following a published report alleging that he sexually harassed, touched, and attempted to kiss several women. After a yearlong review of the school's government department — of which Dominguez was a member — a committee of Harvard faculty, staff, and students have demanded an outside investigation. Committee members sent their letter and recommendations for change to Harvard president Lawrence Bacow and other top leaders this week."
- "Here's what Brenda Cassellius is planning as BPS superintendent," by James Vaznis, Boston Globe: "A day after she was selected as Boston's next school superintendent, Brenda Cassellius said on Thursday that community engagement would be at the heart of her early work in the school system as she prepares to take over by July 1. Bostonians can expect to see her at community gatherings, religious services, and other events in coming weeks. She also said she would like to visit some schools — as long as her appearance doesn't disrupt learning as the school year winds down."
- "Incoming BPS superintendent left 'unconstitutional mess' in Minnesota, advocate says," by Joe Dwinell and Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald: "The city's newly elected school superintendent Brenda Cassellius, who faces a major challenge closing a racial testing gap in Boston, failed to meet that same objective when she headed Minnesota schools, a leading advocate said. That failure has lead to a landmark lawsuit in Minnesota that is set to go to trial next year. Cassellius, 51, was Minnesota's secretary of education from 2011 to this January."
- "Dad who bought Harvard fencing coach's house also tied to real estate deal with youth fencing coach," by Joshua Miller and Michael Levenson, Boston Globe: "The self-proclaimed largest fencing school in the world takes up the back of a squat brick building in a drab industrial park here. Past the sword-wielding sculptures at its entrance lies what some parents hope is a path to the Ivy League. Founded by a Soviet-trained fencer, the Virginia Academy of Fencing boasts of the schools where it says students have landed. Its website includes a long list of prestigious institutions and a pitch: "If you are interested in being recruited onto the fencing team for any of these universities, please let us know." Jie "Jack" Zhao, a businessman and father of two Harvard fencers ensnared in a university investigation into his dealings with the Crimson fencing coach, seems to have taken the academy up on this offer and much more."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "Opioid Executive John Kapoor Found Guilty In Landmark Bribery Case," by Gabrielle Emanuel, WGBH News: "A jury in Boston has found one-time billionaire and drug company executive John Kapoor and his four co-defendants guilty of a racketeering conspiracy. The verdict came Wednesday after 15 days of deliberation. The federal government accused Kapoor, the founder of Insys Therapeutics, and his co-defendants of running a nationwide bribery scheme. Between 2012 and 2015, Insys allegedly paid doctors to prescribe their potent opioid medication and then lied to insurance companies to ensure the expensive fentanyl-based painkiller was covered."
- "Was Mass. State Police OT scandal a conspiracy? Federal judge says evidence suggests troopers were working together," by Kristin LaFratta, MassLive.com: "Judge Mark L. Wolf delayed sentencing retired Massachusetts State Police Trooper Daren DeJong on Thursday, citing a need for more information and the possibility of a conspiracy within Troop E in connection to the widespread overtime abuse scandal. "I'm not satisfied ... I received the information necessary," Wolf told prosecutors and DeJong's defense attorneys at the Moakley Courthouse in Boston on Thursday."
- "AG Maura Healey can pursue lawsuit against President Donald Trump's birth control policy, Appeals Court rules," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey will be allowed to proceed with her lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's policy on insurance coverage for birth control, after a U.S. Appeals Court overturned a lower court's ruling. "Decisions about birth control are for women to make, not their employers," Healey said in a statement. 'Today's ruling from the First Circuit allows our office to continue our fight in court to stop the Trump Administration from rolling back the rights of women in Massachusetts and across the country to access affordable and reliable contraception.'"
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Elizabeth Warren Is Building an Iowa Juggernaut," by Thomas Kaplan, The New York Times: "The growing Warren juggernaut reflects a bet that rapidly hiring a large staff of organizers will give the senator an advantage over her rivals who are ramping up their efforts at a slower pace. The strategy does not come cheap. Ms. Warren's campaign spent more than $5 million over the first three months of the year, the most in the field, according to Federal Election Commission records. Her payroll included about 160 people during that period, far more than any other Democrat's. Her team says its staff has grown even larger since then, to more than 200 people, over half of whom are based in early-voting states."
- "Elizabeth Warren, Left For Dead, Enjoys Rebirth," by David S. Bernstein, WGBH News: "If there's one thing savvy Massachusetts gossips do well, it's doom-say the hometown team. A slow start has them dismissing the fourth-place Red Sox' playoff chances barely a month into the season, just as they despaired of the Patriots after their 1-2 start. Many have formed the same attitude toward Elizabeth Warren's Presidential campaign. Just four months in, and 10 months away from the first primaries and caucuses, I've been told more times than I can count that her White House quest is effectively over and done; a corpse waiting for burial; a doomed and hopeless endeavor. The campaign, which I caught up to in Las Vegas, Nevada, this past weekend, seems pretty upbeat and positive for one supposedly on a death march."
- "Leftover PAC money funneled into Warren's campaign," by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily Times: "As she runs for president, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren has pledged not to accept money from lobbyists, political action committees or special interest groups. Warren, one of 22 Democrats seeking the party's nomination to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020, has sworn off swanky fundraisers, big checks from wealthy donors and the flow of PAC money that typically permeates a presidential campaign. The pledge is a key plank of her campaign, and she references it in speeches and fundraising pitches. "You won't see Elizabeth take a dime from federally registered lobbyists, corporate PACs, or PACs of any kind," her campaign boasted in a recent email blast to supporters, urging them to contribute. "You won't see Elizabeth cozy up to billionaires and nudge them to dump buckets of cash into a super PAC for her." A review of Warren's reports to the Federal Election Commission suggests that pledge is disingenuous"
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "Moulton's right whale bill sailing toward House," by Sean Horgan, The Salem News: "Last week, a federal panel drafted a slew of conservation recommendations to help the imperiled and declining North Atlantic right whale population. Now Congress may enter the fray. A House bill to create a decade-long, $50 million grant program to help protect the North Atlantic right whales was approved Wednesday by the National Resource Committee and is heading to a vote by the full House membership. The bill, with U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton — now announced as a presidential candidate — as the primary sponsor, would require the Commerce secretary to provide $5 million annually for 10 years to fund competitive grants for projects related to the conservation of the whales, whose declining population is estimated to hover under 450."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "THINKING OF DANNY" "PAST FAIL," — Globe: "Father tied to fencing coach had other deals," "FORMER INSYS EXECUTIVES GUILTY IN OPIOID SCHEME." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "Judge denies injunction against UMass Israeli-Palestinian panel," by Dusty Christensen, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "A panel on free speech and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will proceed as planned Saturday after a Suffolk Superior Court judge on Thursday denied an injunction seeking to bar the event from the UMass Amherst campus. Three unnamed students had sued to prevent Saturday's event from taking place, arguing that it was anti-Semitic and posed a threat to Jewish students on campus. UMass argued that an injunction would amount to a prior restraint on free speech."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Top regulator to work for firm with ties to compressor proposal," by Jessica Trufant, Patriot Ledger: "Residents fighting a proposed 7,700-horsepower natural-gas compressor station in Weymouth say they're outraged that the state's top environmental regulator is going to work for a firm with ties to the project. Gov. Charlie Baker announced this week that Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton is leaving the agency to serve as a senior vice president at TRC Companies Inc. Undersecretary of Climate Change Kathleen Theoharides is set to be sworn in as secretaryTODAY. TRC has done work for Algonquin Gas Transmission, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy-Enbridge, including overseeing the cleanup of oil contamination at the proposed compressor station site."
- "Lawrence company owes $2.1 million for MassHealth claims," by Breanna Edelstein, Eagle-Tribune: "A city health care company will pay the government $2.1 million, undergo annual audits, establish new policies and re-train employees after allegations that false claims were submitted to MassHealth as part of a scam for services not approved by a doctor. Amigos Homecare LLC, based out of a suite at 49 Blanchard St., is one of several Bay State companies to settle cases spearheaded by Attorney General Maura Healey and MassHealth to combat fraud in the home health care industry."
- "Nashoba Valley nurse union authorize strike," by Jon Winkler, Nashoba Valley Voice: "Negotiations between officials at Steward Health Care System and the registered nurses employed at the Steward-owned Nashoba Valley Medical Center continue to sour as the nurses have allowed their representatives to put a strike on the table. According to the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the nurses cast votes earlier this week authorizing their local union leaders to call a one-day strike. The MNA said this strike will take place if Steward doesn't address the nurses concerns regarding their pay, benefits and staffing."
- "Legislator: Assisted-living closures 'troublesome trend,'" by Cynthia McCormick, Cape Cod Times: "Planned shutdowns of Brewster, Harwich facilities leave more questions than answers. Cape legislators say they are concerned and surprised about recently announced plans to shutter two assisted-living facilities on the Lower Cape that serve people who can no longer live entirely on their own. "We have a crisis on our hands here," state Rep. Timothy Whelan, R-Brewster, said. The need for senior housing and care "is only going to get greater and greater," he said. On Wednesday, the owner of Wingate Residences at Brewster Place notified residents and staff it plans to close the assisted-living facility on or about Aug. 2. Four miles down the road, the owner of The Royal at Harwich Village notified residents April 26 that it intends to close that facility by July 26, according to officials from the state Executive Office of Elder Affairs. "It's a troublesome trend," state Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro, said Thursday."
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| MEDIA MATTERS |
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- "Ford Hall Forum honors Washington Post Editor Marty Baron with First Amendment Award," from Suffolk University: "Accurate, unbiased news is under fire from many fronts, yet Washington Post Editor Marty Baron presented ideas for preserving this pillar of democracy during a discussion at the Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University, which presented him with its First Amendment Award last night." Link.
- Matthew Gregoire joins WCVB Channel 5. Tweet.
MAZEL! to Mike Lynch, who will from WCVB after nearly four decades. Link.
SPOTTED: Gary Cohn, Heidi Heitkamp and six students with the Harvard Institute of Politics meeting with members of House Ways and Means about the students' proposal to fix Social Security. Pic
TRANSITIONS - Kate Dineen , Gov. Cuomo's former chief of staff of operations, starts Monday as the EVP for A Better City in Boston.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to the AP's Andrew Miga, former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and Peter Brown of Peter Brown Communications.
HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND - to Needham state Rep. Denise Garlick, former Lexington state Rep. Jay Kaufman, former state Rep. John Scibak of South Hadley, MassMutual's Dominick Ianno, Charles River Watershed Association Executive Director Emily Norton and Cindy Luppi, New England Director for Clean Water Action, who celebrate Saturday. And soon-to-be UMass Journalism grad Nicole DeFeudis, who turns 22 on Sunday.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes and no! The Bruins beat the Blue Jackets 4-1. The White Sox beat the Red Sox 6-4.
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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