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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
WHAT MUELLER MEANS FOR MASS. — The nation's eyes will be on special counsel Robert Mueller when he testifies before the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees in Washington today. And that's especially true in Massachusetts, where President Donald Trump's disapproval rating is at 62 percent, one of his highest disapproval ratings in the country. People were so tuned into the release of the Mueller Report here that the Harvard Book Store started printing and selling it in April.
Not long after Mueller's testimony, it will be up to House Democrats to say whether his testimony moved the needle and if the House should start impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
While Massachusetts lawmakers are critical of the president, the issue of whether he should be impeached isn't as clear among the congressional delegation.
Rep. Joe Kennedy III, who recently called for Trump's impeachment, told WBUR he hopes today's hearings will make what he saw in the report clear to other lawmakers. Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Jim McGovern have previously called for impeachment, while Reps. Stephen Lynch and Bill Keating have been more cautious. Lynch recently predicted that impeachment would be a mistake that plays in Trump's favor.
Rep. Seth Moulton has made impeachment a sticking point in his presidential campaign. Out in Western Mass, Rep. Richard Neal isbeing pushed by his new primary opponent, Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse, for moving too slowly on impeachment.
Rep. Lori Trahan is another who has taken heat for her more cautious approach on impeachment. Dan Koh, who lost to Trahan in a close open seat primary last year, published an op-ed in today's Lowell Sun calling on Trahan to support impeaching the president immediately. Koh made a similar statement online several weeks ago, and said then that it is too early to tell whether he'll run for Trahan's seat in 2020. "I'm calling on Congress, including Congresswoman Lori Trahan, to impeach Donald Trump. It's their duty to protect our democracy and our future depends on it," the op-ed reads.
Trahan has previously said Congress should hear from Mueller before deciding whether to impeach the president. The Westford lawmaker did, however, vote against tabling Rep. Al Green's impeachment motion last week. So did Rep. Katherine Clark, who as vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus is the second-highest ranking woman in the House. Clark has not come out in support of impeachment.
LAWMAKERS BACK PRESSLEY AT HOME — Members of theMassachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators signed a statement in support of Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, which was released on Tuesday. The document comes after President Donald Trump made a series of racist statements against the four lawmakers.
"We stand in support of our colleague Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Congresswomen Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib. We condemn the racist and incendiary language volleyed at them by the President of the United States—that language has no place in the United States of America or in the halls of government," the statement says. It was signed by a bipartisan group of nearly 50 female state lawmakers, including state Senate President Karen Spilka and state House Speaker Pro Tempore Patricia Haddad. The statement.
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 returns from the Republican Governors Association summer meeting in Colorado. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is at the NAACP convention in Detroit. Vineyard Transit Authority bus drivers rally outside the State House. Rep. Katherine Clark questions Trump administration officials responsible for overseeing the treatment of migrants in U.S. border facilities. StateSen. Barry Finegold holds a press conference to announce his bill to address suicide coercion.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Finegold bill seeks prison for those who encourage suicide," by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: "Michelle Carter goaded her troubled boyfriend through texts and phone calls to commit suicide, until he finally took his own life five years ago. Carter, then 17, was subsequently convicted of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of 18-year-old Conrad Roy III and sentenced to 15 months in jail. The case, which drew national headlines, highlighted what lawmakers and legal experts say are difficulties in dealing with those who encourage others to kill themselves. Under a new proposal, filed by state Sen. Barry Finegold, D-Andover, Massachusetts would join a majority of other states with laws that make suicide by coercion a crime punishable by jail time."
- "ENERGY CHIEF SAYS NET-ZERO CARBON GOAL UNDER REVIEW," by Matt Murphy, State House News Service: "Energy Secretary Kathleen Theoharides said Tuesday that the Baker administration is exploring more aggressive carbon reduction targets for Massachusetts, including what it would take to go net-zero by 2050, but would not commit to lawmakers to speeding up the state's emission reduction goals. Theoharides testified before the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy to update legislators on the administration's "deep decarbonization analysis" that began this spring. The administration is working to identify the strategies and policies that will be necessary to meet its current requirement of an 80 percent reduction in emissions below 1990 levels by 2050."
- "POLLACK SHEDS SOME LIGHT ON RMV TROUBLES," by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service: "A day after lawmakers cut short her chance to testify on a scandal at the Registry of Motor Vehicles because key witnesses did not show, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack told a different group of legislators that officials went through a lengthy process to implement software now being scrutinized. Pollack answered a range of questions on MBTA infrastructure, long-term budget plans and the RMV scandal for more than two hours at a House Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets hearing Tuesday, convened to examine capital spending at the Department of Transportation."
- "MBTA CHIEF MUM ON PLANS FOR SURPRISE $23 MIL," by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service: "The budget the Legislature sent to Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday allocates an extra $23 million to the MBTA, but the T's general manager was hesitant Tuesday to discuss plans for the funding boost before the ink dries on a final spending plan. Asked Tuesday what the MBTA would do with the additional revenue — which is more than two-thirds as much as the agency expects to bring in from fare hikes it pitched as essential — General Manager Steve Poftak observed that the updated figure was included in a conference committee report lawmakers approved and has not yet been approved by the governor ."
- "Mass has lost an incredible guy and one of the state's great institutional memories," by Chris Faraone, DigBoston:"Massachusetts lost a great one last week. I don't mean that in the way one superficially laments the passing of a shifty politician, or anyone who's feared and perhaps even respected but not exactly trustworthy. Rather, today a lot of us mourn a man who was as ethically antithetical to the common politician as a participant in the perverted political order could possibly be. When I say the Bay State lost a great one, I mean it's a literal loss for us all. As I am certain other hacks will recall in their own words and thoughts about George Cronin, who passed at 81 years old last Friday, he was a public servant in that rare legitimate sense, in it for the greater good."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Walsh pitches ride-hailing fees as traffic solution," by Andy Metzger, CommonWealth Magazine: "BOSTON MAYOR MARTY Walsh wants to reduce traffic choking city streets and enhance transit options in the city through a mixture of targeted taxes on ride-hailing services and investments by the MBTA. On Tuesday, Walsh advocated for both the revenue and the spending ideas during two separate meetings: a legislative hearing at the State House and a closed-door get-together with T officials at City Hall. At a Financial Services Committee hearing, Walsh pushed for legislation to essentially apply the state's 6.25 percent sales tax to Uber and Lyft rides while giving a more than a 50 percent discount on that tax to travelers who opt for a shared ride. They would pay a tax of 3 percent of the fare."
- "The Most Gullible Man in Cambridge," by Kera Bolonik, New York Magazine: "It was just supposed to have been a quick Saturday-morning errand to buy picture hooks. On March 7, 2015, Harvard Law professor Bruce Hay, then 52, was in Tags Hardware in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near his home, when a young woman with long reddish-brown hair approached him to ask where she could find batteries. It was still very much winter, and, once the woman got his attention, he saw that underneath her dark woolen coat and perfectly tied scarf she was wearing a dress and a chic pair of boots — hardly typical weekend-errand attire in the New England college town. When he directed her to another part of the store, she changed the subject. "By the way, you're very attractive," he remembers her saying."
- "RMV case: AG investigating Westfield Transport," by Mary Markos, Boston Herald: "Attorney General Maura Healey is investigating Westfield Transport, the company that employed the 23-year-old West Springfield truck driver who is charged with killing seven bikers in New Hampshire on June 21. "We have opened an investigation into Westfield Transport over its role in the tragic crash in New Hampshire," an AG spokeswoman said this morning. Westfield Transport could not immediately be reached for comment. Volodymyr Zhukovskyy's license should have been suspended at the time of the crash after a May 11 OUI arrest in Connecticut, but RMV officials have admitted they failed to act on that and scores of other out-of-state notifications."
- "Will people of color ever feel that they belong in the Seaport?" by Adrian Walker, Boston Globe: "The question of who belongs in the city's posh playground has lurked beneath the surface for years — and it has been raised again, this time by the Conservation Law Foundation, a public interest group deeply invested in the city's newest neighborhood. A newly completed survey that asked 953 Boston residents their attitudes about the neighborhood found that, overwhelmingly, black residents feel less comfortable in the Seaport than white people do. Specifically, 24 percent of black respondents said they find the place unwelcoming, compared with a mere 6 percent of whites. That pretty much mirrors the reporting of the Globe Spotlight Team in 2017, in a piece that proclaimed the Seaport perhaps the city's whitest, most exclusive, neighborhood."
- "Unused parking spots driving up cost of housing," by Andy Metzger, CommonWealth Magazine: "A WIDESPREAD OVER-SUPPLY of parking in metro Boston residential developments is driving up the cost of housing and may encourage people to own cars who otherwise would not, according to a new study by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. Over the course of three years, the council determined that during the peak-demand period - overnight on weeknights in the fall, winter, and spring - only about 70 percent of parking supplied by residential developments was being used. Looking at the available off-street parking facilities at 189 developments with a total of 19,600 units, the council counted nearly 6,000 empty spaces, totaling more than 41 acres of pavement. The construction cost of those unused spaces totals an estimated $94.5 million, representing about $5,000 per housing unit in the survey."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "Trump sues Democrats to shield New York tax returns," by Brian Faler, POLITICO: "President Donald Trump is going to court to prevent House Democrats from getting his long-hidden tax returns from the state of New York. In a suit filed today in Washington, he asked a federal court to prevent Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal from taking advantage of a recently passed New York law designed to give Neal access to Trump's confidential state tax filings. The suit, which targets both Neal and New York officials, comes as the Massachusetts Democrat is simultaneously suing Trump for his federal tax returns. Neal has been lukewarm on the prospects of tapping the New York law, suggesting that using it could undermine his bid for Trump's federal returns. The president's lawsuit expresses concern that Neal could nevertheless act on the law at any time."
- "Boston Calling case begins with early mention of Mayor Walsh," by Maria Cramer, Boston Globe: "City Hall officials Timothy Sullivan (left) and Kenneth Brissette are charged with extorting a concert promoter into hiring union labor at the popular Boston Calling festival. It took less than two minutes for a federal prosecutor to mention Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh's name in her opening argument. Walsh's aides, Kenneth Brissette and Timothy Sullivan, are the ones charged with extorting a concert promoter into hiring union labor at the popular Boston Calling festival. But it was clear from the start of the trial Tuesday that Walsh's history as a former union leader elected with the widespread support of organized labor would serve as a key backdrop to a corruption case that has dogged his administration for five years."
- "Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School sues state education officials for denying the school permission to expand," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "The Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley is challenging in court a decision by state education officials denying the school permission to expand. The school's trustees filed a lawsuit in Hampshire Superior Court Tuesday against the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The lawsuit seeks to overturn the board's decision denying the charter school permission to grow from 584 to 952 students. The lawsuit says the board "inexplicably, unfairly, arbitrarily and capriciously" denied multiple requests by the charter school to expand its enrollment."
- "The progressive prosecutors blazing a new path for the US justice system," by Daniel Madina, The Guardian: "It was the 1994 Crime Bill that truly altered the nation's criminal justice system. It established the infamous "three strikes" mandatory life sentence policy for repeat offenders, allocated money to hire 100,000 new police officers and granted nearly $10bn for new prisons. The nation's prison population soared, devastating communities of color in every city in America, said Rachael Rollins, the district attorney for Suffolk county in Massachusetts, which includes Boston. Rollins says she knows firsthand the impact of these policies. Two of her siblings are incarcerated."
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| FROM THE DELEGATION |
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- "MASS. DELEGATION PUSHING TO ADVANCE VINEYARD WIND," by Michael P. Norton, State House News Service:"Members of Congress have become involved in trying to move Vineyard Wind forward, a top Baker administration official said Tuesday, as lobbying intensifies to advance what state officials hope will be the nation's first commercial-scale offshore wind project. Energy and Environmental Affairs Undersecretary Patrick Woodcock told members of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Board Tuesday about the involvement of members of Congress since the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management indicated it would not decide on a key project approval this month, as anticipated."
- "At a modest New York fund-raiser, 'the Squad' got its start," by Jazmine Ulloa, Boston Globe: "On a hot evening in June last year, an eclectic mix of people mingled under the glow of a neon pink light in the living room of a small Greenwich Village apartment, intent on altering American politics. This was not your typical glitzy Manhattan fund-raiser. The fare was cheese, chips, and guacamole, with a large ice bucket filled with craft beer in the bathtub. The attendees — young activists, artists, and political campaign staffers — had spent the better part of the year organizing a Democratic insurgency meant to sweep big money out of politics and defeat Republicans. Among those in the room were two little-known congressional candidates who had never met: Ayanna Pressley, who had traveled down from Boston and was stirring up the crowd that had gathered to raise money for her campaign, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who made a late entrance after a quick trip from her home in the Bronx."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Sanders makes 'last-minute' appearance at union rally with Warren," by Ian Kullgren and Alex Thompson, POLITICO: "Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Tuesday night jockeyed for support from enraged airline food workers threatening to walk off the job in the nation's capital. Speaking to a rowdy crowd of several hundred union members and their supporters, the presidential candidates pledged to stand behind workers' demands for $15 an hour and better health care — two issues at the focal point of the Democratic primary — and endorsed their rallying cry of "one job should be enough." Warren confirmed her attendance well before the rally at Reagan National Airport, as she continues to vie for the progressive wing of the party. In press materials sent out Monday morning, she was the headliner and no other candidates were listed as attending."
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| THE CLARK CAUCUS |
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- "Congress Wants More Info on McDonald's Anti-Harassment Measures," by Leslie Patton, Bloomberg: "Several dozen U.S. Representatives have sent a letter to McDonald's Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook asking for a progress report on the company's efforts to combat what workers say is sexual harassment. In a letter dated July 23, Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts and about 50 other members of Congress, including 2020 presidential candidate Seth Moulton, want to know more about the company's anti-harassment training program. McDonald's announced new prevention measures in May and has encouraged franchisees to comply."
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| KENNEDY COMPOUND |
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- "Kennedy Wants Mueller To Connect The Legal Dots To Sway Lawmakers, Americans On Impeachment," by Kimberly Atkins, WBUR: "With his prosecutor's eye, U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III saw in the Mueller Report everything he needed to call for impeachment proceedings against President Trump — even as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and more than half of his fellow Massachusetts delegation members have stopped short. The Newton congressman, who was an assistant district attorney in the Cape and Islands and the Middlesex district attorneys' offices before he was elected to Congress, said the report lays out in detail textbook examples of obstruction of justice by the president. Now, he wants his colleagues in the House and the American people see that too — and he wants former Special Counsel Robert Mueller to walk them through it in that way when he testifies on Capitol Hill Wednesday."
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| ON THE STUMP |
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- "Morse Matriculates to National Politics...& a Faceoff with Neal," by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight: "Alex Morse, the Paper City electoral wunderkind who became his hometown's mayor at 22, formally kicked off his bid for Congress Monday night. Surrounded by supporters from various phases of his eight years in city politics, Morse declared that the national political moment called for a new generation and a more aggressive pursuit of progressive politics. The incumbent, Richard Neal, himself a former mayor in Springfield, will not be easy to beat. Morse has told his supporters to brace for scrutiny of his mayoralty here and for the muscle of Neal's prodigious fundraising. But the challenger underscored that he turned out an incumbent in 2011. Replicating that, he says, is his path to Washington and to joining high-profile Democratic stars swept into office last year."
- "Alex Morse Wants to Join AOC's Squad. He'll Have to Beat a Top Democrat First." by Kara Voght, Mother Jones: "One of the most powerful Democrats in Congress officially has a 2020 primary challenger, and progressives are hoping the race will be a repeat of the political earthquakes that sent Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) and Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) to Capitol Hill last year. On Monday, Alex Morse—the 30-year-old, openly gay mayor of Holyoke, Massachusetts—announced his bid to unseat Rep. Richard Neal, who represents the 1st congressional district in the western part of the state. Neal chairs the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over taxation, Medicare, Social Security, and welfare programs. Progressives have accused the 15-term congressman of using his position to slow-walk their priorities, and Morse plans to run as an unabashed proponent of Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "CAPE TWISTER," — Globe: "How four women merged into the Squad," "Healey to review truck firm in crash." |
| EYE ON 2020 |
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- "Equal Pay For Women? On 2020 Democratic Campaigns, It's Happening," by David S. Bernstein, WGBH News: "When I reported here, three months ago, that women appeared to have achieved near-parity on Democratic Presidential campaign staffs, there was reason to wonder if that would last. At that point, female candidates—led by Elizabeth Warren, who staffed up early—accounted for more than 60 percent of all staff payroll in the race. Since then, a bevy of bro-pols have launched campaigns, or significantly ramped up hiring. But the result has been even greater gender equity. According to my analysis of 22 campaigns' finance reports for the first six months of this year, 53 percent of the 1800-plus payroll staffers have been women—and they received 53 percent of the pay, which totaled just over $20 million. In fact, on average, every woman staffer has been paid 102 percent of what the average male staffer has been paid."
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| FROM THE 413 |
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- "MassDOT cites 6 options for Springfield-Boston rail," by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: "Commuter trains could link Boston and Springfield in as little as 90 minutes and as often as 10 or 12 times a day, MassDOT planners said during a meeting Tuesday with rail boosters and elected officials. MassDOT didn't include cost estimates in its preliminary report. A final feasibility study won't be available until sometime in the first quarter of 2020. But for longtime rail booster state Sen. Eric P. Lesser, D-Longmeadow, the report means progress. "It's a feasible project," Lesser said. "Even to be this far along, a year ago , it would have been unimaginable." Faster and more frequent trains are preferable, Lesser said."
- "Massachusetts Gaming Commission awards $4M to communities, organizations impacted by casinos," by Peter Goonan, Springfield Republican: "The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has awarded 21 mitigation grants to communities and organizations totaling $4.1 million, including new equipment for local police and continued rent assistance to an addiction center that had to move to make way for the MGM Springfield casino. The community mitigation fund was established by the state to help offset costs related to the construction and operation of the three gaming facilities in Massachusetts: MGM Springfield, Encore Boston Harbor in Everett, and the Plainridge Park slots facility in Plainville."
- "In case you haven't heard, Easthampton isn't up-and-coming anymore, it's officially a destination," by Hayley Johnson, MassLive.com: "Jim Ingram always wanted to start his own business. He "did the corporate thing" for a dozen years, working in tech after graduating from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1986. After spending time traveling across the country, Ingram found his way back to the Pioneer Valley looking to open an ice cream shop. Taking notes from his father's life-long career owning an ice cream place of his own, Ingram opened Mt. Tom's Homemade Ice Cream in 2003 in Easthampton. Within the first couple of years Mt. Tom's was open on Cottage Street, Ingram saw about 13 businesses come and go and he could recognize almost anyone who walked by."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "50K without power after tornado hits Cape Cod, regional shelter open," Cape Cod Times: "An intense storm that included a tornado pummeled Cape Cod on Tuesday, lashing the peninsula with powerful winds and rain. The National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes, rare in the region, touching down in South Yarmouth and Harwich as the storm passed through. Damage was heavy in those two towns as well as in Chatham and Dennis. It's only the third time a tornado has officially hit Barnstable County, according to NWS records. Those occurred in 1968, 1977 and 2018. The agency said they planned on sending a survey team to meet with emergency management officials on the Cape to assess the damage from the tornado. Thousands are without power on the Cape after the storm caused downed tree limbs and power lines in many towns.
- "Saugus selectman facing charges of theft from nonprofit, misuse of campaign funds," by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe:"A Saugus selectman is among three former employees of the Boston Center for Adult Education facing criminal charges for allegedly stealing over $1.7 million from the nonprofit, Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said Tuesday. Mark Mitchell, who was first elected in a special election to recall the board in 2015, was also indicted on various campaign finance charges, Rollins said in a statement. Mitchell, 49, a former comptroller of the center, faces a slew of charges including making false entries in corporate books, publishing of false or exaggerated statements, common law uttering, and four counts of larceny by scheme. He allegedly directed over $240,000 of the center's money to a private youth baseball organization he runs, Saugus Wings, the statement said."
WEEKEND WEDDING - Laura Haft, an MBA candidate at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke, married William Brody, who currently runs the commercial real estate investment and property management firm BlueDot Properties and is a Deutsche Bank alum. The couple met at a wedding in Israel 6 years ago. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.) and his family attended the wedding. Pic by Katie Kaizer, Another pic.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Stacey Monahan and Katherine Ragsdale.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Red Sox beat the Rays 5-4.
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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