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Presented by Tobacco Free Kids
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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF!
KENNEDY AND MARKEY CAMPS CLASH OVER EMAIL — While Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III sparred publicly over corporate PAC money yesterday, behind the scenes the communication between their campaigns was just as tense, according to an email chain shared with POLITICO.
It started when a Kennedy aide reached out to campaign aides to Markey, Steve Pemberton and Shannon Liss-Riordan. The aide suggested the campaigns meet to discuss the framework for future Senate debates.
The catch: Markey had already challenged his opponents to a climate-focused debate in November, and Kennedy was the only candidate who did not accept. Keep in mind Markey is a co-author of the Green New Deal, and has put his climate advocacy front-and-center in his Senate campaign.
"Three of the candidates have AGREED to correct the mistake of the national party by holding a stand-alone climate debate first and soon. The proposal reflects the urgency of the climate crisis," a Markey aide wrote back. "Ed, Shannon, and Steve have agreed to a climate debate the week of November 11th, right after the municipal elections and Veterans Day. Does Congressman Kennedy agree to join us, or do you continue to reject the principle and urgency of a stand-alone climate debate to be held first?"
The Kennedy aide responded by saying the campaigns should meet in person to plan the debate schedule. But at the end of the email, the aide got in a subtle dig in response.
"Also, let me know if Senator Markey will again agree to the People's Pledge for this cycle," the Kennedy aide wrote. The People's Pledge is a pact to limit outside spending in campaigns, which Kennedy challenged his opponents to accept several days ago. Environmental group Environment Massachusetts has already promised to put together a $5 million independent expenditure campaign to help Markey. Markey has not agreed to take the pledge, and both Liss-Riordan and Pemberton criticized the move as politically convenient for Kennedy.
In the end, the campaigns agreed on a time to meet to discuss the debate schedule. As for the climate debate and the People's Pledge, Markey and Kennedy are at a stalemate.
CAVELL PREPS CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN — Dave Cavell is stepping down from his post in Attorney General Maura Healey's office to prepare a campaign for Rep. Joe Kennedy's open House seat.
Cavell has been gathering support from colleagues who he worked with under former President Barack Obama and former Gov. Deval Patrick. He plans to put a team together and assemble next steps over the next several weeks.
Jay Gonzalez, who ran for governor as a Democrat in 2018, is also testing the waters in the 4th District. Gonzalez, of Needham, has made at least one phone call regarding the congressional race in the last several days.
Already in the race are Newton City Councilor Becky Walker Grossman, former Wall Street Regulator Ihssane Leckey and City Year founder Alan Khazei. State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg filed with the FEC while she weighs a run, and Brookline's Jesse Mermell recently resigned her post at the Alliance for Business Leadership to prepare her campaign.
Although the congressional district stretches down to the southern part of the state, the political action so far has been contained to the Boston suburbs. Cavell, Khazei, Mermell, Leckey and Goldberg all hail from Brookline.
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 Boston Mayor Marty Walsh attend the El Mundo Hispanic Heritage Breakfast. Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, state Senate President Karen Spilka and Attorney General Maura Healey attend a Massachusetts Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation ceremony. Baker speaks at a reception for the 18 for 18 Tinlin Family Golf Tournament.
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A message from Tobacco Free Kids:
E-cigarettes are hooking a new generation, thanks to massive doses of nicotine and thousands of kid-friendly flavors. This public health emergency threatens decades of progress in lowering youth tobacco use. We must take flavored e-cigarettes off the market, stand up to companies like JUUL, and protect our kids. Learn More. |
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NEW—POLITICO's UNITED NATIONS PLAYBOOK: The 74 th Session of the United Nations General Assembly will jam some of the world's most influential leaders into four blocks in Gotham. POLITICO's man-about-town Ryan Heath will take you inside UNGA—revealing juicy details from the lighter-side of the gathering and insights into the most pressing global issues facing decision-makers today. Sign up for U.N. Playbook.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "On education bill, funding and taxes loom large," by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine: "THE RELEASE OF a long-awaited bill updating the state's education funding formula immediately raised one big question: Would new state taxes be needed to pay for the $1.5 billion plan? In a word, "no," said House Speaker Robert DeLeo at last Thursday's press briefing unveiling the legislation. The reality may be more complicated than that. Also complicated are the bill's implications for how much local districts would have to spend on schools. Just days before the Student Opportunity Act was released, Gov. Charlie Baker cautioned against legislation that he said would put cities and towns on the hook for big increases in local school spending."
- "MassDOT has paid $1.1 million so far to private firm Grant Thornton to audit RMV in wake of the crash that killed 7 motorcyclists," by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: "The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has paid Grant Thornton $1.1 million so far as the private firm examines what led to a massive backlog of unprocessed out-of-state violations that were found after a West Springfield man allegedly drove his pickup truck into a group of motorcyclists in New Hampshire. Grant Thornton billed MassDOT between $200,000 and $355,000 every two weeks for its forensic audit of the Registry of Motor Vehicles, which was tasked with processing out-of-state and in-state violation notices, according to invoices obtained by MassLive."
- "'I'd be dead': Bills would end Sheriff Nick Cocchi's prison-based treatment for non-criminals battling addiction," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "When Donnie Chappell was involuntarily committed for alcohol use, he was sent to MASAC, a state prison facility that provides alcohol treatment for civilly committed men, even though they have never committed a crime. At MASAC, Chappell said, people were starving because they had to pay for canteen. They had to pay for phone calls. There were bed bugs. The plumbing clogged. The shower only had hot water. He was not given counseling. When he got out all he wanted was a drink, said Chappell, 27."
- "Campaign finance chief to step down," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "THE DIRECTOR of the Office of Campaign and Political Finance is planning to step down sometime in the next nine months, creating a vacancy that prompted the House to change the way his replacement would be selected. Rep. John Lawn Jr., the House chair of the Legislature's Election Laws Committee, said Michael Sullivan has made it known that he will be retiring at the end of the year. Sullivan, who has served as director for 25 years and whose current term ends in 2024, said he intends to step down sometime this fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2020."
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| THE VAPING SALES BAN |
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- "Baker Stands By Vape Ban Decision, Says It Wasn't Easy," by Matt Murphy, State House News Service: "Gov. Charlie Baker has been both applauded and threatened with legal action in the days since rolling out the first-in-the-nation ban on all vaping products, but on Thursday the governor said he had no regrets. "Once we had met with all the medical experts, to do nothing was just not a viable option," Baker told reporters on Thursday after an event in Everett where he talked up his housing legislation. Baker on Tuesday announced that he would ban all flavored and non-flavored vaping products for four months while the medical community and federal health inspectors try to determine what has caused a spate of severe vape-related lung disease."
- "State vaping bans spur a backlash from anti-tobacco advocates," by Rachana Pradhan and Dan Goldberg, POLITICO: Public health experts and anti-tobacco advocates fear that a rash of state crackdowns on e-cigarettes could cause unintended harm, including by pushing people to the black market or regular cigarettes and burdening those who rely on medical marijuana. Responding to the 11 deaths and hundreds of lung injuries caused by vaping-related illnesses, governors in Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and Rhode Island have rapidly moved to ban flavored e-cigarettes or all vaping products. Officials from several other states are considering similar steps."
- "'Straight-up panic': U.S. vaping crackdown sends some scrambling for their fix," by Jacqueline Tempera and Jonathan Allen, Reuters: "When Massachusetts announced a four-month ban on vaping products this week, Chris Soares was ready, having amassed more than 20 bottles of flavored, nicotine-laced vape fluid, enough to supply his daily habit well into next year. "I was doing a doomsday prepping kind of thing," said Soares. Many of his fellow vapers across the state described similar jittery alarm and anger this week at being suddenly cut off from their preferred source of nicotine while the tobacco cigarettes that many vapers revile remain legal. Some vape stores saw a last-minute rush of buying from panicky vapers on the evening the ban was announced. Photographs of hauls blossomed on internet vaping forums, drawing replies from other users making desperate offers to buy some of the stash."
- "Maine, Vermont Now Considering Bans On Vaping," WBUR: "Vermont and Maine politicians are considering bans on vaping after Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and other state leaders have temporarily banned the sale of all vaping products. Baker declared a public health emergency Tuesday, citing a multi-state outbreak of lung disease associated with vaping. All vaping products, including both nicotine and marijuana, are banned for four months. A state senator in Maine says she's going to introduce a bill there to ban the sale of the products. And, officials now say Vermont Gov. Phil Scott is exploring whether the state should institute a similar ban."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "DA Rachael Rollins targets 1,300-plus unsolved murders," by Andrew Martinez, Boston Herald: "Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins has a message for the murderers walking free in Boston: "We will find you." Today she's launching Project for Unsolved Suffolk Homicides (PUSH) to revisit the city's estimated 1,367 open murder cases dating back to the 1960s. "We're looking and we will find you," Rollins said of the project Thursday. "And there's no statute of limitations on murder." What began as an idea to call family members on the anniversary of their loved one's death has turned into something more — a "first-in-the-nation" initiative to include all of the Suffolk DA office's 300-plus legal and non-legal staff to review all unsolved homicides."
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| PRIMARY SOURCES |
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- "'Kennedy is not being straight with the people of Massachusetts,' Markey campaign alleges," by Victoria McGrane, Boston Globe: "Two top candidates for Senate are trading accusations over corporate political action committee money as the 2020 battle between Senator Edward J. Markey and Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III starts heating up. Markey's campaign announced Thursday that the Malden Democrat would no longer accept corporate PAC contributions, a decision Markey made before Kennedy formally entered the race, according to senior campaign director John Walsh. The Markey campaign at the same time released a video rapping Kennedy for trumpeting his own decision earlier this month to forgo corporate PAC checks, when the Newton Democrat was raking in money from those entities as recently as June."
- "Sen. Eric Lesser invites US Senate candidates to Springfield for debate on east-west rail," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "State Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, is calling on the candidates for U.S. Senate to hold a debate in Springfield focused on east-west rail. Lesser wrote in a letter to all four candidates in the Democratic primary that he is inviting them to a debate on the topic of high-speed rail between Boston and Pittsfield. His letter says high-speed rail "has the potential to transform our Commonwealth's economy and create tens of thousands of new jobs." "In order to make East-West Rail a reality, our commonwealth will need steadfast support and advocacy from our federal delegation," Lesser wrote."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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HOW COULD ANYONE DEFAME THIS CRETIN?
- "Alex Jones Says Brianna Wu Defamed Him in a Tweet," by Spencer Buell, Boston Magazine: "InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has been banished from much of the internet but remains in the news thanks to several ongoing lawsuits, says he's suing Massachusetts Congressional candidate Brianna Wu for defamation. The accusation stems from a June 17 tweet in which Wu suggested Jones had sent child pornography to the parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting."
- "Lawyers Propose Plan For $143M Gas Explosions Settlement," by Philip Marcelo, The Associated Press: "Roughly 175,000 residents and business owners would benefit from a $143 million class action settlement from last September's natural gas explosions in Massachusetts, according to a legal brief. The proposal to distribute proceeds from the settlement against utility company Columbia Gas of Massachusetts calls for six categories of lump sum payouts, ranging from up to $50 for a "nominal" disruption to up to $15,000 for a "major" disruption."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Wall Street Democratic donors warn the party: We'll sit out, or back Trump, if you nominate Elizabeth Warren," by Brian Schwartz, CNBC: "Democratic donors on Wall Street and in big business are preparing to sit out the presidential campaign fundraising cycle — or even back President Donald Trump — if Sen. Elizabeth Warren wins the party's nomination. In recent weeks, CNBC spoke to several high-dollar Democratic donors and fundraisers in the business community and found that this opinion was becoming widely shared as Warren, an outspoken critic of big banks and corporations, gains momentum against Joe Biden in the 2020 race."
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "LYNN GETS $9.3 MILLION TO GET THE LEAD OUT," by Gayla Cawley and Thomas Grillo, Lynn Item: "More than 400 homes will be deleaded thanks to a $9.3 million grant from the Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), the largest grant of its kind the city has received. Administered by the Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development (LHAND), the Lead Abatement Program was created to make homes safer for low-income families. From 2009 through 2018, Lynn received $9.1 million in HUD monies to make more than 600 homes safe. The all-in cost to delead one home can reach as much as $15,000, say experts. "This is a huge amount of money obviously for the city and it's incredibly important to continue the work to delead homes," said U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who noted his office lobbied HUD to secure the grant."
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| TRUMPACHUSETTS |
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- "Trump is engaging in a 'continuing conspiracy,' says John Kerry," by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "Former secretary of state John F. Kerry said Thursday that President Trump clearly abused the power of his office by prodding the leader of Ukraine to investigate one of Trump's political rivals, calling it a "continuing conspiracy defined by the president himself." "I don't think this is going to be particularly complicated. I don't think we have to wait for John Dean in this one," Kerry said, referencing President Richard Nixon's White House counsel, who would later turn on him, accusing Nixon of direct involvement in the Watergate scandal. "The president is his own John Dean," Kerry said."
- "In Massachusetts Trump towns, many exasperated," by Hanna Krueger, Boston Globe: "Less than five miles apart, in the towns of Brookfield and North Brookfield, sit two shops. Both have five-star ratings on Google and sell CBD oil. One, nestled in the bottom of a green and white Colonial with succulents and mums flanking the entrance, markets artisan health goods. The other, in a shack behind a ramshackle one-story countryside home, boasts more firearms than square feet. And the owners of the businesses — Tip Top Country Store and Paradis Firearm & Repair — reacted to the news of the impeachment inquiry into President Trump very differently. "I'm very excited about it. I think it's about time this happened and hopefully something will come of it. It's a very serious and clearly illegal matter," said Sarah Heller of Tip Top, which will be closed this Friday, like last Friday, in solidary with the climate strike."
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| IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN |
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- "At the edge of a warming world," by Nestor Ramos, Boston Globe: "These bridges span much more than a canal. To traverse the Sagamore, from the north, or the Bourne, from the west, is to cross the boundary between work and play. As the last girder shrinks in the rearview mirror, the road opens onto the pine-fringed mid-Cape expressway. Already those knotted neck muscles are beginning to soften and uncoil. The beaches we love — Marconi, Cahoon Hollow, Nauset, to name three — are still miles away. But the worst of the dreaded Cape traffic is behind us now. We are in a postcard land that evokes a particular memory, a four-word poem, for anyone who has had the good fortune to experience it: Summer on the Cape."
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| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
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- "How a debate in Cambridge over recreational marijuana turned ugly," by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: "Cambridge finally has a plan to permit recreational marijuana dispensaries, roughly 10 months after the first adult-use pot shops opened in Massachusetts. However, City Councilor Denise Simmons remains "deeply troubled," not due to any concerns inherent to legal weed, but because of how the process in Cambridge — a bitter, months-long fight that pitted existing medical marijuana dispensaries against local activists and entrepreneurs hoping to break into the industry — played out."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "THE TOUGHEST JOB," — Globe: "Whistle-blower sees coverup," "Democrats must make case to the country." |
| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Jews Prepare For High Holidays As White Supremacist Incidents Soar In Mass." by Paul Singer, WGBH News: "For Jews across the commonwealth, the new year begins next week in a traditional celebration of joy and atonement, but also with a growing sense of foreboding. Incidents of white supremacists distributing fliers, posters and literature around Massachusetts have increased dramatically this year, according to data collected by the Anti-Defamation League. In 2018, ADL recorded 35 such incidents in the state; this year so far, there have been 60 incidents, and the total for the year will almost certainly wind up being more than double last year's total."
FOR YOUR COMMUTE: THE 100TH LAP - On this week's Horse Race, we celebrate the 100th episode of the podcast with a special episode. Congressional candidate Jamie Belsito talks about her primary challenge to Rep. Seth Moulton, and Katie Lannan of the State House News Service breaks down the big education funding bill that has emerged on Beacon Hill. And last but not least, Horse Race co-founder and former host Lauren Dezenski talks about her role at CNN and reminisces about the podcast. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Jack Eccles, Robert Cohen, Francisco Urena and Abby Curran.
HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND - to Saturday birthday-ers Ryan Migeed, a state Sen. Eric Lesser alum; and Democratic consultant Kevin Ready. And to Tyler O'Day, who celebrates Sunday.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? No! The Rangers beat the Red Sox 7-5.
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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A message from Tobacco Free Kids:
There's a public health crisis spreading across the country - and it's small enough to fit in your kid's pocket. E-cigarettes are hooking a new generation, thanks to Big Tobacco tricks like slick marketing, massive doses of nicotine, and thousands of kid-friendly flavors. Now, 5 million kids - including 1 in 4 high schoolers - use e-cigarettes. This growing public health emergency threatens decades of progress in lowering youth tobacco use. And it's getting worse. We're building a nationwide movement to confront this crisis with the bold action our kids deserve. We must take flavored e-cigarettes off the market, stand up to companies like JUUL, and stop this escalating epidemic before it's too late. Learn More. |
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We want to hear from you! Nominations for the 2019 class of Women Rule "Women of Impact" are now open until Oct. 4. We want to hear about the women you know and admire who are on the front lines, moving the needle and changing the game in their respective fields. We are looking for women bringing their bold visions to life—whether they're running for office, leading a business, or championing a cause. We'll honor them at the Women Rule summit in December in Washington, D.C. NOMINATE A WOMAN OF IMPACT HERE.
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