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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: This is your final newsletter before Thanksgiving! Massachusetts Playbook will not publish on Thursday Nov. 28 and Friday Nov. 29. I'll be back in your inbox on Monday Dec. 2. In the meantime, have an excellent holiday. I am especially grateful for you, wonderful Playbookers.
It's the day before Thanksgiving. In between last-minute trips to Market Basket or on your long journey home to see family, you might be thinking about the inevitable. Experts advise against it. Others explain how to avoid it. But if you do decide to broach the topic of politics at the dinner table, here are some Turkey Day talking points, #mapoli style.
— How many 2020 presidential candidates from Massachusetts can you name? The first three are easy: Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Gov. Deval Patrick are vying for the Democratic nomination, and former Gov. Bill Weld is running against President Donald Trump. But keep in mind Rep. Seth Moulton bowed out of the race a few months ago. Late entrant and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg hails from Medford, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio , who dropped out of the race, graduated from the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. That's six -- seven if you count South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg's days at Harvard. Boston.com's Nik DeCosta-Klipa has been all over this for weeks.
- The blockbuster Senate race: Who will come out on top in the three-way contest between Sen. Ed Markey, Rep. Joe Kennedy III and attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan? The trio have challenged one another to a number of pledges and events since Kennedy entered the race. Markey called for a climate debate, Kennedy is still waiting for an answer on a pledge to limit outside spending in the race, and now Liss-Riordan is calling for a $6 million spending cap. This race has generational divides, insiders and outsiders, big-name endorsements, and the potential to divide state's political class. And there are still 10 months to go until the primary in September!
- Is Michelle Wu going to run for mayor? Now that this year's Boston municipal election is over -- sort of -- political-watchers are wondering whether Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu will challenge Mayor Marty Walsh for his seat in 2021. Boston elected its most diverse council ever this month, and sent Rep. Ayanna Pressley to Congress over a longtime incumbent in 2018. Wu said on election night that the face of Boston politics is changing. Could that change include the mayor's office in two years? The Boston Globe took a look at Wu's chances if she does run.
- Stop using your phone while driving — Gov. Charlie Baker signed a long-awaited bill that bans using handheld devices at the wheel this week. The bill expands on the state's texting-while-driving ban to curb activities like phone calls and social media scrolling. The bill will go into effect in February, with a grace period that lasts until March. Beacon Hill lawmakers took a long time to find a compromise on this bill, though some are still concerned that enforcement of the ban could result in racial profiling.
- Does Deval Patrick have a shot? The former governor is staffing up after a very late entry into the presidential race. He's toured the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, and will hold a big fundraiser with Boston-based allies next week. It's not clear whether Patrick can raise the kind of money or rack up the kind of poll numbers that would qualify him for the December Democratic debate. But Patrick told reporters on Monday that he views the Democratic primary as a "wide open" contest. There's some truth to that —new polls show there's no clear frontrunner in the race, even after months of campaigning, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren's poll numbers dipped this week.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — Boston Mayor Marty Walsh awards Neighborhood Jobs Trust funds to 23 community-based organizations at an event in the South End. Walsh speaks at Goodwill's Thanks-for-Giving lunch in Roxbury.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Gov. Charlie Baker signs $1.5 billion education funding bill into law," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "Massachusetts' public schools will receive their largest influx of new money since the state first established its school funding formula in 1993, under a bill signed by Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday. "If there's one thing I've learned in 63 years, it's that talent is evenly distributed," Baker said after signing the bill. "What's not evenly distributed is opportunity." Baker signed the bill at The English High School of Boston, the first public high school founded in the U.S., which today serves a large number of poor students, students of color and English language learners."
- "Former Mass. Speaker Sal DiMasi: 'I've Paid My Debt to Society,'" by Matt Murphy, State House News Service: "Former House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi said Tuesday he thinks he deserves a "second chance" to professionally advocate on issues like homelessness and prison reform, opening up about why he's fighting to return to Beacon Hill and why he thinks Secretary of State William Galvin was wrong to deny his registration as a lobbyist. DiMasi is appealing Galvin's decision, which was based on the fact that DiMasi was convicted, and served time in prison, in federal court of accepting kickbacks in exchange for steering lucrative state contracts to a Burlington software company."
- "DeLeo and Spilka on different pages," by Andy Metzger, CommonWealth Magazine: "THE HOUSE AND Senate are circulating proposals for a compromise on an overdue spending bill, and the one idea that has had a public airing would leave out a $50 million infusion to the MBTA that both chambers have already agreed to. House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who five months ago said the T was in "crisis," recently indicated his willingness to set aside that supplemental transit funding and all other discretionary spending from the must-pass legislation. In addition to shoring up accounts that have fallen into deficiency, the competing spending bills passed by the House and Senate would also carve up the roughly $1 billion surplus, and finally close the books on fiscal 2019."
- "Rep. Straus: Recently Released RMV Investigation Documents To Be Made Public," by Mark Herz, WGBH News: "The co-chair of the state committee tasked with investigating the Registry of Motor Vehicles said on Tuesday that just under 300 pages of records released to legislators Monday by an independent audit firm will be published online for public viewing "as soon as we can." Rep. William Straus, co-chair of the legislature's Transportation Committee, told WGBH News that after probable redaction of any references to individual drivers or violations, notes on 41 interviews conducted by Grant Thornton, the firm hired by the Baker administration to investigate the RMV, will be posted on the committee's website."
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| WHAT CITY HALL IS READING |
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- "Will Michelle Wu run for mayor of Boston? And can she win?" by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: " She rallied residents by the hundreds to protest the MBTA fare hikes earlier this year. She helped spearhead an ordinance regulating the city's short-term rental industry, sparking a public feud with the mammoth platform Airbnb. And, earlier this month, at-large city Councilor Michelle Wu once again topped the citywide ticket in the municipal election, far outpacing her opponents in a competitive field. Over the last several years, Wu has emerged as a flag-bearer of a progressive-minded movement in city politics, a position that, political analysts say, would make her a credible challenger to second-term Mayor Martin J. Walsh — who has suffered substantial setbacks in recent months, including the criminal convictions of three top aides."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Here's what Michael Dukakis says it'll take to fix Boston's traffic crisis," by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: "Michael Dukakis says Massachusetts doesn't need congestion pricing or any big tax increases. To improve the state's transportation system, the former Democratic governor and presidential nominee says it comes down to leadership. After reading The Boston Globe's recent Spotlight series on the region's traffic congestion, Dukakis called for a change in the current administration's priorities — and perhaps also personnel. "The answer is clear in my judgment: Don't spend any more money on highways," Dukakis told Boston.com in an interview Monday night, following a wide-ranging Brookline event during which he cautioned his preferred presidential candidate, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, against running too far to the left on health care and politely asked that neighbors resist the urge to leave Thanksgiving turkey carcasses at his house this year ("Please don't. No more turkey carcasses")."
- "Boston restricts mint, menthol tobacco sales to adult-only tobacco retailers," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "The Boston Public Health Commission voted Monday to stop convenience stores from selling mint and menthol cigarettes and vaping products. Under the new regulation, all mint and menthol tobacco and nicotine products will only be allowed to be sold in Boston in adult-only tobacco retailers. The goal of the rule is to stop teenagers from vaping and smoking."
- "ACLU wants oversight in police robotics," The Associated Press: "Some civil rights activists have raised questions on the oversight of police robotics programs after the Massachusetts State Police started testing the use of a dog-like robot. The ACLU's Kade Crockford says a robotic system like this provides an "almost limitless" set of possibilities for surveillance and weaponization. Boston Dynamics vice president Michael Perry says the company envisions Spot being utilized in situations too dangerous for humans."
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| PRIMARY SOURCES |
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- "'I'm hoping it draws attention,' Rep. Joe Kennedy visits the North Quabbin Catholic Community food bank in Athol," by Douglas Hook, MassLive.com: "As Rep. Joe Kennedy III walked into the food bank, he was greeted by Father Edwin Montana of Our Lady Immaculate Church, who welcomed the congressman with warmth and a handshake. The North Quabbin Catholic Community food pantry in Athol was the first of the four stops Kennedy was taking part in to raise awareness of hunger and the importance of donations made to the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "Cumberland Farms's ballot question to expand alcohol sales faces legal fight — from the packies," by Jon Chesto, Boston Globe: "Package store owners remember the price they paid to win the Great Booze Battle of 2006. They want to avoid another costly campaign to protect their turf. That's why the Massachusetts Package Stores Association filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Judicial Court on Monday. This latest challenge involves the state's archaic liquor license limits again. At issue this time: a ballot question pushed by Cumberland Farms that would create a new kind of beer-and-wine license for food sellers, to be made available at local authorities' discretion, with no limits on the amount any one company could control ."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Warren nosedives in new nationwide poll," by Caitlin Oprysko, POLITICO: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren's support among Democratic primary voters nationwide plunged 50 percent over the past month, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll, signaling that the shake-ups in the primary field are far from over. Former Vice President Joe Biden has retaken the lead in the poll after an autumn that saw him surrender his solid frontrunner status, climbing 3 points to earn 24 percent in the poll. Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind., surged into second, rising 6 points to 16 percent, with Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders not far behind at 14 and 13 percent, respectively."
- "Can Warren Win The 2020 Mass. Primary By 50 Percent?" by David Bernstein, WGBH News: "Massachusetts voters will have familiar names on their Presidential primary ballots, on March 3rd. If they take a Democratic ballot, they'll see their U.S. Senator, Elizabeth Warren, and former governor, Deval Patrick. If they vote in the Republican primary, former governor William Weld's name will appear as a challenger to Donald Trump. Those marquee figures of Bay State politics give added cache to the proceedings, which are part of the so-called Super Tuesday vote-o-rama. This time around, Massachusetts joins 13 other states with primaries that day. They include huge delegate prizes in California and Texas, and key states such as Colorado and Virginia. Those states will get more national attention. But, the Commonwealth's primaries are shaping up to be fascinating in their own right."
- "Warren Has No Plans to Release Older Tax Files: Campaign Update," by Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou, Bloomberg: "Elizabeth Warren said Monday that she has no plans to release her tax returns covering her work as a law professor and bankruptcy lawyer before she entered public service in 2008. The Massachusetts senator said she has disclosed 11 years of tax returns on her website, exceeding what she said was President Barack Obama's practice of making eight years of records available. The returns cover her work on the congressional oversight panel in charge of overseeing the bank bailout of 2008, her time setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Obama administration and her tenure as a senator, starting in 2013."
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| PATRICK PRIMARY |
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- "Deval Patrick adds a half-dozen staffers to his campaign," by Matt Viser, Washington Post: "Deval Patrick has hired a half-dozen new campaign staffers in his attempt to build an organization almost overnight for what remains a long-shot presidential bid that has yet to demonstrate any evident enthusiasm among Democrats. Nearly two weeks after entering the race, the former Massachusetts governor is beginning to fill key positions, but he is doing so at a much later stage than his rivals and without the vast personal wealth that the other recent entrant, former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, brings to the race."
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| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
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- "Walsh Signs Ordinance That Aims To Create More Equitable Marijuana Industry In Boston," by Quincy Walters, WBUR: "Boston Mayor Marty Walsh on Tuesday signed a city ordinance aimed at boosting the number of marijuana retail shops that are owned by people of color. The ordinance would require that half of the city's cannabis licenses go to businesses in neighborhoods that have been greatly impacted by the war on drugs. In Boston, those neighborhoods, as designated by the Cannabis Control Commission, include census tracts in South Boston, Dorchester, and Roxbury."
- "Officials demand more vaping data after Minnesota points to black market products," by Jessica Bartlett, Boston Business Journal: "Early data from Minnesota health officials are pointing to black market vapes as the source of the outbreak of vaping illnesses, details that Massachusetts cannabis regulators say should encourage local public health officials to release more information on the crisis. According to a weekly report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Minnesota Department of Public Health has interviewed 58 of the 96 patients in the state who were classified as having a vaping-related lung injury. Of those interviewed, 53 (91%) reported receiving the cannabis vapes from informal sources such as friends, family members, in-person informal dealers or online dealers."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "NEW START," "GIVING SPIRIT," — Globe: "Wu's strong showing has some thinking bigger," "Climate outlook is 'bleak' says U.N. report." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "Sabadosa meets with constituents on the bus," by Greta Jochem, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "Every fourth Monday of the month at 11:50, Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, hosts office hours for constituents in an unusual location: the 44 route of the PVTA bus. On Monday morning, she stood on the sidewalk near the Academy of Music counting coins to pay the $1.50 bus fare. "I've got dimes," she said, pulling coins out of her wallet. After stepping on the bus, she started talking to passenger Tom Burton, who asked her questions about transportation and taxes before he got off the bus about a mile down the road near Stop & Shop on King Street. Sabadosa got the idea from another state legislator from Pittsburgh whom she met at a conference, and started doing office hours on the PVTA this fall."
- "The Berkshires Are Reliving Their Gilded Glory Days," by Amy Gamerman, Wall Street Journal: "The Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts had a major moment during the Gilded Age when Vanderbilts and Morgans built palatial estates there, known as Berkshire cottages. Now, after decades of decline during which many grand cottages were converted into ashrams, summer camps, spas and nursing homes, the Berkshires seem ready for a fresh turn in the spotlight as a new breed of homeowners snatch up historic homes and restore them as weekend retreats and primary residences."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Columbia Gas finishes inspecting thousands of abandoned lines," by Bill Kirk, Eagle-Tribune: "An announcement that Columbia Gas has finished inspecting the last of nearly 5,000 abandoned gas service lines throughout the Merrimack Valley was greeted with a mix of relief and trepidation by town officials Tuesday. The work was required after Columbia Gas finished replacing the destroyed gas system following the Sept. 13, 2018 gas disaster, which led to one death, mass evacuations, and millions of dollars in losses for hundreds of small- and medium-sized businesses."
- "Flu vaccines are easier than ever to get, but many in Mass. still don't," by Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News: "It's free and available everywhere, yet most Americans today still skip the annual flu shot despite government efforts to remove cost and access obstacles. Even in Massachusetts, which has much higher vaccination rates than the nation on average, only 54 percent of adults got the flu vaccine in 2018 and '19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's up about 5 percent since 2010 and '11."
TRANSITIONS - Attorney General Maura Healey joins Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum as co-chair of the Democratic Attorneys General Association.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to the Boston Business Journal's Catherine Carlock.
HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY - to Thursday birthday-ers Sarina Tracy and Doug Rubin of Northwind Strategies, Deloitte's John Kim, state Rep. Louis Kafka, Boston Globe investigative reporter Nicole Dungca, Gov. Charlie Baker's digital and deputy communications director Terry MacCormack, Erin Forry, and former State Dept. globetrotter and Globe and AP alum Glen Johnson. And to House Speaker Robert DeLeo's chief of staff Seth Gitell, Katherine Forde, Dominique Manuel, Trent Spiner and Maddie Kilgannon, who all celebrate Friday.
HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND - to state Sen. Mike Rush, Ben Josephson , public affairs strategist at O'Neill and Associates; and Larry Summers, who all celebrate Saturday. And to Sunday birthday-ers Jennifer Jordan and occasional Mass. Playbook headline writer/my awesome dad John Murray.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Bruins beat the Canadiens 8-1.
FOR YOUR COMMUTE: DEVAL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL - On this week's Horse Race, hosts Jennifer Smith, Steve Koczela and Stephanie Murray discuss Boston's traffic problem, in light of a recent Boston Globe Spotlight report. Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell talks about her work on the council as her term wraps up, and her endorsement of Sen. Kamala Harris in the 2020 race. Former Gov. Deval Patrick aide Alex Goldstein gives his take on Patrick's last-minute entry into the presidential race. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud.
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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