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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. It just keeps snowing! Stay safe out there.
LISS-RIORDAN HITS MARKEY — Over the last several months, the Democratic primary for Sen. Ed Markey's seat has largely been seen as a two-way contest between Markey and Rep. Joe Kennedy III. They've got the polling numbers, the multi-million dollar war chests and longstanding relationships in the Massachusetts political class.
But the candidate capturing the spotlight yesterday was attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan. She's been a thorn in Markey's side since entering the race in the spring.
When Markey challenged his opponents to a climate debate last month, Liss-Riordan took him up on the offer, while Kennedy did not. Liss-Riordan used the hour-long climate forum as an opportunity to hit Markey on his effectiveness in Washington.
Similarly, Liss-Riordan slammed Markey on Monday during a signing of a People's Pledge agreement proposed by Kennedy to limit spending in the Senate primary. Markey has declined to sign the agreement, and instead offered his own version of the pledge.
In her remarks, Liss-Riordan dug up a quote from Markey in 2013, when he insisted his then-Republican opponent take a People's Pledge. Markey had called outside money "political pollution" and also took a pledge during the Democratic Senate primary against Rep. Steve Lynch.
"Several years ago, when Sen. Markey called for a ban on outside spending, he didn't carve out any special exceptions. He called all outside money political pollution. That's when it benefited him," Liss-Riordan said at a press conference on Monday. "So I'm interested in knowing why the change of heart now."
Later in the day, Liss-Riordan highlighted a 2013 tweet from Markey's campaign saying the People's Pledge taken by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Sen. Scott Brown in 2012 should be replicated. "I hope @EdMarkey will come back around to a position he held strongly in 2013 and sign the Pledge," Liss-Riordan wrote in a tweet, which Kennedy retweeted.
Markey's campaign agrees spending from outside groups should be limited, but said candidates "also need to make sure progressive organizations have the right to make their voices heard." Markey's pledge proposal would ban negative ads, but would allow outside spending from "positive" voices like climate advocates and reproductive rights groups. Kennedy joined Liss-Riordan in knocking Markey's proposal at the signing ceremony on Monday.
"That is a loophole big enough to drive a truck through," Kennedy said. "Anybody can come up with a positive message."
"The text that Shannon and I are offering here is almost identical to the text that was used by Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown and is almost identical to the text that was used by then-Congressman Markey and Steve Lynch, so if it was good enough for them then, it should be good enough for everybody," Kennedy added.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — State employees have a 10 a.m. start time due to snow. Gov. Charlie Baker attends the WBZ Faneuil Hall tree lighting. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito testifies before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary in support of the administration's sexually explicit images bill. Polito and Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty attend a Worcester Six 20th anniversary memorial. Rep. Lori Trahan and West Virginia Rep. David McKinley announce the Save Minor League Baseball Task Force during a press conference in Washington, D.C.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Baker tries to nudge House and Senate toward agreement," by Andy Metzger, CommonWealth Magazine: "GOV. CHARLIE BAKER has seen House Speaker Robert DeLeo's offer of a barebones closeout budget deal to break a logjam on Beacon Hill and, like any confident poker player, raised the stakes a bit to pay for priorities that aren't strictly speaking deficiency spending. After a private meeting on Monday between Baker, DeLeo, Senate President Karen Spilka and a handful of other lawmakers, the officials were peppered with questions about what they were doing to move along a stalled bill to close out the books on fiscal 2019, which ended June 30. It appears little progress was made at the meeting in resolving differences between the House and Senate, but Baker tossed some new elements into the discussion."
- "Vape ban to be lifted as new rules take shape," by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: "With tough new restrictions on flavored e-cigarettes and tobacco products taking shape, a statewide ban on nicotine vaping products could be lifted as early as next week. The move follows Gov. Charlie Baker's approval of a bill that outlaws sales of flavored vaping products, including menthol and mint-flavored cigarettes, limits the nicotine content of vape pods and imposes a 75% excise tax on the wholesale price of e-cigarettes. Baker signed the bill last Wednesday, following its earlier passage in the House of Representatives and Senate."
- "MBTA, MassHealth, PFAS contamination among 'critical' needs left unfunded amid budget stalemate," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "Secretary of Administration and Finance Michael Heffernan on Monday gave state lawmakers a list of $348 million in expenditures that the administration believes must be spent to close the books on fiscal 2019, from MBTA repairs to MassHealth services. "We stand by the full recommendations we have filed, but are focused today on the items we view as truly critical," Heffernan wrote in the letter. The letter, in response to a request by House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, comes as lawmakers are in a stalemate over approval of the final budget needed to close the books on the last fiscal year ."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Northern Ireland's 'Troubles' Still Resonate In Mass. State Contracts," by Paul Singer, WGBH News: "Boston Mayor Marty Walsh spent Thanksgiving weekend in Northern Ireland, to promote economic and cultural exchange between Boston and Belfast. But legacy provisions of Massachusetts state law still cast a suspicious eye on companies doing business in Northern Ireland. Take, for example, the South Egremont Village School, one of the last remaining one-room schoolhouses in Massachusetts. Several years ago, the Berkshire County town recognized that the 1880s building was collapsing. So this summer, local officials undertook a major renovation project that included jacking up the old building, pouring a new concrete foundation and adding ramps and updated bathrooms to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act."
- "With no contract agreement, Harvard grad students prepare for strike Tuesday," by Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: "Harvard's graduate student workers are preparing to go on strike Tuesday after last-minute negotiations with university officials failed to produce any contract agreements. Harvard officials and union representatives said that in a meeting Monday morning both sides exchanged proposals, but no final agreement was reached, nor were any new tentative compromises reached on the final sticking points. The Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers have said they will go on strike Tuesday if a deal isn't reached."
- "Higher ed in New England is in 'precarious' state, former Northeastern president says," by Hilary Burns, Boston Business Journal: "Thirteen years after Richard Freeland left the president's office at Northeastern University, the urban school is thriving with new satellite campuses around the world and a Top 40 ranking on the U.S. News & World Report's list of national universities. Freeland's plan to position Northeastern as a competitive undergraduate institution that distinguishes itself with its cooperative education program worked. He arrived at the university in 1996, and at the time Northeastern was still reeling from years of falling enrollment, increasing competition from state institutions and operating with a tuition-dependent business model with no significant endowment."
- "Activists Push Developers, City To Honor Trans Woman Whose Death Sparked Movement," by Tori Bedford, WGBH News: "A community petition is appealing to the city of Boston to name a new green space after Rita Hester, a local transgender woman who was murdered over 20 years ago and whose death inspired activists to start a worldwide, annual day of remembrance for transgender victims of violence. Activists are gathering signatures to name a planned one-acre plot of green space in the Allston Yards development at 60 Everett St. after Hester, a 34-year-old black transgender woman who was stabbed to death in her Allston apartment on Nov. 28, 1998. No one was ever charged in the murder."
- "Small building condo conversions raising concerns at City Hall," by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: "The number of small apartment buildings turning into condos has skyrocketed in recent years — a change city councilors and the mayor's office want to slow down. Boston Housing Chief Sheila Dillon said 2,939 units have been turned into condos in the past five years, a massive increase over the 1,312 in the previous five years, before the last change to the city's condo-conversion ordinance. City councilors plan to vote Wednesday to extend the city's current condo-conversion regulations for another year, a move supported by administration officials, as both sides look to further cut down property owners booting out locals, chopping up multi-family buildings and selling the properties off as expensive condominiums."
- "Aloha! Massachusetts EBT cards used at posh hotels in Hawaii," by Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald: "EBT card holders from Massachusetts have spent their tax-funded benefits in almost every state — including popular vacation spots like Hawaii where welfare money was withdrawn at hotels in "paradise," right on Waikiki Beach and the "best address" on Hanalei Bay, records show. A Herald review of more than 2 million EBT expenditures in fiscal year 2019 found the cards being used in Hawaii on 18 different occasions. Thousands of other out-of-state transactions included cash withdrawals in Las Vegas, and numerous card uses in Alaska, California, Florida and Louisiana. The state Department of Transitional Assistance on Monday did not provide any explanation for the out-of-state spending of benefits that are intended for the needy and hardship cases."
- "Social Security has tilted to favor higher earners who delay claiming benefits, report says," by Robert Weisman, Boston Globe: "The nation's Social Security program was designed with special concern for the least fortunate Americans, to keep them from sinking into poverty when they became too old to work. But recent demographic changes have tilted the system against lower earners who claim Social Security benefits early, even as they've rewarded higher earners who claim benefits later, according to a Boston College report."
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| PRIMARY SOURCES |
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- FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: "Ihssane Leckey endorsed by State Representative Nika Elugardo," from the Leckey campaign: "Ihssane Leckey today announced an endorsement from Massachusetts State Representative Nika Elugardo (D-Jamaica Plain). Leckey is running in the 2020 Democratic primary for the 4th Massachusetts Congressional District, and has pledged to reject all corporate PAC money, both in her campaign and in office. "Ihssane blows my mind. I've never met a person who can take you on a journey from oppression and depression to a solid and actionable vision for victory in a single verbal journey," said Elugardo who represents parts of Brookline.
- "GOP leader balks at special election date," by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service: "SENATE DEMOCRATS hit a speed bump Monday as they tried to schedule a special election on the date of the presidential primary to fill a seat just vacated by a Republican. At the tail end of a long, lightly attended session, the Senate surfaced an order from President Karen Spilka scheduling the general election to pick Vinny deMacedo's successor on March 3. Minority Leader Bruce Tarr objected, forcing Democratic leadership to send the order to the Rules Committee."
- "Wyatt Ronan named NH state director of Deval Patrick's presidential campaign," by John DiStaso, WMUR: "Wyatt Ronan, an experienced Granite State Democratic communications specialist and strategist, has been named the New Hampshire state director of former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick's presidential campaign. Ronan is the first New Hampshire staffer announced by the Patrick campaign, with more to follow, said a Patrick spokesperson. In his role, Ronan will lead strategy and organizing for Patrick in the all-important first-primary state."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "Purdue's Richard Sackler proposed plan to play down OxyContin risks, and wanted drug maker feared 'like a tiger,' files show," by Casey Ross, STAT: "In the early days of OxyContin, Dr. Richard Sackler, a member of the billionaire family that founded and controls Purdue Pharma, learned about concerns that the potent opioid could lead to abuse in chronic pain patients, and he then proposed executives aggressively push back, according to newly unsealed documents obtained by STAT after a four-year court battle. An email chain from January 1997 — just a year after Purdue launched the drug — shows that Merck Medco, then one of the nation's largest pharmacy benefit managers, had begun cautioning doctors that use of OxyContin to treat chronic pain patients could lead to abuse."
- "Trial Opens For Cambridge Man Who Offered $500 For Killing ICE Agents," The Associated Press: "A man is on trial in Boston for offering $500 to anyone who would kill a federal immigration officer. The trial of Brandon Ziobrowski opened Monday in federal court and is expected to continue through the week. He pleaded not guilty to using interstate and foreign commerce to transmit a threat to injure another person last year. Authorities say the then-33-year-old Cambridge, Massachusetts resident tweeted last July "I am broke but will scrounge and literally give $500 to anyone who kills an ICE agent."
- "Legal reckoning: New abuse suits could cost Catholic Church over $4 billion," by Bernard Condon and Jim Mustian, The Associated Press: "At the end of another long day trying to sign up new clients accusing the Roman Catholic Church of sexual abuse, lawyer Adam Slater gazes out the window of his high-rise Manhattan office at one of the great symbols of the church, St. Patrick's Cathedral. "I wonder how much that's worth?" he muses. Across the country, attorneys like Slater are scrambling to file a new wave of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by clergy, thanks to rules enacted in 15 states that extend or suspend the statute of limitations to allow claims stretching back decades."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Bernie splits from Warren with embrace of far-left foreign leaders," by Alex Thompson and Holly Otterbein, POLITICO: "Bernie Sanders' revolution has gone global. As the Vermont senator battles Elizabeth Warren for the left wing of the Democratic Party, he's increasingly tried to find an edge on foreign policy. Sanders has portrayed his candidacy as one part of a worldwide worker-led movement, praised controversial leftist leaders across the globe, and tried to articulate a foreign policy further afield of the establishment than Warren's."
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "Our Troops Deserve Better Than Trump's Pardons," by Rep. Seth Moulton, TIME: "In Iraq, I learned there are two types of courage: physical courage and moral courage. Moral courage was often the hardest to find. The ability for our service members to summon moral courage when it counts is why most of the world sees America as the good guys. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has pardoned men who have failed to live up to the standards to which we hold our service members. He has pardoned men who have been convicted of: posing with enemy corpses, failing to render aid to injured enemy combatants, second-degree murder, attempted murder, wrongfully communicating a threat, reckless endangerment, soliciting a false statement, and obstructing justice."
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| KENNEDY COMPOUND |
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- "Meet Lauren Birchfield Kennedy, a Harvard-educated lawyer and children's advocate who's also Joe Kennedy's wife," by Victoria McGrane, Boston Globe: "As presidential hopeful Senator Elizabeth Warren drafted her ambitious universal child care legislation, among the experts her staff consulted was a young Massachusetts political figure with a famous last name. No, not the Kennedy running for Senate. Warren's staff connected with his wife, Lauren Birchfield Kennedy, a health policy lawyer who runs a nonprofit focused on improving child care, including pushing for universal, affordable high-quality care."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "ALOHA!" — Globe: "At Purdue, a bid to play down OxyContin risks," "ONE BATTLE DOWN, ONE TO GO," "Harvard graduate students set to strike." |
| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Free Legal Aid Offered To Those Affected By Gas Explosions," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "Ahead of a Jan. 9 deadline to submit claims related to a proposed Columbia Gas settlement, the law firm Ropes and Gray and Lawyers for Civil Rights on Monday announced a new partnership to provide free legal help to small businesses in Lawrence affected by the Sept. 2018 natural gas explosions. According to Lawyers for Civil Rights, hundreds of minority- and immigrant-owned small businesses "suffered devastating loses" from the explosion and fires. Priya Lane, the director of Lawyers for Civil Rights' BizGrow small business project, said many businesses are "scrambling" to submit their claims by next month's deadline."
- "3 local TV meteorologists reveal the most common viewer complaints — and why they're unwarranted," by Kevin Slane, Boston.com: "Being a meteorologist in New England is no easy task. Even with advances in forecasting technology, it can be difficult to accurately predict where and when weather will hit, and with what intensity. That inherent uncertainty can leave professional weather watchers open to gripes from their loyal viewers. We reached out to three of Boston's chief meteorologists to hear about some of the most frequent complaints they receive from viewers, and to let them explain some of the challenges of their job so that you might think twice before sending that snarky email."
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Robby Mook, senior fellow at the Kennedy School and president of House Majority PAC.
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