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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Happy Tuesday! It's good to be back in your inbox.
STATE OF THE STATE TONIGHT — Gov. Charlie Baker will deliver his State of the Commonwealth address at the State House this evening. You can expect him to talk about education, transportation, housing, climate change and fiscal responsibility according to Lizzy Guyton, Baker's communications director.
But Massachusetts politicos have been buzzing about what he said yesterday at a breakfast honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
BAKER'S STUPID FAUX PAS!
Following remarks from Rep. Ayanna Pressley at the breakfast, Baker jokingly referred to Pressley's speech as "that rant." The comment drew groans from the audience, and online pushback grew from there. The flap is even on the front page of the Boston Herald this morning. Baker apologized for using the word shortly after, saying he found Pressley's speech "moving" and agreed with what she said, but not before one of the state's leading Democrats weighed in.
Attorney General Maura Healey came to Pressley's defense in a tweet, saying Baker's words were dismissive and harmful.
"Ayanna Pressley spoke the truth about racial injustice and the disparities faced by Black women and people of color at the MLK breakfast," Healey wrote online. "It was thoughtful, personal, and anything but a rant. Language like that is dismissive and perpetuates the very harm we seek to end."
Was Healey's tweet a sign of what's to come in 2022? More than a few people seem to think it's in the realm of possibility. Baker is in the second year of his second term, and he'll be up for reelection in 2022 if he decides to go for term number three. When the state's political class talks about who could run against him for governor, Healey's name is always high up on the list.
Regardless, Healey and Pressley share a political bond. The AG was one of the only Massachusetts elected officials to endorse Pressley when she ran for Congress in 2018, and both women are high-profile surrogates for Sen. Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign.
- AND THAT MAKES SEVEN: MA-04 ALERT — "With a Promise to Unite the Community and Deliver Real Change, Attorney Ben Sigel Announces Historic Run For Congress," from the Sigel campaign: "Community advocate and attorney Ben Sigel will announce his historic bid for Congress today in an email to supporters. "This campaign is about bringing people together," said Sigel, a resident of Brookline. If elected, Sigel will make history by being the first Latino elected to represent Massachusetts in the United States Congress."
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 delivers his State of the Commonwealth address, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Rep. Katherine Clark attend, as well as House and Senate lawmakers.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Hate and white supremacy are 'ruining this country,' Ayanna Pressley says. Not identity politics," by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "Sitting before more than 1,300 people gathered to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s legacy Monday, Representative Ayanna Pressley decried the contention that identity politics is "ruining this country." "No, it isn't. It is hate and white supremacy that is codified through legislation," Pressley said toward the end of an impassioned speech, adding that identity is not confined to race but includes experience, be that as a military veteran or someone battling addiction. "The solution is representation. And there is nothing wrong with identity." Pressley's comments, greeted by applause at a panel discussion at the 50th annual MLK Memorial Breakfast, also led to the day's most awkward moment when Governor Charlie Baker jokingly lamented that his place on the stage meant he had to follow her and "that rant."
- "States spending big bucks on census preparations," by Christian M. Wade, The Salem News: "With political clout in Washington, D.C. and billions of dollars in federal funding at stake, Massachusetts and more than a dozen other states are spending unprecedented amounts of money on outreach and preparations for the 2020 census to get the decennial count right. Collectively, at least 27 states have spent or committed more than $316 million for the effort, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Massachusetts has earmarked at least $6.25 million this fiscal year for 2020 census outreach and preparations, the seventh largest amount among all states."
- "State officials seek to rein in rapidly growing urgent care industry," by Priyanka Dayal McCluskey, Boston Globe: "For years, the urgent care industry has grown rapidly, with walk-in clinics popping up across Massachusetts to treat patients with colds, infections, cuts, sprains, and other common ailments. Yet the industry remains largely unregulated. Urgent care has become a common term in health care — but it has no state definition in Massachusetts, making these centers difficult if not impossible to monitor, according to state officials. Now policy makers appear poised to impose new requirements on urgent care centers, but they're facing resistance from industry executives."
- "Mass. bill would let 16 and 17-year-olds vote in local elections," by Associated Press: "Massachusetts lawmakers are weighing a proposal that would give cities and towns greater leeway in allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in municipal elections. On Wednesday, the Joint Committee on Election Laws is planning to hold a public hearing at the Statehouse on a number of bills including two that would let "every citizen 16 or 17 years of age, who is a resident in the city or town where he or she claims the right to vote" to be placed on the voting lists for local elections. The bill wouldn't lower the voting age statewide, but instead let cities and towns extend the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds without having to seek permission from the Legislature."
- "Hearing on nip bottle bill set for Wednesday," by Beth Treffeisen, Cape Cod Times: "As nip bottles continue to line Cape roads, discarded by motorists who may be drinking while driving, one Bourne resident has decided it's time to consider banning the sale of the miniature packaged alcoholic beverages. "It will stop a lot of people from drinking on the road while they are in public, which would be the goal of this ban," Jeremey Canfield told the Board of Selectmen earlier this month. Most nip bottles contain hard alcohol, and Canfield says it can take as few as two nips to be legally intoxicated. He said he understands that liquor stores will be against the ban because nips make up part of their revenue, but he argues the ban would make the community much safer."
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| WHAT CITY HALL IS READING |
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- "Lynch, former City Hall employee, caught on camera accepting stack of cash in bribery," by Milton J. Valencia, Boston Globe: "A photograph filed in federal court late Friday shows former City Hall employee John M. Lynch "grabbing thousands of dollars in cash as part of a corrupt bribe," according to court records that called for Lynch to be sentenced to at least four years in prison. "Figuratively speaking, the defendant got caught with his hand in the cookie jar," Assistant US Attorney Dustin Chao said in court records, adding, "Lynch used his city position and official influence to aid a crooked developer so that he could line his own pockets with cash." Lynch, 66, a city employee for more than two decades until he resigned in August, is slated to be sentenced in federal court Jan. 24 for taking a $50,000 bribe to help a Boston real estate developer. The photograph provided a damning portrait of the crime as prosecutors seek to justify their recommended sentence."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Walsh hits unions for public spat over Southie Edison plant project," by Erin Tiernan, Boston Herald: "Mayor Martin Walsh chided two local unions for "fighting publicly" over a controversial proposal that would put residential homes next door to the state's busiest cargo port, saying the residents and unions should trust in a community process that others call "flawed." "I don't think that that fight should have went public. I don't agree with the two different union organizations fighting publicly. That's not how we resolve issues. It's solidarity — a brother and sisterhood — that shouldn't be done in the paper," Walsh said."
- "Judge halts deportation of Iranian student," by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: "A FEDERAL JUDGE issued a 48 hour stay of the deportation of an Iranian student enrolled at Northeastern University, who arrived back in the US on Sunday night and was detained by immigration officials at Logan Airport. US District Court Judge Allison Burroughs issued the ruling on Monday night less than two hours after attorneys for Shahab Dehghani filed an emergency petition in the case. Dehghani began attending the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2015 before transferring to Northeastern. He had returned to Iran and reapplied for a student visa, which took almost a year to be approved. When Dehghani's flight from Tehran arrived in Boston on Sunday at about 5 p.m., however, he was made aware that he would not be allowed to remain in the US, despite being cleared to study here."
- "What would 'sanctuary spaces' look like in Boston? Public hearing sought after ICE accessed student incident reports," by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: "Like clockwork, Julia Mejia's phone would blow up at the start of each school year with texts and calls from immigrant parents wondering if their children's buses were running late. "Especially during the beginning of the school year, when the buses are either late or don't show up and their kids don't go home, the fear that ICE has picked up their kids is real," said Mejia, who met those parents after founding her nonprofit, the Collaborative Parent Leadership Action Network."
- "At MIT, Epstein Report Reopens Wounds — And Prompts Calls For New Leadership," by Max Larkin, WBUR: "It's been a week since MIT released a report that outlined its ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — and revealed details about an aggressive, often improvised process for accepting financial gifts at the elite institution. Attorneys at the law firm Goodwin Procter led the investigation, compiling the 61-page report which MIT has published in its entirety. The report concludes that none of the school's current senior administrators — including L. Rafael Reif, MIT's president since 2012 — played a role in accepting the nine gifts Epstein donated after his 2008 conviction in Florida for solicitation of sex with a minor. (Epstein was found dead inside his jail cell last August, where he was being held pending trial on sex trafficking charges.)"
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| PRIMARY SOURCES |
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- "Springfield city councilors, state representatives endorse Sen. Ed Markey," by Elizabeth Román, Springfield Republican: "Springfield City Councilors Jesse Lederman, Melvin Edwards, Malo Brown, Sean Curran, and Tim Allen have all voiced their support of U.S. Sen. Ed Markey's reelection to ensure that he continues to lead on the issues that matter most to the people of Massachusetts. "No one has been fighting for the issues that impact communities like Springfield for longer than Senator Ed Markey," said Lederman in a prepared statement."
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| EYE ON 2020 |
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- ENDORSEMENT WATCH: State Rep. Nika Elugardo is backing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for president. Tweet.
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| ALL ABOARD |
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- "New commuter line between Mass. and Conn. exceeds 1 million passengers," Associated Press: "More than a million riders have traveled the commuter line between New Haven, Conn., and Springfield, Mass., that opened in June 2018. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said last week that the Hartford Line has seen 1,075,559 passenger rides in the past 19 months. The one-millionth ride happened around the busy Thanksgiving holiday in late November, his office said. Ridership on the line, which also serves Connecticut's capital city of Hartford, has been growing at a rate of 25% year-over-year, Lamont's office said. The line is also on track to exceed 750,000 passenger trips in its second year, outpacing forecasts, the office said."
- "A Charlie Card Isn't Needed, But It Will Take At Least $500 To Board These MBTA Trains," The Associated Press: "The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is auctioning off seven vintage subway cars. To make room for hundreds of news cars coming in the years ahead and to comply with safety laws, the MBTA removes salvageable parts from inoperable trains, then puts the cars up for auction. "The old cars are sold to the highest bidder, usually for the scrap metal," MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo told The Boston Globe. "Old cars are retired after they are no longer capable of providing safe and reliable passenger service." Made by Boeing and Kinkisharyo in the early 1970s and `80s, the cars have sat idle for at least three years, according to the auction posting."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "'He totally said it' or 'complete BS'? Sanders and Warren voters dig in," by Alex Thompson, Trent Spiner and Stephanie Murray: "Every Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders supporter seems to have an opinion on their infamous Dec. 2018 meeting. One side believes Warren's account that Sanders told her a woman couldn't beat Donald Trump: "He totally said it! Women are watching, Bernie." The other is just as convinced she embellished or lied for political advantage: "We obviously know that it was complete BS." Interviews with more than two dozen voters at events for Sanders and Warren last weekend made clear that the hard feelings between the two progressive icons have extended to their supporters."
- "'I'm in sunny Keene': Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz, Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle canvass for Elizabeth Warren in New Hampshire," by Jackson Cote, MassLive.com: "Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle and her Northampton counterpart, Mayor David Narkewicz, headed north to New Hampshire over the weekend to canvass for presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren. The Western Massachusetts mayors, both of whom have endorsed the Massachusetts Democrat's 2020 bid, posted photographs of themselves on Twitter in Keene, New Hampshire on Sunday, saying that they were knocking on doors for the Warren campaign."
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| PATRICK PRIMARY |
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- "Deval Patrick to unveil reparations as part of black economic agenda," by Alexi McCammond, Axios: "Deval Patrick supports developing a plan for the federal government to provide reparations to living descendants of slaves, a position he'll make clear as part of an economic platform for black Americans he's unveiling today, an aide tells Axios. The former Massachusetts governor, one of only two non-white candidates remaining in the Democratic presidential primary, is rolling out his "Equity Agenda for Black Americans" on MLK Day. The proposals aim to close the racial gap in health care, education, and the economy."
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| FROM THE DELEGATION |
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- A city with a plan: U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern says Worcester's renaissance wasn't always so visionary," by Michael Bonner, MassLive.com: "More than two decades ago, James McGovern was elected to his first term in Congress. He brought with him to Washington a vision of Worcester, one that included all parties, from the federal level down to the city, working together seamlessly. But that wasn't how things were done in Worcester at that time. "We don't have a plan, or sometimes we have 1,000 plans or sometimes people don't know we have plan," McGovern remembered saying to the Worcester Chamber of Commerce during a speech after his election. "I said, 'Economic Development in this city reminds me of my 4-year-old soccer team. A kid kicks the ball to the right, everyone runs to the right.'"
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "THAT RANT," — Globe: "McConnell's rules seek quick impeachment trial," "Urgent care sites surge, as do calls for licensing." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "PCB dump in the Berkshires? It's on the table, activist reveals," by Clarence Fanto, Berkshire Eagle: "Contaminated soil excavated from the Housatonic River potentially could be dumped in Berkshire neighborhoods under the terms of a mediated settlement pending between the federal Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric Co. The terms of the deal remain officially under wraps, but a party to the mediation effort revealed publicly this week that the secret talks over cleaning up PCB pollution south of Pittsfield now include possibility of local dumping of the material, which is believed to cause cancer."
- "Briefings: Councilor Gomez to Again Contest Hampden Senate Primary," by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight: "The Democratic primary ballot in the Greater Springfield area is beginning to look a bit crowded. In addition to races for the Democratic nomination for the US House and Senate, a State Senate contest is set to begin. Springfield Ward 1 Councilor Adam Gomez will challenge incumbent West Springfield Senator James Welch, who represents the Springfield-anchored Hampden Senate district."
- "The solution to Boston's housing and congestion crisis? Western Mass." by Joan Vennochi, Boston Globe: "To Greater Boston, Western Massachusetts is the far-off land of Tanglewood, the Berkshires, and Norman Rockwell. For economic opportunity, however, it's a place to leave. The University of Massachusetts in Amherst — a crown jewel of the region — bought a failing college in Newton to give college administrators better access to Beacon Hill and students better access to Boston-area internships. State Senator Eric Lesser of Longmeadow is trying to change that classic Boston-centric way of thinking. For most people, "Western Massachusetts doesn't exist. They have no opinion of it," said Lesser, a former Obama White House aide who won election to the state Legislature in 2014."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "MLK's message still resonates in a 'divided Randolph,'" by Joe DiFazio, The Patriot Ledger: "Judy Lyken Gueye said she has only vague memories from childhood of her parents bringing her from Randolph to the nation's capital to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak and to join the march on Washington D.C. in 1963. What she remembers more clearly, however, is the fight for equal rights that her parents Herb and Olga Lyken waged back home, fighting housing discrimination and becoming a voice for black residents in Randolph."
TRANSITIONS - Arthur Bernard joins Deval Patrick's presidential campaign as Massachusetts state director. Deborah Shah joins the Patrick campaign as Massachusetts organizing director.
- Maine Gov. Janet Mills and House Speaker Sara Gideon join the North/South Rail Link Working Group.
WEEKEND WEDDING - "Leah Robins, Daniel Sternberg," via NYT: "Leah Arielle Robins and Daniel Severin Sternberg were married Jan. 18 at the Omni Parker House in Boston. The bride, 34, is a senior government affairs specialist at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council in Boston. She serves on the board of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Massachusetts and a vice president of Temple Beth Shalom in Cambridge, Mass. The groom, 37, is an associate at the Boston office of White and Case, an international law firm, where he specializes in patent litigation." Link.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY - to NPR "Here and Now" digital producer Serena McMahon, who celebrated Monday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Jeremy Jacobs who is 8-0, and Diego Sanchez, a Massachusetts Democratic State Committee member and Barney Frank alum, turns 63.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Celtics beat the Lakers 139-107.
FOR YOUR COMMUTE: WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR VOTE - On this week's Horse Race podcast, hosts Steve Koczela and Stephanie Murray talk about the recent Democratic presidential debate, and where things stand in Iowa for the 2020 hopefuls. Liberty Square Group founder Scott Ferson joins to talk about the Welcome Party, a group that's reaching out to independent voters in New Hampshire. Later, Evan Fulchuk of Voter Choice Massachusetts talks about ranked choice voting and how it could impact the Bay State. 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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