Friday, March 4, 2016
By George Donnelly (@geodonnelly) and Keith Regan
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Today: Budget matters
House Speaker Robert DeLeo appears on Boston Herald Radio, 9:00 a.m.
Sens. Sal DiDomenico and Patricia Jehlen chair a public hearing of the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees on Gov. Charlie Baker's $39.55 billion budget proposal for the 2017 fiscal year, Gardner Auditorium, 10:00 am.
Auditor Suzanne Bump attends the second annual UMass Women into Leadership dinner and reception. UMass Amherst, 1 Campus Center Way, 11th floor, Amherst, 6:00 pm.
Last night's insult-fest and the Zen of John Kasich
For those who may have missed the Republican debate last night, it may have hit a new presidential debate low as the intensity of attacks against Trump prompted the real estate mogul to fight back with extra ferocity. Some voters want to believe there's a glimmer of hope for the only candidate who refuses to descend into the quagmire, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who earned the "only adult in the room" status last night. As the field shrinks, he increasingly stands out as presidential. But his fresh momentum still makes him a longshot at best. Kasich says he's going to win Ohio, and "If I win Ohio, then we're probably going to go to a convention. It's going to be the most exciting time." Here's a take from the Globe's Matt Viser and a recap from Steve Peoples of the AP.
The T overtime bonanza v. fare increase
On Monday, the MBTA's fiscal control board will vote to raise fares -- it's practically a foregone conclusion. It's also likely they will take the middle road to approve a 6.7 percent average fare increase, a move that would raise about $33 million. That's only $1 million more than the T spent on overtime for workers who did not work over 40 hours per week in fiscal year 2015 as part of an OT splurge it is trying to rein in. Shira Schoenberg of MassLive reports in an analysis of overtime: "An MBTA audit found that in fiscal year 2015, the MBTA paid $32 million in overtime pay to employees who worked under 40 straight-time hours during the week they received overtime pay." Workers can call in sick, work under 40 hours and still collect OT, as the Herald reported earlier this year.
Mayor Marty Walsh said he was OK with a fare increase, noting the T needs the money. "Fare hikes are never positive. They're never popular, but the MBTA needs money. And that's the bottom line," said in a story by the State House News Service's Andy Metzger. http://bit.ly/21LD3zD
Trump landslide: Blame Brady?
He says a lot of rude things. But why does he keep dragging Tom Brady into the campaign? Donald Trump attributed his success in Massachusetts on Super Tuesday to No. 12 in an interview with the New York Times. "Tom Brady is a great friend of mine. He's a winner and he likes winners. He was very helpful to us in Massachusetts on Tuesday," Trump said. Brady, of course, did not campaign for Trump but has made it clear Trump's a friend. And we've yet to read a plausible explanation on how Trump received almost 50 percent of the Republican vote in Massachusetts.
OCPF goes meme-crazy
The typically standoffish Office of Campaign and Political Finance has developed a penchant for creating Internet memes, Steve Annear of the Globe reports. In recent weeks, the OCPF has unleashed a stream of memes using instantly recognizable images from popular culture -- think Robin Williams standing atop a classroom desk in "The Dead Poets Society" -- to help liven up its power-dry rules and regulations and drive interest in events it holds to explain them. http://bit.ly/1QXoOWz
Prosecutors: Locked phones hamper cases
Prosecutors in Massachusetts are closely following the Justice Department's legal efforts to force Apple to unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, saying they could gain valuable information in a range of cases if given a key to break the device's strong encryption, the Herald's Antonio Planas reports. A spokesman of the Essex County DA says investigators believe one locked iPhone may contain video showing part of a murder. http://bit.ly/1QXkEhv
From plaza to playground?
The vast open area outside Boston City Hall could be transformed into a multiple-use interactive space with music venues, a beer garden, an ice rink and "urban beach" -- depending on the season -- and a massive London-style ferris wheel that would afford views across the city, Catherine Carlock of the Boston Business Journal. The city has chosen a subsidiary of Delaware North Corp., owner of TD Garden, to redevelop the site. http://bit.ly/1Qof0l7
Riding instructors could get extra scrutiny
The Senate is poised to debate a bill that would require horseback riding instructors and others who work at stables to undergo criminal background checks, Susan Spencer of the Telegram reports. Sen. Michael Moore said the current law has a "massive loophole" considering that riding instructors are often left alone and out of sight with young children. The bill would also lift a current requirement that riding instructors be licensed by the state. http://bit.ly/1UEgaMg
New PR firm for Suffolk
If you thought the political maneuvering was over at Suffolk University, perhaps you thought wrong. Joe Battenfeld of the Herald reports that the Suffolk Board of Trustees has hired its own PR firm, Rasky Baerlein. The move "was done without approval or input from McKenna and means the cash-strapped Suffolk may end up paying two different PR firms -- one for trustees and one for [Suffolk University President Margaret] McKenna." http://bit.ly/1TdZhbW
MGM study: Southwest Connecticut better for casino
A study commissioned by MGM, which is developing the downtown Springfield resort casino, says the state of Connecticut would be better off developing a third casino closer to New York City than in Hartford, Conor Berry of MassLive reports. The tribes that operate the two existing gaming destinations in the Nutmeg State plan to partner on a third and have eyed an area just miles from where MGM is setting up shop. http://bit.ly/1RMDk0r
State pulls plug on phony Health Connector site
After months of legal work, the Baker administration has shut down a privately operated Web site that masqueraded as the state's Health Connector portal, Colman Herman of CommonWealth Magazine reports. The site referred people seeking health insurance to private brokers and the state hired Mintz Levin attorneys last summer to get it shuttered, which they recently accomplished by targeting the site's Web hosts. http://bit.ly/1RMDkxp
Bill pushes for making 21 legal smoking age
Pharmacies would be banned from selling cigarettes and the smoking age would rise to 21 statewide under a bill recommended by the Joint Committee on Public Health. The bill would apply to e-cigarettes and other "vaporization or aerosolization" tobacco products, according to a story by Katie Lannan of State House News Service. "With this legislation, the commonwealth has a real opportunity to intervene during the early formative years to prevent young people from using tobacco products and becoming addicted to nicotine," said Rep. Kate Hogan of Stow, the House chair of the Public Health Committee. http://bit.ly/21blLJU (paywall)
Guv's economic plan: Confidence abounds
It seems Gov. Charlie Baker is pretty confident that his $920 million economic development package will get the nod from legislators later this year, even though lawmakers have yet to review the plan. During an investor's call last week about Treasury bond matters, Baker said the plan has been "very favorably received by the Legislature" and will likely be passed by the end of the current session, SHNS's Michael Norton reports. Baker administration officials later said they expect changes and amendments to the plan, but haven't heard major complaints from lawmakers who have been briefed on the details. http://bit.ly/1p4b2p3 (paywall)
House of Cards: a review of the plot
Season 4 of House of Cards has arrived on Netflix, and for those who don't remember the twists and turns of the last season, here's a review courtesy of the Tampa Bay Times via BostonGlobe.com. http://bit.ly/1TdMV3r
Phone trouble: When a reporter draws a laugh
I was a punchline at a St. Patrick's Day roast Wednesday. There wasn't a joke, exactly, but I did get some of the biggest laughs of the night -- and read into that however you might like. Gov. Charlie Baker was at the Knights of Columbus in Charlestown telling the crowd how visiting the roast during his 2014 campaign had heartened him at time when he was down in the polls, and I was sitting on the floor in front of the dais halfway into my phone and halfway listening -- typical journalist. "When people treat a stranger, an outsider, somebody they don't know with the kind of warmth that you all showed me as a candidate," Baker said right around the time when I pressed the screen on my phone causing a video I'd shot earlier in the evening to start playing. "Turn off your phone, Andy," Baker demanded as I frantically sought to do just that. "I'm right in the middle of something kind of poignant don't you think? You spoiled my moment." Needless to say, several of the attendees reminded me and my colleagues of the incident when they saw us Thursday and I doubt it will soon fade from their memories.
- Andy Metzger, State House News Service
Sunday public affairs TV
On the Record, WCVB-TV 11:00 am: Guest: John Walsh, the former Chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.
This Week in Business, NECN, 12:30 pm. Guests: I-H-S Global Insight Chief Economist Nariman Behravesh on the latest jobless figures, gas prices & the outlook for the economy; plus, Abiomed CEO Mike Minogue on the Danvers based medical device company which makes the smallest heart pump in the world.
CEO Corner, NECN, 8:30 pm. Guest: Steve Hafner, KAYAK CEO and Co-Founder on the on-line travel business.
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