Recap and analysis of the past week in state government
Geoff Diehl would have used the word “resilient.” Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz didn’t appreciate the shine the governor put on things. And Attorney General Maura thought it was, well, just “terrific.”
But let’s face it. No matter what one thinks of the direction the state is headed, did anyone think Gov. Charlie Baker, in his final State of the Commonwealth address, would say that the state of the Commonwealth was anything other than “strong.” That’s what governors always say.
Baker delivered what could be his last major televised speech as the 72nd governor of Massachusetts on Tuesday night, and used the time and focus on his words to begin to write the epilogue on his two terms in office.
“If we’ve tried to do anything over the past seven years, we’ve tried to build trust. Others can debate whether we’ve succeeded or not. I believe we have. And I believe it shows in the work we’ve done during good times and difficult ones over the past seven years,” Baker said from the unusual setting of the Hynes Convention Center.
But that work is not done. Baker prodded the Legislature to stop dragging its feet on making “revenge porn” a crime in Massachusetts, and urged them to consider his proposal to rethink the types of accused criminals allowed to “walk free” while awaiting trial. Both ideas have been percolating since 2018.
The governor also filed his final annual budget proposal, a $45.8 billion spending plan that cuts taxes by close to $700 million, with relief for low-income residents, seniors, renters and families with children, and proposed alterations to the estate tax and short-term capital gains rate.
Baker once ran for governor, unsuccessfully, on a platform that included reducing the sales, income and corporate tax rates in Massachusetts all to 5 percent. That plan was gone by the time he reinvented himself as a successful candidate in 2014, and he hasn’t often returned to the idea of sweeping tax cuts that might have been expected from the business-friendly Republican.
Until now.
Baker is daring Democrats on Beacon Hill to say no in an election year to a package of tax cuts that some might consider – yes, we’ll say it – progressive. House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka were predictably non-committal, but it will be interesting to see in the coming weeks where this debate moves. Ben Downing, no longer a candidate for governor, posted a lengthy take on social media describing the tax cuts as short-sighted.
No, the cuts won’t help the wealthy. But Downing argues that the minimum-wage worker would be better off with that money invested in lowering the cost of services like child care, rather than just having a few extra bucks in their pocket.
Chris Doughty, the founder of Wrentham-based metal manufacturer Capstan Atlantic, has more than a few bills in his wallet, shelling out $500,000 in seed money this week to jumpstart his Republican campaign for governor. Doughty will provide competition for Diehl in the GOP primary, fashioning himself in the mold of Romney or Baker as the moderate, business-minded candidate.
While Doughty is the newcomer on the block, Secretary of State William Galvin is anything but. The Brighton Democrat announced this week that he would go for an eighth term as the state’s chief election officer, to go along with his 12 years in the House.
Galvin will have competition on the Democratic side from lawyer and Boston NAACP President Tanisha Sullivan, but there won’t be much debate between the two on same-day voter registration.
Galvin and Sullivan both want to see Massachusetts scrap its 20-day pre-election voter registration blackout period and allow people to register and cast their ballots in-person in the days leading up to an election and on election day.
The House, however, is not ready to make that leap, and voted Thursday to the dismay of advocates and elected leaders like U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley to task Galvin (or whoever occupies his office) to once again study the potential cost and impact of such a policy.
The 93-64 vote – close by House standards – in favor of further study blocked up-or-down votes on same-day registration, and a more limited Election Day registration proposal offered by Rep. Nika Elugardo. That vote came in spite of town clerks backing the latter, the same clerks whose concerns over the more expansive same-day registration proposal were used by House leaders as the rationale for more study.
The lengthy and intense debate over voter registration reform this week didn’t stop the House from overwhelmingly backing other changes to improve voter access, including mail-in voting, expanded in-person early voting and jail-based voting support.
The House version of the VOTES Act will now be pitted against one passed by the Senate in October (which included same-day registration) as the debate moves behind closed doors and into conference committee.
The two branches will probably have an easier time reconciling a COVID-19 relief spending bill after the Senate this week padded the legislation with an extra $20 million for masks, testing and vaccinations, bringing its total to $75 million.
Baker said he believes Massachusetts is on the “back side” of the omicron surge as case rates and hospitalizations begin to tick down, but the virus is still circulating widely. With that in mind, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she hopes the city’s vaccination mandate to enter restaurants and other venues will be a short-term policy, but one she’s not willing to backtrack on yet.
Wu has faced enormous pushback over the policy, as well as the vaccination requirement for city employees and she was dealt a double-blow this week when Boston Police patrolmen’s union rejected a proposed settlement offer and an appeals court judge temporarily halted the city’s enforcement of a vaccine mandate as a condition of employment.
Vaccination status continues to be a divisive issue at the state and municipal level, but Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano may have their eye on a new mandate for the public to enter the State House as they continue to weigh when and how to reopen the building.
Spilka said she believes now that the building should be open, and could be willing to move in that direction as soon as next month.
But while the public is not allowed to enter the “People’s House,” business proceeds in the building where the Governor’s Council hosted a hearing this week to consider Baker’s recommendation that the first degree murder sentence of 54-year-old Thomas Koonce be commuted to second-degree murder, making him eligible for parole.
Koonce told the council he takes “full responsibility” for shooting and killing a New Bedford man in 1987 and would spend the remaining free years of his life atoning to society for his actions. The council is expected to vote on Feb. 16.
Mass General Brigham, the largest health care system in the state as well as one of the most highly-regarded and highest-priced, also has some making up to do, according to the Health Policy Commission. The hospital system received a new distinction this week when it became the first entity to be put on a performance improvement plan by the HPC, which gave MGB until March to outline how it will tackle what HPC Chair Stuart Altman deemed a “spending problem.”
Coupled with the release of the HPC’s findings that MGB’s expansion plans could add millions to the state’s overall health care spending and siphon patients and revenue from other providers, it was a strong rebuke against the health care giant. But it’s too soon to tell what the consequences may be.
The former Partners Healthcare is not new to state scrutiny, and the unknown variable is how effective the newly deployed PIP process will be towards its goal of generating cost savings.
On the expansion front, Mass General Brigham is pushing back on the HPC analysis and asking Department of Public Health regulators not to give that greater weight than other submissions as they decide whether to approve the project.
Tired, yet? Us too. Bring on the snow.
