| | | | |  | | By Lisa Kashinsky and Kelly Garrity | With help from Mia McCarthy SNEAK PEEK — Gov. Maura Healey will deliver her first State of the Commonwealth address tonight against a backdrop of fiscal uncertainty and before lawmakers who may be less willing to acquiesce to her upcoming requests because of it. Healey plans to focus on housing, economic development, public transportation, education and early child care, according to a synopsis of the speech shared by her office. That includes prodding lawmakers to pass her $4 billion housing bond bill and calling for more funding for K-12 education and transportation. She’ll also outline the contours of her pending economic development bill and discuss her plans to put nearly $590 million of her upcoming budget toward boosting access to early education and child care in Gateway Cities. Healey wants to expand free and low-cost preschool options to 4-year-olds in all 26 of the state’s Gateway Cities by 2026, at a cost of $38.7 million, according to the proposal she unveiled Tuesday. Another $75 million would go toward expanding child care subsidies. And the bulk of the money, $475 million, would again extend pandemic-era Commonwealth Cares for Children grants.
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Gov. Maura Healey is set to return to the House chamber tonight for her next big speech. | Steven Senne/AP | Not in the preview provided to reporters: Anything about the migrant and shelter crisis straining the state’s resources, including the governor's coming ask for more money to stop the emergency assistance program from running into the red. (That doesn’t mean she won’t mention it.). The twin crises are further clouding the state’s increasingly stormy fiscal outlook — another thing Healey will be expected to address tonight after cutting $375 million from the current budget amid revenue shortfalls and predicting essentially flat revenue growth for the spending plan she's due to file next week. Michael Rodrigues, the Senate’s top budget writer, told reporters last week that he hopes Healey’s speech sheds some more light on her spending plans. “As a budget person, I'm hoping to hear not just her aspirations, but how we're going to fund all of her aspirations in the operating budget,” he said. Another thing we're watching for tonight: Whether Healey changes her approach to the Legislature. The governor was largely hands-off last year, at least publicly, even as lawmakers held up some of her biggest priorities by blowing deadlines. Healey pushed back on that notion in an interview with Playbook last month, saying Beacon Hill had a “very productive year” passing tax breaks and a budget loaded with education and workforce investments. But with the purse strings potentially tightening, Healey might need to become more forceful in getting lawmakers on board with her plans. GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Healey’s speech begins at 7 p.m. in the House chamber. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Auditor Diana DiZoglio and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu are among those slated to attend. TODAY — Driscoll presides over a Governor’ Council meeting at noon at the State House. Wu holds a press conference on a new BPS/Mass General Brigham partnership at 11 a.m. at Mass General Hospital. Tips? Scoops? Birthdays? Email us: lkashinsky@politico.com and kgarrity@politico.com.
| | | | JOIN 1/31 FOR A TALK ON THE RACE TO SOLVE ALZHEIMER’S: Breakthrough drugs and treatments are giving new hope for slowing neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease and ALS. But if that progress slows, the societal and economic cost to the U.S. could be high. Join POLITICO, alongside lawmakers, official and experts, on Jan. 31 to discuss a path forward for better collaboration among health systems, industry and government. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | |  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | CHILD CARE KUDOS — Whether the funding Gov. Maura Healey wants to expand access to early education and child care will make it into the final fiscal year 2025 budget will remain a mystery for several more months. But the idea seemed to get a warm — if not emphatic — reception in the Senate, where President Karen Spilka said she was “thrilled” to see the plan. The Senate is also preparing to pass its own early education and child care bill this session, which Spilka said would similarly aim to expand income eligibility for child care assistance and codify the C3 program into state law. ALSO — Tuesday’s announcement marks the second big-ticket proposal the administration has put out publicly since the decision to cut $375 million from the FY 24 budget. Last week, Healey filed a $1.2 billion bond bill that would fund investments in IT over the next five years. — “‘I live in the best state.’ And yet, for many living in Mass., the state of the Commonwealth is a complicated one.” by Matt Stout and Daniel Kool, The Boston Globe: “As Governor Maura Healey prepares to deliver her first State of the Commonwealth speech on Wednesday, residents offered a divided picture of the state’s trajectory. Massachusetts offers so much to those who live here, they said in Globe interviews — superior hospitals, good schools, a commitment to protecting people’s rights.”
| | MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE | | THE SNOW SOMEWHAT BOTHERED THEM ANYWAY — Snow scrambled some candidates’ plans in New Hampshire Tuesday, delaying former President Donald Trump (and Vivek Ramaswamy’s) rally in Atkinson and causing a super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to scrap an event in Claremont near the Vermont border. But former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu were still able to make the long haul to Mount Washington for a rally. Haley is ramping up her attacks on Trump as she tries to convince voters this is a “two-person race” between them. But that increased criticism carries risk — while it could help Haley consolidate the non-Trump vote in this independent-leaning state, it could also alienate swaths of more conservative Republicans, Lisa and Natalie Allison report. And Trump is throwing fuel on that fire. “Nikki Haley is counting on the Democrats and liberals to infiltrate your Republican primary,” he told supporters who braved the snow to join him at a country club in Atkinson, Kelly reports. The former president sprinkled jabs at Haley throughout his speech, slamming her as “not tough enough" and insufficiently conservative.
|  Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign event in Atkinson, N.H., on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. | Matt Rourke/AP | CALLING IN THE CAVALRY — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is the latest Massachusetts Democrat set to lend a hand to the write-in President Joe Biden effort in New Hampshire. She’ll head north on Saturday for get-out-the-vote events in Nashua and Manchester. Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll sent an email to supporters asking them to help spread the word about the write-in campaign on social media by signing up for a phone-banking shift. NOT UP FOR DEBATE — ABC and WMUR canceled their planned debate for Thursday night after DeSantis was the only candidate who agreed to take the stage. THAT’S A WRAP ON ASA — Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson dropped out of the GOP presidential race Tuesday after only receiving 191 votes in all of Iowa, Kelly reports. POLL — “Trump continues to dominate New Hampshire, leading Haley by 16 points, new Globe/Suffolk/NBC-10 poll shows,” by Victoria McGrane, The Boston Globe TRAIL MARKERS — Here’s where the candidates are today: — TRUMP rallies at the Sheraton Portsmouth at 5 p.m. — HALEY has a rally at the Rochester American Legion at 7 p.m. — DESANTIS attends town halls at Wally’s in Hampton at 1 p.m. and at the LaBelle Winery in Derry at 5 p.m., both hosted by Never Back Down. — DEAN PHILLIPS holds a meet-and-greet at Post & Beam brewing in Peterborough at 5 p.m., followed by a house party. — MARIANNE WILLIAMSON is at Teatotaller's Cafe in Concord at 4 p.m.
| | | | YOUR GUIDE TO EMPIRE STATE POLITICS: From the newsroom that doesn’t sleep, POLITICO's New York Playbook is the ultimate guide for power players navigating the intricate landscape of Empire State politics. Stay ahead of the curve with the latest and most important stories from Albany, New York City and around the state, with in-depth, original reporting to stay ahead of policy trends and political developments. Subscribe now to keep up with the daily hustle and bustle of NY politics. | | | | | | | FROM THE HUB | | — “Boston Mayor Wu supports federal delegation’s ‘positions and actions’ in Israel-Hamas War,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she supports the 'positions and actions' of the city’s federal delegation in response to the Israel-Hamas War, some of whom have called for a cease-fire and U.S.-imposed conditions on Israeli military funding.”
| | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES | | — “Court blocks JetBlue’s attempt to buy Spirit Airlines,” by Josh Sisco and Alex Daugherty, POLITICO: “The DOJ and states — Massachusetts, California, New York, North Carolina, New Jersey and Maryland — said the deal would remove head-to-head competition on hundreds of routes where the two airlines either compete currently or could compete in the future.” — “300-plus buyouts paid out to MBTA workers, including those let go,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Three MBTA managers revealed to be living hundreds of miles away, and often working remotely, were among more than 300 agency employees who received buyouts last year, according to state payroll records.” — “New year, same terrible T commute,” by Taylor Dolven and Daniel Kool, The Boston Globe. — “Looking for ‘creative ideas,’ the T signed a $325,000 deal. It got nothing of value, investigators say.” by Matt Stout, The Boston Globe
| | FROM THE DELEGATION | | — “McGovern files bill to aid victims of scams, disasters,” by James Pentland, Greenfield Recorder: “Pushing for action at the federal level to assist homeowners who are afflicted by crumbling foundations, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern has filed legislation dubbed the Tax Relief for Victims of Crimes, Scams and Disasters Act.”
| | | DATELINE D.C. | | | R.I.P. ‘USE YA BLINKAH’ SIGNS — Say bye to Massachusetts’ infamous “Use Yah Blinkah” signs on the Pike. The Federal Highway Administration is banning the use of joke messages on electronic signs starting in 2026, The Associated Press reports. The ban is to prevent drivers from getting distracted or confused, and obscure meanings. Pop culture references will also be barred. Sad face.
| | | IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN | | | — “Frequent Boston flooding shows climate change is here, residents say,” by Sarah Betancourt, GBH: “The dramatic images of floating lawn chairs on the waterfront, impassable roads and docks under water are becoming a common reality in Boston and one that city officials say are directly tied to climate change. On Saturday, high tide in Boston Harbor went up to 14.4 feet, the fourth highest level ever recorded in the city, just short of the major flood stage of 15 feet.”
| | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | CLASS OF SPRING 2024 — Former NBC10 political reporter Alison King; POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein; former Athens, Greece, Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis; former Reps. Jeff Dunham and William Hurd; Grisella Martinez and Erika Mouynes will be resident fellows at Harvard’s Institute of Politics this semester. Former Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards will be a visiting fellow. TRANSITIONS — Hessann Farooqi is the new executive director of the Boston Climate Action Network. — Christine Baldini will be the new superintendent of the Chelsea Veterans Home. — Former Massachusetts Clean Energy Center CEO Jennifer Daloisio is joining FirstLight as SVP of corporate operations. She starts Monday. — Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn is joining the National League of Cities University Communities Council. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Shane Cardillo of Hamilton Lane. 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. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
