| | | | |  | | By Kelly Garrity and Lisa Kashinsky | MAYORAL MESSAGE — Michelle Wu hasn’t said she’s running for a second term. But the Boston mayor used her State of the City speech last night to lay the groundwork for the campaign that’s likely to come. In an address that marked the midpoint in her first term, Wu largely traded talk of the progressive promises she swept into office on two years ago for nuts-and-bolts action items that can offer more tangible results for the constituents who can cast ballots for her again next year. But first, she took a victory lap, holding up a hard-fought police contract, a ban on fossil fuels in new city-owned buildings, changes to the structure of the Boston Planning and Development Agency and the removal of tents at Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard as some of her major successes to date. And Wu, ever the student of the “urban mechanic” late Mayor Tom Menino, also crunched the numbers on how she’s improved quality of life across Boston: 7,000 potholes filled last year, 800 guns off the streets, 300 speed humps to slow traffic, renovated pools in two of the city’s neighborhoods and seven more on the way.
|  Boston Mayor Michelle Wu delivers her second State of the City address. | John Wilcox/Boston mayor's office | For a mayor who’s repeatedly pledged to do the “big and the small,” some of Wu’s plans for the next year fall decidedly into the latter category, including park restorations and waiving some museum admission fees for Boston Public Schools students. But she also took some bigger swings, like unveiling efforts to boost the number of affordable and public housing units in the city. And she spoke at length on improving the city’s troubled school system. Left unmentioned were some of the high-profile progressive policies that featured prominently in last year’s State of the City, including rent control, which remains stalled on Beacon Hill, and the fare-free bus pilot program that’s could soon run its course. And while Wu touted progress on reforming the BPDA, her ultimate goals for the agency remain unrealized. “The beauty of city government is that you can't stay stuck in the clouds,” Wu told reporters after the speech. “Every single day is real. And it matters for the people you see in your own lives and all around our neighborhoods.” Playbook asked Wu if she’s running for reelection. She issued her standard response: "I love my job. I love the work," the mayor said. "At some point in the future there may be time to talk more about politicking and campaigning but that time isn't now because we have a lot on our plates to get done." GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Wu’s speech was briefly interrupted by protesters calling for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas. The pro-Palestinian demonstrators unfurled a banner from the balcony of the MGM Music Hall that read “Boston complicit with genocide” and tossed fliers with the same message down into the seats below. "Several" were arrested, according to The Boston Globe. Watch Wu’s speech here and dive deeper with WBUR and WCVB. TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey and Wu tour Roxbury Community College with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at 10:30 a.m. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll chairs a Governor’s Council meeting and attends Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune’s inauguration celebration at Artists For Humanity at 6 p.m. Tips? Scoops? State of the City takeaways? Email us: kgarrity@politico.com and lkashinsky@politico.com.
|  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | PLAYING DEFENSE — Gov. Maura Healey is defending her $1 billion tax-relief package — which tied together business-friendly tax cuts with increased aid for low-income families, renters and seniors — in the wake of her move to slash $375 million from the state budget amid poorer-than-projected revenues. "The tax cuts were absolutely essential," Healey told reporters Tuesday at the State House. “These were all efforts to make life more affordable for folks in the state." She said much the same hours later on GBH's "Boston Public Radio." Healey sought to spin her budget cuts as a "rebalancing" that's "fiscally responsible and appropriate for the state" after tax collections failed to hit benchmarks for six months straight. She also said the $1.2 billion information technology bond bill she unveiled Tuesday is "not only justifiable" in the face of the budget cuts but "absolutely imperative." OOPS — In a reversal, the Healey administration now says that the ongoing process of removing ineligible people from MassHealth did not contribute to the decision to cut $294 million from the program. An Administration and Finance official had told reporters on Monday that some MassHealth costs could be trimmed because more people had fallen off its caseload than expected through the ongoing redetermination process. But a Health and Human Services official said Tuesday that’s actually not the case. “MassHealth spending will be $294 million lower, but the reduction is not due to a decrease in enrollment as a result of the redeterminations process,” a HHS spokesperson told Playbook. “Savings are primarily due to members using fewer services than we had originally budgeted. The remainder, a smaller part, is from modest, targeted adjustments to what is paid to managed care plans.” — “Mass. springs up the progressive state tax rankings,” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon: “With the passage of the Fair Share Amendment, or ‘millionaire’s tax,’ Massachusetts is now the seventh most ‘progressive’ state tax system in the country, according to a sweeping new report. … Florida, with no state income tax, is very friendly to high-income filers, which could create incentives for high-income residents to leave the Bay State. But for residents in lower-income brackets, Massachusetts is a better option if they care about the share of their income that goes to pay taxes.” — “Massachusetts opens up financial aid for undocumented students in new ‘MAFSA’ application,” by Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald — “Supporters of Everett soccer stadium renew push on Beacon Hill,” by Walter Wuthmann, WBUR
| | BALLOT BATTLES | | — “Massachusetts legislative audit ballot campaign raised more than $250K in 2023,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: "Year-end reports for ballot question campaigns are due to the state’s Office of Campaign and Political Finance by Jan. 22 and offer a clear picture of fundraising and spending."
| | | MIGRANTS IN MASSACHUSETTS | | | — “Migrant families being moved out of Attleboro area towns,” by Stephen Peterson, The Sun Chronicle: “North Attleboro and Mansfield have been notified by state officials of such pending moves and Plainville has already seen some of its migrants leave. … The families will be transferred Jan. 23 and 25 ‘in an effort to consolidate supplemental shelter sites,’ the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities informed local officials.”
| | FROM THE HUB | | — “Boston Mayor Wu to put rejected anti-terror grant before City Council again,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Boston Mayor Michelle Wu intends to refile a rejected $13.3 million federal counter-terrorism grant at the Jan. 24 City Council meeting, but it may be discussed among the nine affected communities at a separate meeting this week.” — “Boston is using public buildings — like libraries — to build affordable housing. It's still pricey,” by Simón Rios, WBUR: “Under pressure to create more affordable housing, the city of Boston plans to build on top of properties it already owns, like libraries. But the cost of these developments is far from modest — $835,000 per unit in one case.”
| | | FROM HARVARD YARD | | | ALUM VS. ALUM — “Governor Healey slams Elise Stefanik for ‘hypocrisy’ over attacks on higher education,” by Shannon Larson, The Boston Globe: “Healey criticized Representative Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican whose questioning of [Claudine] Gay and two other university presidents at a congressional hearing on antisemitism on college campuses sparked calls for their resignations, for the ‘hypocrisy’ of her actions. ‘The hypocrisy of Elise Stefanik, right, who openly praised a candidate who has praised Hitler,’ said Healey, referring to former president Donald Trump, during the ‘Ask the Governor’ segment on GBH’s Boston Public Radio. ‘I mean, give me a break.’”
| | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES | | — “Free buses across New Bedford put ‘money back in people’s pockets,’” by Grace Ferguson, The New Bedford Light: “Free citywide bus service, which started Jan. 1, is making a big difference for riders. … It’s too early to estimate any changes in ridership, [Shayne Trimbell, SRTA’s director of transit planning] said, but he was optimistic based on the messages of support he had seen so far, both from people reaching out directly to SRTA and commenting on social media.”
| | FROM THE 413 | | — “Springfield’s top election official says FBI is passing on mayoral voter fraud investigation,” by Stephanie Barry, Springfield Republican: “FBI agents expressed no interest in pursuing allegations of voter fraud in the city’s mayoral election, according to the city’s top elected official, who met with members of the federal agency early last month. City Clerk Gladys Oyola-Lopez found herself in the center of a maelstrom over allegations a member of failed mayoral candidate Justin Hurst’s campaign was caught on video doling out $10 bills to homeless and poor residents to cast early votes. Oyola-Lopez said that FBI agents who met with her at City Hall in early December said they would not be opening an inquiry.” — “Springfield’s Mayor Sarno lists courthouse rebuild on riverfront, more housing as goals for 2024,” by Jeanette DeForge, Springfield Republican. — “Alford has shut down Fergie Chambers' communist gym for permit breach,” by Heather Bellow, The Berkshire Eagle: “A martial arts center and gym built by a communist multimillionaire off East Road has shut down and all its contents have been shipped out of state. The barn that was home to the Berkshire People’s Gym had been cleared out on Jan. 1 after the town said the property’s use of the gym ran afoul of its building permit to use it as storage for farm equipment.”
| | MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE | | CHRISTIE NOT CAVING — Pressure is mounting on former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to get out of the presidential race before the New Hampshire primary to help an ascendant Nikki Haley keep closing the gap with former President Donald Trump. After two new polls showed the former South Carolina governor holding steady in second place in New Hampshire — in one of them, she was within striking distance of Trump — her biggest Granite State backer, GOP Gov. Chris Sununu, went on a local radio show and said casting a ballot for Christie would be a “wasted vote.” But Christie said last night that he’s not going anywhere. “I would be happy to get out of the way for someone who is actually running against Donald Trump,” Christie said at a town hall in Rochester as snow swirled outside. But he argued that Haley, who hasn’t explicitly ruled out being Trump’s running mate and has said she would pardon him if it came down to it, isn’t that person. NO-SHOW — The smell of fresh Dunkin' wasn't enough to draw a single voter to Democratic presidential hopeful Rep. Dean Phillips' "coffee conversations" event on a 22-degree morning in Manchester Tuesday. "Sometimes if you build it, they don’t come,” Phillips told reporters there.
| | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | TRANSITIONS — Vilma Uribe has been named executive director of the Governor’s Council to Address Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and Human Trafficking. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Chris Buchanan, Samantha Hooper and Jonathan D. Sarna. 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 | | | | |
