| | | | |  | | By Kelly Garrity | YOU’VE GOT MAIL — Delays and missing deliveries have roiled the United States Postal Service. As voters soon start to make their picks for president — many by mail — state and local election officials are sounding the alarm. In a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy earlier this week, two prominent professional groups representing election workers across the country warned that the performance issues by the USPS could impact the election. Failure to make changes “will risk limiting voter participation and trust in the election process,” the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State wrote to DeJoy. Massachusetts has seen some of the issues laid out in the letter, Secretary of State Bill Galvin told Playbook. Some primary ballots voters returned this cycle ended up at the wrong local election offices, despite being postmarked with the correct address and zip code. His office raised the issue immediately, he said, and found out it wasn’t unique to Massachusetts. But Galvin’s other concern is that voters could get the wrong idea, that the challenges get “misinterpreted as some suggestion there's something improper or sinister about the vote by mail process,” when, in reality, it’s a symptom of more pervasive operational problems with the Postal Service. It’s not the first time officials are raising red flags about the mail-in process ahead of a presidential election. In 2020, when several states expanded their mail-in voting capabilities to accommodate voters during the pandemic, Democrats criticized DeJoy’s proposed Postal Service changes, some wary of his past as a Republican mega-donor with ties to Donald Trump. But Galvin cautioned against pinning the problem on DeJoy this time around. “I think it would be a mistake to suggest that there is not a general deterioration of postal services beyond elections,” he said. “I don’t think Mr. DeJoy delivered the ballots,” he added, referencing the mail-in ballots that ended up at the wrong return offices in Massachusetts. And if you’re leery of voting by mail given the hiccups, there are workarounds: Early in-person voting will begin next month. And if Nov. 5 sneaks up on you, there are ballot drop boxes set up around the state. Galvin recommends getting your ballot in the mail seven days ahead of the election, though for the general election there is a three-day period in the general election for properly postmarked ballots. GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF! TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey speaks at the 2024 AFSCME Council 93 legislative conference at 10 a.m. in Danvers. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll speaks at the REALTOR Association of Central Massachusetts’ legislative breakfast at 8:30 a.m. in Worcester, visits the Holyoke Veterans Home at 10:30 a.m. and attends the GK Fund award recipients ceremony at 2:30 p.m. at the State House. Sen. Elizabeth Warren joins local officials in Lynn for a ribbon-cutting and roundtable discussion with early childhood educators at 2 p.m. Rep. Lori Trahan celebrates funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to expand access to green spaces at 10 a.m. in Haverhill. Rep. Ayanna Pressley hosts a policy discussion on the crisis of book bans at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference. THE WEEKEND — State Auditor Diana DiZoglio speaks at the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees Convention at 10 a.m. in Danvers Saturday. SUNDAY SHOWS — State Rep. Judith Garcia marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” at 8 a.m. Sunday. Rep. Bill Keating is on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Sunday. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com.
|  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | — “Mariano dropped $41K on spring ‘voter survey’ while Mass. House faced weighty topics,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “House Speaker Ron Mariano shelled out $41,000 in July to a research and data analytics firm for a ‘voter survey’ conducted in the spring but it is unclear what the Quincy Democrat wanted to study, according to state campaign finance filings. The speaker turned to EMC Research, which lists many political clients on its website and is widely used in Massachusetts politics, for the survey as his chamber was working on a series of critical policies like state-run shelter reforms and responses to the Steward Health Care bankruptcy.” ONE SUPP DOWN — Lawmakers shipped the supplemental budget Gov. Maura Healey filed this spring back to her desk Thursday, though their version cut around $175 million in payments for safety net hospitals that would’ve been reimbursed by federal funds, the State House News Service reports. That money is likely to make it into a future supplemental spending bill instead.
| | | YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS | | — “Recount drama comes to a close in Cambridge: Decker ends with narrow win over challenger MacKay,” by Samantha J. Gross, The Boston Globe: “After nearly eight hours of painstakingly recounting ballots by hand, state Representative Marjorie Decker eked out a win to keep her long-held seat representing the 25th Middlesex district in Cambridge. ... The recount comes after an unofficial tally showed just 41 votes separated the Democrats. In the end, three ballots were tossed and Decker didn’t pick up any additional votes, leaving the margin at 41.”
| | FROM THE HUB | | WHAT THE MAYOR’S OFFICE WANTS YOU TO READ — This article from the Economist about how homicides in the city have dropped to a record low thanks to “violence-interruption” groups and the evolution of the city’s policing. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu shared a link to the piece on X. — “Boston city councilors press for state intervention after ‘dismal’ BPS bus transportation delays,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Two Boston city councilors are pressing state education officials to intervene in the public school system after a ‘dismal’ transportation performance during the first day of school, when just a third of BPS buses arrived on time to get kids to class. Councilors Ed Flynn and Erin Murphy sent a letter to Katherine Craven, chair of the state education board, on Thursday, to express their ‘profound concern about the significant transportation issues’ affecting the Boston Public Schools, and to urge the board to investigate the matter, develop and implement an action plan, and establish a robust system to regularly monitor district transportation performance.” — “After victory in the House, can Wu sell the Senate on her contentious property tax plan? Opponents fear she will,” by Larry Edelman, The Boston Globe.
| | ON CAMPUS | | — “BU’s Black first-year student enrollment falls to 3 percent, Northeastern to 5 percent,” by Izzy Bryars, The Boston Globe: “Two of Boston’s most prominent universities reported Thursday that the percentage of Black students in their incoming freshmen classes declined, following a trend of decreasing diversity of incoming freshman classes. Boston University released preliminary enrollment data that showed its population of Black first-year students dropped from 9 percent last year to 3 percent. Northeastern University reported that the amount of Black incoming freshmen slightly decreased from almost 8 percent to just over 5 percent.” BUT, BUT, BUT — “Admissions diversity data does not show the full picture, says former Mass. education secretary,” by Hannah Loss, GBH News.
| | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES | | — “For shuttle-weary riders, a restored Red Line can't come soon enough,” by Andrea Perdomo-Hernandez, WBUR.
| | DAY IN COURT | | — “Margaritaville contractor agrees to settlement for alleged labor law violations,” by Denise Coffey, Cape Cod Times: “The state has reached a settlement with the construction company renovating the Cape Codder Resort in Hyannis for violating employee rights, according to a Sept. 12 press release from the Attorney General’s office. The Cape Codder is owned by Linchris Hotels. The company is renovating the resort into the Margaritaville Resort of Cape Cod. There is no evidence that Linchris was involved with the alleged violations, according to the AG’s office.”
| | FROM THE DELEGATION | | — “Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre ignores congressional subpoena,” by Sarah Betancourt, GBH News: “The chair that Steward Health Care CEO Dr. Ralph de la Torre was supposed to occupy was empty. He was subpoenaed to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions for a hearing Thursday about how management decisions have impacted patient care at hospitals owned by the company. The absence of de la Torre didn’t stop senators from offering withering criticism of the heart surgeon who created the country’s largest for-profit hospital operator and led it into a financial implosion and ultimately bankruptcy.”
| | IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN | | THE NATIONAL TAKE — “Broken Blades, Angry Fishermen and Rising Costs Slow Offshore Wind,” by Stanley Reed and Ivan Penn, The New York Times.
| | MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS | | — “Did O’Brien commit ‘gross misconduct?’ Read some of the documents yourself,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Beacon.
| | FROM THE 413 | | — “School boss gets marching orders: Committees set four main goals for new Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools superintendent to work on this academic year,” by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “New Superintendent E. Xiomara Herman must strive to rebuild community trust so healing and stabilization take place this academic year in the Amherst, Pelham and Amherst-Pelham Regional schools, one of four broad goals spelled out this week by the Amherst, Pelham and Regional committees.” — “Greenfield residents, councilors weigh bevy of housing proposals,” by Anthony Cammalleri, Greenfield Recorder. — “Washington is about to get a much-needed new police cruiser, thanks to a little help from the Massachusetts Legislature,” by Jane Kaufman, The Berkshire Eagle.
| | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — “One shot, one arrested at Newton pro-Israel demonstration,” by Kiera McDonald, The Boston Globe: “A small pro Israel rally along Washington Street Thursday evening turned violent when a passerby confronted the demonstrators and during a tussle with one of the men was shot, authorities said. The shooting victim suffered life-threatening injuries and was being treated at a hospital, District Attorney Marian T. Ryan said at a late night news conference.” — “Mayors cite need for more housing,” by Paul Leighton, Gloucester Times: “More housing. Those two words pretty much sum up the message delivered by North Shore municipal leaders Thursday morning at the annual North Shore Chamber of Commerce State of the Region Breakfast. The mayors of Gloucester, Salem, Beverly, Peabody, Newburyport and Lynn, and the town manager of Danvers, all stated the need for more housing in their remarks to an audience of more than 200 at the Boston Marriott Peabody.” — “Brockton superintendent wanted to pay Jermaine Wiggins $100K: Deficit probe reveals details,” by Chris Helms, The Brockton Enterprise: “Remember the rumors that Brockton High was paying former Football Coach Jermaine Wiggins $100,000? A city-sponsored report on runaway deficit spending revealed sensational new details about the episode. Wiggins, a Super Bowl-winning tight end for the New England Patriots, made $15,389 for his one year leading the Boxers. The $100,000 figure came from a draft contract Superintendent Michael Thomas emailed to Wiggins on April 8, 2023, according to the report. Wiggins would have had additional duties as a mentor to more than 1,000 students.” — “Widow of deputy fire chief killed in police shootout weighs lawsuit against New Bedford,” by Will Sennott, The New Bedford Light.
| | WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD BE READING | | — “‘Police can’t investigate themselves’: Sandra Birchmore case is the latest to fuel call for outside probes,” by Dan Glaun, The Boston Globe. — “State Food Waste Bans Aren’t Working. Except in Massachusetts,” by Zahra Hirji, Bloomberg: “In a bid to curb food waste, a handful of US states have banned grocery stores, restaurants and other commercial waste operators from trashing uneaten food in landfills. But a new study in Science finds that most of those bans have been ineffective — except one. In Massachusetts, a ban started in 2014 led to a 7% average annual reduction in total landfilled and incinerated waste in its first five years of implementation, according to the study.” — “Does living near a casino impact youth gambling habits?” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon.
| | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | TRANSITIONS — Scotia Hille will be the next executive director of Act on Mass. She has worked with the organization since the fall of 2020. — Cannabis Control Commissioner Bruce Stebbins has been named acting Chair of the CCC. He previously served as a commissioner for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission and as a city councilor in Springfield. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY — to Neal Alpert, chief of staff for Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons, who celebrated Thursday. HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND — to Elizabeth Warren alum and the DNC’s Roger Lau, Ted Gup, Victoria Esser, Julia Murray and Alex Pratt, who celebrate Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-ers Diane Levin and Anthony Barsamian, co-chair of the Armenian Assembly of America. 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 | | | | |
