| | | | |  | | By Kelly Garrity | Presented by Mass General Brigham | ROLE REVERSAL — Republicans’ move to block the bipartisan border bill earlier this year has become one of the main tools Democrats have wielded against them on the campaign trail this cycle. Just not in Massachusetts. Here, it’s one of the most pointed arguments Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s GOP challenger has made against her. “Senator Warren,” Republican Senate hopeful John Deaton said during their second debate last night, “had the same exact position as Donald Trump: do nothing.” To recap: Warren voted against the bill in February — along with Sen. Ed Markey and a handful of other Democrats — joining Senate Republicans in opposing the bill after Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson declared the legislation dead on arrival in the House following pressure from former President Donald Trump. The move put Warren at odds with top Democrats back home, who urged Congress to pass the bill that would have meant more federal money for states like Massachusetts facing overwhelming influxes of migrants. Deaton — who says he would’ve broken with members of his party to vote for the bill — has needled Warren over the vote for months, painting her as an “extremist” while pitching himself as a more moderate alternative. Warren defended her record during last night's debate hosted by NEPM News and GBH News. “When a bill is already dead, part of what you do when you vote is you're signaling where you want to go on the negotiations,” she said. “I made clear in every speech I gave and every time I talked about this, that it is not enough [to] do half of it. … We need full reimbursement for what the states are spending, and we need to make sure we have a pathway to citizenship.” And if the “the same exact bill” comes back for a vote down the line, “then I’ll certainly take a hard look at it, especially if it’s not already dead,” she said. The back-and-forth over the vote is unlikely to alter the outcome of the race — polls keep showing Warren with a more than 20-point lead. But it’s the latest sign of how contentious the immigration issue has become across the country, even in deep-blue Massachusetts, where new arrivals used to be guaranteed housing under the state’s “right-to-shelter” law. GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. After a comparably cordial meeting Tuesday, last night’s face-off got pretty heated. Warren ripped Deaton over his response to being arrested after an altercation with his partner’s ex at her son’s football game, pulling from passages in his memoir where he described the dispute. And she slammed him for a social media post where she said he wrote he would vote for Trump over Joe Biden. “I think there's a fundamental question here about who you can trust,” Warren said, an argument she leaned on during their first debate, “and I think you can't trust someone like John Deaton with power.” FWIW, Deaton doesn’t explicitly say in the lengthy post Warren was referencing how he’d vote. “If forced between them, I would do what I usually do, and vote against the incumbent,” he wrote last November. Missed it? You can watch back here. TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey has no public events. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll speaks at a reception ahead of the Head of the Charles Regatta at 6 p.m. in Boston. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu hosts a ceremony for the city’s graduating EMT recruits at 11 a.m. in Back Bay. Rep. Jake Auchincloss receives the Massachusetts Society for Medical Research’s “Government Leader” award during a luncheon at noon in Cambridge. THIS WEEKEND — MassDems Chair Steve Kerrigan is on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. WBUR’s Tiziana Dearing talks ballot questions on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 10 a.m. Saturday. GOP Senate candidate John Deaton and Secretary of State Bill Galvin are on NBC10 Boston’s “At Issue” at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Healey kicks off canvasses in New Hampshire Sunday in Merrimack and Londonderry. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is set to swing through Boston for a fundraiser Sunday. Tips? Scoops? Birthdays? Email me: kgarrity@politico.com
| | | | A message from Mass General Brigham: At Mass General Brigham, we harness the collective strength of our healthcare system to provide research-driven cancer care for the patients and communities we serve. Mass General Brigham is number one in hospital medical research. We perform the most cancer surgeries and have the most cancer specialists in New England. We have the region’s only proton therapy center and provide access to more than 1,000 clinical trials annually. We’re one against cancer. Learn more. | | | |  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | — “Treasurer Goldberg ordered deletion of series of texts, ex-Mass. Lottery official says,” by Walter Wuthmann, WBUR: “Massachusetts Treasurer Deborah Goldberg had a “pattern and practice” of asking a former Lottery official and confidant to delete his text exchanges with the treasurer, the former official said in sworn testimony related to the firing of the state’s Cannabis Control Commission chair. ... Specialists in Massachusetts public records say the allegation that Goldberg ordered a state employee to delete public records — and potentially destroyed her own — raises a red flag.” THEY’RE GRINDING — After negotiations went awry during the final formal legislative session over the summer, lawmakers managed to reach a deal on a climate and energy bill. Sen. Michael Barrett and state Rep. Jeff Roy announced Thursday they had reached an “agreement in principle” and plan to get the bill to Gov. Maura Healey’s desk in short order. “Massachusetts must continue to be a national leader in the effort to combat climate change, a prerequisite for which will be transitioning to a clean energy economy and creating high-quality jobs in the process,” Roy and Barrett, the bill’s chief negotiators, said in a statement. The Boston Globe’s Sabrina Shankman has details on what made it in the compromise. Also on the move: a $730 million supplemental budget to close the books on last fiscal year. State House News Service’s Sam Drysdale has the details. MORE ON THE SUPP — “House nixes Healey’s millionaire tax budget maneuver,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Beacon. — “POST Commission expands power to audit police departments,” by Dan Glaun, The Boston Globe: “The Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission gave itself expanded powers to inspect the state’s police departments Thursday, including the ability to audit how agencies investigate their own officers, amid concerns that some departments may be flouting police reform laws.”
| | FROM THE HUB | | — “Experts warn Boston’s future financial woes are more dire than Wu says,” by Niki Griswold, The Boston Globe: “In a City Council hearing Thursday that grew tense and heated at times, experts warned that declining commercial property values pose a much more long-term threat to Boston’s future financial stability than Mayor Michelle Wu has acknowledged. Wu, however, has expressed optimism about the future of commercial real estate values, and in a recent letter to councilors, said, ‘This is not a moment of economic crisis or recession, but of wider transition in the shared burden of property taxes across the residential and commercial sectors.’”
| | PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES | | — “Family of man struck and killed by MBTA bus call for safety upgrades: ‘This better wake up some people’,” by Shannon Larson, The Boston Globe.
| | YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS | | SAVE THE DATES — We’re just over two weeks out from the election. Mail-in ballots are already being sent back in, but there’s still time to register and request one. Some dates to keep an eye on: — Saturday, Oct. 19: Early voting begins — Saturday, Oct. 26: Last day to register to vote — Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 5 p.m.: The deadline to apply for mail-in voting — Friday, Nov. 1: Last day of early voting — “Biden to visit New Hampshire to discuss prescription drug costs,” by Kirk Enstrom, WMUR. — “Reproductive rights, climate change at 9th Congressional forum. Here's what was said,” by Zane Razzaq, Cape Cod Times. — “Three candidates compete to replace Marc Pacheco in state Senate,” by Arthur Hirsch, The New Bedford Light: “Three candidates have lined up to follow a long-serving state senator in a district that runs from Marion and Wareham on the South Coast to the Rhode Island line. … The Democrat, Raynham Selectman Joe Pacheco, defeated one Taunton city councilor in the primary and now faces another in the general election: a Republican, Kelly Dooner, also a member of the Taunton Planning Board. Jim DuPont — former member of the Republican State Committee, the Raynham Board of Selectmen and the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School Committee — is running as an independent.”
| | BALLOT BATTLES | | — “'Holding our educators hostage': Brockton school board votes to support Question 2 on MCAS,” by Christopher Butler, The Brockton Enterprise.
| | DAY IN COURT | | — “Worcester defense lawyer Stuart Hurowitz nominated for District Court judgeship,” by Brad Petrishen, Telegram & Gazette: “Longtime Worcester defense lawyer Stuart Hurowitz is one of two lawyers nominated Wednesday to be state District Court judges.”
| | | | A message from Mass General Brigham:   | | | | | FROM THE DELEGATION | | — “Rep. Ayanna Pressley celebrates Massachusetts' new liquor license bill,” by Nicole Garcia, GBH News.
| | IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN | | — “'The water is going to win': Climate activists say Mass. is unprepared for future,” by Tori Bedford, GBH News: “A king tide is the highest predicted high tide of the year. Environmental scientists and activists say they’re a glimpse of the future, because as sea levels rise, what is today a rare ‘wicked high’ tide will become increasingly closer to routine tidal changes. And on top of sea level rise, Massachusetts faces flooding risks from severe storms, which are expected to become more frequent a result of climate change. Environmental experts and climate activists agree: Massachusetts isn’t prepared.” — “Is Central Mass. prepared for extreme weather like Hurricane Helene? No, some say,” by Henry Schwan, Telegram & Gazette.
| | FROM THE 413 | | — “Yes, Jay Green is leaving his role in Adams. But he says the stage — and work — is set for the next town administrator,” by Sten Spinella, The Berkshire Eagle: “The Adams Select Board will begin putting together a transition plan for the next town administrator during the next week. ‘It’s difficult, it’s emotional, it can be stressful, but we’re going to try to do the right thing,’ said Jay Green.”
| | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — “Quincy residents say delaying raises for the mayor and councilors is not enough,” by Sarah Betancourt, GBH News: “Local residents of Quincy say that a delay in salary increases for city councilors and Mayor Thomas Koch falls short of what is necessary. They’re pushing for more public accountability in a monthslong fight by elected leaders to boost their own wages, despite public opinion being sour on the matter.”
| | MEDIA MATTERS | | — “In Melrose, an experiment in hyper-local AI podcasting,” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon: “A new local podcast covering Melrose debuted this month. Over about 15 minutes, an unnamed man and woman chat about recent city zoning meetings and how the local government is approaching smart growth and sustainable development goals in the Boston suburb. But the hosts are not flesh-and-blood human beings. The Melrose Update Robocast was made by dropping public documents into an artificial intelligence program that then generates a conversation about the issues with these fake people.”
| | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND — to POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney, state Rep. Alan Silvia, Michael Goodman, state Rep. Kate Donaghue, Isaac Simon, Griffin Tighe of state Rep. Kate Hogan’s office and Mark Cote, who celebrate Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-ers Robert Pinsky, Steve Gaertner and Michael Clark, former senior adviser to state Sen. Eric Lesser now of the National Association of REALTORS.
| | | | A message from Mass General Brigham: At Mass General Brigham, we harness the collective strength of our healthcare system to provide research-driven cancer care for the patients and communities we serve. Mass General Brigham is number one in hospital medical research. We perform the most cancer surgeries and have the most cancer specialists in New England. We have the region’s only proton therapy center and provide access to more than 1,000 clinical trials annually.
The vision for Mass General Brigham is to build a world-class center of cancer care, with the patients at the center of everything we do. New collaborations, new treatments, and innovative approaches. Leading to new hope and possibilities. At Mass General Brigham, we’re one against cancer. Learn more. | | | 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 | | | | |
