| | | | |  | | By Kelly Garrity | | Presented by |  | | | BETTER LATE THAN NEVER — A compromise economic development bill is on the way. Three months after lawmakers gavelled out of their last scheduled formal session without compromises on a handful of key pieces of legislation, top negotiators announced yesterday that they’ve reached an “agreement in principle” on the closely watched omnibus legislation. State Sen. Barry Finegold and state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz said in a joint statement yesterday that they plan to bring the bill to the floor next week — though they didn’t provide details on what policies made it into the package. What was on the table: the House wanted to rename the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in the Seaport after the late Mayor Thomas Menino and included legislation that would allow cities and towns to require project labor agreements. The Senate’s version included a proposal that would end the state’s ban on happy hour and allow municipalities to opt to allow drink deals. Senators also tacked on legislation that would raise the age of juvenile jurisdiction, and a high-profile proposal that would clear the way for development of a soccer stadium in Everett, on a parcel the Kraft Group has long been eyeing. One of the biggest discrepancies between the two bills: the amount of borrowing each chamber wanted to authorize for the sciences sector. The House and Gov. Maura Healey both favored including $500 million in bonding authorizations over the next decade. But the Senate called for $225 million to extend the life sciences initiative for just five more years. Approving the authorizations will require roll call votes. Lawmakers previously pledged to return in a special formal session to pass the legislation once they reached a compromise — but an order the Senate adopted late last month allowing for roll call votes on conference committee reports means they might not need to (a similar proposal, however, failed to earn approval in the House). The deal also means Healey could soon be signing a climate and clean energy compromise that made it through the Senate, but stalled in the House — where leaders planned to wait until the special session to satisfy Republicans’ request for a roll call vote. Getting both bills to Healey’s desk could help the Legislature overcome some of the negative perceptions that prevailed during the late summer standoff — if it’s not too late. GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. TGIF! TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt and MBTA General Manager Phil Eng thank MBTA workers and Orange Line riders to celebrate the end of speed restrictions on the line at 9 a.m. in Boston. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper eat lunch with students at the Ellison Parks Early Education Center to highlight the city’s school nutrition program at 11 a.m. in Mattapan. THIS WEEKEND — State Auditor Diana DiZoglio is on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Sunday. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, Republican strategist Ozzie Palomo, UMass Boston political science professor Luis Jimenez and Massachusetts Veterans Services Secretary Jon Santiago are on NBC10 Boston’s “At Issue” at 11:30 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.
| | | | A message from Johnson & Johnson: We’re restoring the true meaning of healthcare—Innovating more precise, less invasive surgery and improving recovery. See how we’re connecting the best of Health&Care for every patient and provider. Learn more. | | | |  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | — “Tribute to vets rising like ‘phoenix’: Governor, other politicians mark ‘topping off’ ceremony for Veterans Home in Holyoke,” by Samuel Gelinas, Daily Hampshire Gazette. — “DCF routinely mismanaged mental health care for children, new report states,” by Jason Laughlin, The Boston Globe: “Massachusetts’ child protection agency failed to properly manage the care of children in its custody with serious mental health conditions, the state auditor found, a systemic oversight that included missed or delayed therapy sessions for 35 percent of children whose cases were reviewed, and several others who received antipsychotic medications without proper authorization. Virtually all the Department of Children and Families cases examined in the audit released Thursday had information missing from their files, making it more difficult for doctors and nurses to safely and effectively treat those children.”
| | YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS | | — “MassGOP legislative gains cooled after Republican calls off recount plans in Raynham,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Massachusetts Republican Party gains in the state Legislature were tempered Thursday after a Republican in Raynham decided against seeking a recount, a move that confirmed conservative pickups in the House tied with the number of seats Democrats flipped. But conservative political operatives and officials at the Massachusetts Republican Party contended that they still had a historic showing on Election Day even if they only managed to boost their ranks by a single lawmaker in the state Senate.” — “Cracks form in Mass. Democratic strongholds, led by heavily Latino cities and towns,” by Jennifer Smith, CommonWealth Beacon: “The rightward lurch seen throughout the country didn’t miss Massachusetts – the state just started bluer. Vice President Kamala Harris, who carried the state and its 11 electoral votes by 61.3 percent to President-elect Donald Trump’s 36.5 percent, not only won Massachusetts by a smaller margin than her Democratic predecessors. She won almost every single town by less, a sign that the Democratic coalition is weakening even in its strongholds.” — “Election Day political losses mount for Mass. Gov. Maura Healey after allies defeated,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Gov. Maura Healey was not on the ballot on Election Day but she still lost on multiple fronts. The two candidates she campaigned hard for — Joyce Craig in New Hampshire and Kamala Harris for the White House — lost their elections and one of the ballot questions she opposed, nixing the MCAS graduation requirement, marched on to victory despite her efforts. The first-term Democratic governor said she does not regret her work beyond the Bay State’s borders even after spending many days on the road in the Granite State lobbying for Craig and taking to the airwaves countless times to defend Harris.” — “State rep candidate Thrasher pursues ‘hand recount’,” by Will Sennott, The New Bedford Light.
| | FROM THE HUB | | — “Top BPS transportation official apologizes for late buses during City Council hearing,” by James Vaznis, The Boston Globe: “The top transportation official for the Boston Public Schools apologized during a City Council hearing Thursday for the tardy buses that marked the start of the school year. Fueling the tardiness was a new GPS tracking system that was supposed to improve the performance of the buses, but adjusting to the new technology took longer than expected, according to Daniel Rosengard, executive director of BPS transportation. Consequently the buses ran more late than anticipated.” CASH DASH — Close to 200 people attended a West Roxbury fundraiser for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu Thursday night, according to one attendee. The event, held at the Boston Alehouse, was hosted by state Reps. Bill MacGregor and Rob Consalvo, Boston City Councilor Ben Weber, and former Boston City Councilors John Tobin and John Connolly.
| | LOCAL ANGLE — POLITICO’s Charlie Mahtesian is out with a piece this morning on the 14 places that explain former President Donald Trump’s victory — and Massachusetts made the list. “In presidential races, Massachusetts and Rhode Island provide some of the most reliably blue turf in the nation,” Charlie writes. “But Bristol County, right on the border between the two states, is virtually dead even at the moment — Harris leads Trump by less than a percentage point. Four years ago, Biden easily won there, 55-42.” — “Donald Trump picks Susie Wiles to be chief of staff,” by Hailey Fuchs, Meridith McGraw and Natalie Allison, POLITICO. — “Florida looks like a Trump administration staffing agency,” by Kimberly Leonard and Andrew Atterbury, POLITICO.
| | BALLOT BATTLES | | — “MCAS result is another big ballot question loss for business community,” by Jon Chesto, The Boston Globe: “The business leaders who fought Question 2 might be feeling a bit of déjà vu this week. Boston’s business community squared off against the Massachusetts Teachers Association on Election Day, this time over whether MCAS test performance should determine if a high school student can graduate. Executives and business associations seemed united in their support of keeping the requirement in place, by opposing Question 2, arguing that high educational standards are crucial to economic competitiveness. But that unity didn’t translate into dollars — or at least nowhere near enough to defeat the union in this ballot-question battle.:
| | | | A message from Johnson & Johnson:   | | | | | IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN | | — “For environmentalists in Mass., a day of stress eating and laying plans after Trump's win,” by Barbara MoranMiriam Wasser, WBUR: “Climate change was mostly absent from the Trump and Harris campaigns, but it was in the air in Massachusetts on Wednesday after the results were called. Boston and Worcester hit record high temperatures by midday, and all of southern New England was under a ‘red flag’ fire warning. As the reality of a second Trump administration sank in, local climate and environmental leaders dealt with their anxiety in different ways — some took a day off to clear their heads, one described stress eating cinnamon buns and Halloween candy.” — “The drought in Massachusetts is getting worse,” by Miriam Wasser, WBUR: “Thanks to a very dry fall, almost all of Massachusetts is now officially in a drought and many areas of the state are on high alert for wildfires.”
| | FROM THE 413 | | — “Needed for F-35s, Barnes Air National Guard Base opens Minuteman Gate,” by Jim Kinney, Springfield Republican: “Barnes Air National Guard Base and the 104th Fighter Wing wouldn’t have been considered as a new home for F-35A Lightning II jets if it didn’t have a new security gate. Thursday, the guard celebrated the completion of the new $6.7 million ‘Minuteman Gate’ that relocates the base’s main entrance to Route 10 and 202 and upgrades base security.” — “$5.7M Amherst surplus rankles strapped school officials,” by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “The town’s ending fiscal year 2024 with a $5.7 million surplus on June 30 is prompting some members of the Amherst and Regional school committees to question whether this leftover money means education is being shortchanged.”
| | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — “Democratic leaders: ‘We need to change our policies,’” by Arthur Hirsch, The New Bedford Light. — “Teachers in two North Shore communities vote to strike,” by Deanna Pan, Mandy McLaren and Tonya Alanez, The Boston Globe: “Public school educators in Beverly and Gloucester plan to go on strike starting Friday morning as contract agreements with their respective district and city leaders stalled, sending thousands of students into limbo ahead of the Veterans Day weekend. Members of the Beverly Teachers Association and the Union of Gloucester Educators voted to authorize their strikes on Thursday afternoon and to hit the picket lines at 8 a.m. Friday. Schools in each city will be closed Friday, officials said.” — “Wellesley battery expected to save town residents $8m a year,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Beacon: “Wellesley unveiled a battery storage facility on Thursday that is expected to save town residents an estimated $8 million a year on their electric bills. The facility consists of six, 20-foot containers filled to the brim with lithium ion batteries that will be used to manage the town’s electricity demand and supply. The batteries will charge up during overnight hours when the price of electricity is generally low and then discharge their power into the town’s electric grid during peak demand periods, typically from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., when electricity prices are high.” — “'Feeling proud': Kamala Harris's Brockton classmate reacts to concession speech,” by Amelia Stern, The Brockton Enterprise: “On Wednesday, Nov. 6, Darren Duarte watched Vice President Kamala Harris' televised concession speech delivered at their alma mater as she conceded the 47th presidential election to former president Donald Trump. Duarte, a Brockton native and Emmy-award winning journalist, graduated from Howard University with Harris in 1986. Since 2018, Duarte has worked as the director of communications for the Brockton Police Department.”
| | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Tom Connors. HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND — to to GBH’s Tori Bedford, Mike Bloomberg of Groundwork Data, Joyce Linehan, Carolyn Casey, Shannon Felton Spence, Pamela J. Johnson and Karen Scott, who celebrate Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-ers MassINC Polling’s Steve Koczela, Shawn Duhamel, Jess Laverty and Alex Bausch.
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