POLITICO Massachusetts Playbook: LELLING’s pot guidance —BAKER headed to the airwaves — CommonWealth Magazine ditching print
LELLING’s pot guidance —BAKER headed to the airwaves — CommonWealth Magazine ditching print
07/11/2018 06:47 AM EDT
By Lauren Dezenski (ldezenski@politico.com; @LaurenDezenski) with Brent D. Griffiths (bgriffiths@politico.com; @BrentGriffiths)
GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL — The US Attorney for Massachusetts has offered major insight into how he plans to enforce federal laws around the state's now-legal recreational marijuana.
Andrew Lelling, a Trump appointee, was in an unenviable spot. Recreational marijuana was legalized by the voters of Massachusetts last fall (effective at the beginning of this year) while federally, marijuana remains illegal (which Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made clear he has no intention of changing).
Lelling issued guidance yesterday saying his office's resources will be focused on combating the opioid epidemic rather than cracking down on the budding recreational market. That will include targeting overproduction that could lead to "illegal, and lucrative marijuana sales to users in nearby states," targeted sale to minors which "may warrant federal prosecution," and organized crime and interstate transportation of drug proceeds for groups like MS-13.
Massachusetts still has no open recreational marijuana dispensaries despite the state's self-imposed, squishy deadline to make them available on July 1. There is some progress: A Leicester medical marijuana dispensary has been awarded the state's first recreational dispensary license, though it isn't expected to open to the public for another couple of weeks.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: ldezenski@politico.com.
TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Matthew Beaton, Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Leo Roy and local legislators announce the 2018 Summer Nights Initiative to increase programming and extend the hours of operations at select pools and athletic complexes in urban areas across the state — The House plans to meet in formal session — Northeastern University students and faculty plan to protest the school's contract with ICE at noon.
THE TSONGAS ARENA —
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK - Two Fitchburg City Councilors Endorse Rufus Gifford, per the Gifford campaign: Beth Walsh and Amy Green, both Fitchburg City Councilors, have endorsed Rufus Gifford for Congress. They will appear at a public event in Fitchburg tonight with Gifford alongside Fitchburg Mayor Stephen DiNatale, who endorsed Gifford earlier this week. "Rufus has very impressive national and international experience, but he also understands our local issues—and that's an important combination," said Walsh. "He's spent the most time getting to know us in Fitchburg, and will be the best fighter for us in Washington," said Green.
- Four Fitchburg city officials endorse Rick Green for Congress, from the Green campaign: Fitchburg City Councilors Anthony Zarrella, Marisa Fleming, and Marcus DiNatale, and School Committee member Rosemary Reynolds, endorse Rick Green, candidate for Congress in the Third District of Massachusetts, saying that he is the best candidate to fix regional infrastructure and promote economic development across the district.
- Teamsters Union Local 170 endorses Dan Koh for Congress, from the Koh campaign: Today, Teamsters Union Local 170 endorsed Dan Koh in the Third District congressional race. Local 170 represents about 4,000 workers in Worcester County and is the twentieth union endorsement that Koh has received, more than any other candidate.
DATELINE BEACON HILL —
- "Immigration, health care, tobacco, budget: Here's what's on the Massachusetts legislative to-do list before July 31," by Shira Schoenberg, MassLive.com: "By midnight on July 31, the end of formal sessions for this year, lawmakers will have to either send the bills to Gov. Charlie Baker's desk or start all over again when the new session begins in January. Here's a look at some of the bills on the legislative to-do list."
- "Bill to combat opioid crisis rejects 72-hour hold, adds mandate for hospital care," by Felice J. Freyer and Joshua Miller, Boston Globe: "Leaders of the state's House of Representatives have nixed Governor Charlie Baker's controversial proposal to give physicians and other clinical professionals the power to involuntarily hold, for 72 hours, drug users who pose a danger to themselves or others. Instead, the House version of Baker's wide-ranging legislation, released late Monday, requires hospital emergency departments to offer medications to treat addiction — buprenorphine or methadone — to patients who have overdosed, a mandate that would entail physician training and changes to hospital procedures."
- "Creative accounting on Beacon Hill," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "Brian Keyes, the police chief in Chelsea, sounds like a mountain climber with the summit finally in sight. He and his fellow chiefs have been scaling Beacon Hill for almost a decade looking for a way to fund police training programs that wouldn't require them to go hat in hand to the Legislature each and every session. What they are looking for is every public agency's dream—a dedicated, non-tax source of funding immune from the ups and downs of state government finances."
- "State could boost dredging projects," by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily Times: "State and federal funding for local dredging has dried up in recent decades, forcing local officials to dig into reserves or borrow money to remove silt in order to make their waterways deep enough for boats to navigate. Gov. Charlie Baker has pitched a new program — with $50 million in grant money — to help coastal communities pay for dredging as part of a more than $660 million economic development proposal, which was expected to clear the state House of Representatives on Tuesday."
- "State's Highest Court Issues Major Ruling on Voting Ahead of Election Season," by Daniel Medwed, WGBH:"The SJC struck down a lawsuit filed by Democratic activist groups that argued the state law requiring a person to vote 20 days before an election day is an unconstitutional suppression of voter's rights. The SJC ruled that the Legislature has the legal right to set-up an administrative system to process voter registration. WGBH 's Morning Edition anchor Joe Mathieu spoke with legal analyst and Northeastern Law Professor Daneil Medwed about the ruling."
- "Pollack: West Station ridership forecast may be off," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack believes the computer model the state uses to predict future transit ridership is unreliable, at least for projects like the proposed West Station in the Allston area of Boston. In a recent presentation to a group of stakeholders involved with the planning process for a massive highway and transit project in the Allston-Brighton area, Pollack signaled she agreed with the group's skepticism about the model, which is named after the organization that runs it, the Central Transportation Planning Staff, or CTPS."
ON THE STUMP —
- "Charlie Baker reserves millions in television airtime for campaign," by Joshua Miller, Boston Globe: "The governor's reelection campaign on Monday reserved a whopping $4.3 million in television time for August through Election Day in November, according to a report detailing the effort that was obtained by the Globe. The reservation included time on stations in both the Boston-area broadcast media market, as well the much smaller Springfield market."
- "Democrat Jay Gonzalez Criticizes Baker For Border Troops Decision: "It's A Decision That Never Should Have Been Made In The First Place," by Tori Bedford, WGBH: "Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Gonzalez criticized Gov. Charlie Baker for his initial decision to send Massachusetts National Guard troops to the Mexican border in accordance with President Donald Trump's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy to separate children from their families at the border. 'Right now we've got a governor who has been complicit, in my view, on this anti-immigrant, hateful, cruel, inhumane policies that Trump has been enforcing at the federal level,' Gonzalez said in an interview with Boston Public Radio Tuesday."
- "Amid focus on criminal justice reform, Massachusetts district attorney races draw more candidates, attention in 2018," by Shira Schoenberg, MassLive.com: "They are the most powerful prosecutors in the state, and they are accountable to voters. Yet races for district attorney have typically gotten little attention in Massachusetts. This year, however, that may be changing."
- Frank McNamara endorses Diehl for US Senate, from the Diehl campaign : "Representative Geoff Diehl, the endorsed Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, announced that he has received the endorsement of former U.S. Attorney Frank McNamara. 'At a time when a lethargic and selfish Political Class is being everywhere exposed and overthrown, one is compelled to ask: isn't it about time for an in-bred and homogenous Massachusetts Congressional Delegation to make room for one, just one, energetic and reform-minded Republican?' McNamara said. 'Some diversity in representation would be desirable even if were we living under a Golden Age of Pericles and I should think that variety and freedom from one-party hegemony would be all the more necessary now, given the parlous state of our civic health. ... The elitist, collectivist Left is amply represented in Washington. We have no need of one more "leader" who will be led around by the nose by the Boston Globe in frantic pursuit of the latest politically correct fad. What Massachusetts really needs in Washington is a steady representative who will champion the needs and aspirations of the ordinary citizen who thirsts for smaller government, lower taxes, a simplified tax code, a strengthening of public safety, and a wealth-generating economy. Geoff Diehl is that person, and I am happy to endorse his candidacy for the United States Senate,' enthused McNamara."
- "Can an impeachment campaign actually work? And six more questions for Tom Steyer," by James Pindell, Boston Globe: "Tom Steyer was one of the biggest political spenders in 2016, dropping $90 million to Democratic causes in that election cycle. Since then, the San Francisco resident has devoted much of his political efforts to gathering support for a campaign to impeach President Trump. The Globe interviewed Steyer, a former hedge fund manager, on Tuesday morning ahead of his "Need to Impeach" town hall in Boston."
THE WARREN REPORT —
- "Are These Democrats Running for President? Ask Their 2018 Opponents," by Zach C. Cohen, National Journal: "Before hosting a post-Independence Day town hall in Natick, Massachusetts, Sen. Elizabeth Warren visited troops and dignitaries in Iraq and Kuwait over the holiday last week in what could be an effort to burnish her national security credentials. ... Meanwhile, her Republican challengers spent the Fourth of July campaigning in and around Boston—and they were quick to take shots at the absence of the heavily favored first-term Democrat, who may follow up her reelection with a national bid."
WOOD WAR — Herald: "DRUG HUB" — Globe: "Healey questions hospital merger," "At Harvard, he's Professor Kavanaugh," "OVER THE LINE," "Minority students less apt to seek mental health aid," "IN THEIR WORLD, BUT NOT KNOWING THE SCORE," "US Attorney sees no Mass. pot crackdown."
THE LOCAL ANGLE —
- "Statistics reveal record pace for Narcan use, opioid ambulance runs," by Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald: "The city's first responders logged thousands of ambulance runs and administered lifesaving Narcan at a record pace last year as Boston emerged as a mecca for out-of-town opioid addicts, shocking new statistics show. ... Police and medical experts warn that 2018 could be just as bad with no signs the drug epidemic is letting up."
- "Allowing non-citizens with legal status to vote isn't unprecedented. But would it work in Boston?" by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: "For all the unsubstantiated claims made about non-citizens voting in the United States, Boston is actually looking at making it a reality. Proponents say the proposal shouldn't be as controversial as some of the immediate public feedback would suggest."
- "Alan Dershowitz jabs at Elizabeth Warren, dishes on Vineyard drama on 'The View,'" by Kevin Slane, Boston Globe: "Attorney Alan Dershowitz continued his all-out media blitz with a lengthy appearance on "The View" Tuesday morning. The Harvard Law School professor emeritus discussed President Donald Trump's nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, his new book that outlines the case against impeaching Trump, and why he doesn't mind being ostracized on Martha's Vineyard for his opinions. 'I want to hear the questions. I want to hear the answers. But I'm not gonna go along with Liz Warren, my friend [and] colleague, who says we're gonna oppose everybody,' Dershowitz said, referencing Sen. Elizabeth Warren."
- "Trump tweeted about an Emerson College poll. But his facts weren't quite right," by J.D. Capelouto, Boston Globe: "President Trump gave Boston's Emerson College a shout-out Tuesday afternoon when he tweeted about the findings of a recent "ePoll" by the school. Although some aspects of the president's tweet are based in truth, the overall sentiment is an exaggeration that cherry-picks from the poll, said Spencer Kimball, an adviser to Emerson College Polling."
- "CommonWealth going all digital," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "[Tuesday's] release of the print issue of CommonWealth will be our last. After surveying readers, consulting with board members of MassINC, and holding many discussions with my colleagues here at the magazine, I've decided we should stop printing the quarterly print magazine and focus all of our attention and resources on the CommonWealth website."
- "GateHouse offers buyouts to newspaper employees across New England," by Dan Glaun, MassLive.com:"GateHouse Media has offered buyouts to employees at newspapers it owns across New England, citing a desire to cut costs. GateHouse owns 126 papers in Massachusetts including nine daily newspapers, dozens of paid weeklies and an assortment of free weeklies and shoppers, according to the company's website."
- "TPC Boston loses annual FedEx Cup playoff tourney," by Keith Person, Boston Herald: "For the first time since 2002, the Boston area will not be on the PGA Tour schedule next year. However, all is not lost for area golf fans, as The Northern Trust, the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs, will begin a rotation between Boston and New York City."
REST IN PEACE - "Accomplished filmmaker and therapist from Concord dies on Nantucket," by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: "An accomplished documentary filmmaker, activist, and therapist from Concord apparently drowned Monday evening after jumping from her small sailboat to swim to shore in Nantucket. ... Jenny Phillips was about a quarter-of-a-mile out at most when she began her swim, said her husband, [Boston Globe State House bureau chief] Frank Phillips."
HAPPY BIRTHDAY— to Sen. Ed Markey, who turns 72 today, and WBUR's Jack Lepiarz.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Red Sox beat the Rangers 8-4.
ICYMI - THE LATEST EPISODE OF THE HORSE RACE: State Senate President Harriette Chandler joins us for a special extended edition of The Horse Race. We ask her about the Grand Bargain, legislation vs. ballot questions, the fallout from Stan Rosenberg, and what she has learned in her time at the top. Then WBUR's Shannon Dooling discusses what the immigration debate means for Massachusetts. Plus, what the NY-14 result means for the Pressley-Capuano matchup. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud
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