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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. I hope you had a restful holiday. It's good to be back in your inbox.
WHERE IS GOVERNOR CHARLIE BAKER?
COLUMBIA GAS EXECS TO ANSWER TO MARKEY AND WARREN IN LAWRENCE — Lawmakers are in Lawrence this morning for a hearing on the Merrimack Valley gas explosions. The family of 18-year-old Leonel Rondon, who died in the explosions, will be at today's hearing as guests of Sen. Ed Markey. And with both senators and a handful of other members of Congress on the guest list, the hearing is a big deal.
Rondon's family members aren't subject to questioning by the committee members, but they'll have an opportunity to talk about how the tragedy impacted their family in front of their community, the gas companies and those steering the response effort. Rondon's sister is expected to speak before the first panel begins, and she'll sit beside her mother.
From there, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, of which Markey is a member, will hear testimony from National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Robert. L. Sumwalt, Columbia Gas President Steve Bryant, Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera and Andover Fire Chief Michael B. Mansfield, among others. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Niki Tsongas, Rep. Seth Moulton and Congresswoman-elect Lori Trahan are expected at the hearing as well. Another Commerce committee Democrat, New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan, will also attend.
Since the September gas explosions and fires, lawmakers have sent letters and held phone calls, meetings and briefings on the crisis. Look for an update on how the gas companies and federal agencies responded to those oversight efforts. You can also expect questions on those NTSB safety recommendations, and whether the federal agencies that oversee Columbia Gas dropped the ball. Lawmakers may even ask the heads of Columbia Gas and its parent company NiSource if they feel they deserve to keep their jobs.
The hearing will likely go into the early afternoon and will be streamed live on the committee website. As of Sunday morning, Columbia Gas has restored gas service to 81 percent of residential meters impacted by the gas explosions, and over 1,000 families have returned home from temporary housing and have their gas service again.
CLEARING UP CONFUSION in the SPEAKER FIGHT — After getting heat from confused constituents who worry they'd back a Republican for Speaker before Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Reps. Stephen Lynch and Seth Moulton sought to create some clarity around their push for a new House Speaker.
Lynch said he'd vote for Pelosi over a Republican on the House floor in January if it comes down to that, according to a report from my POLITICO colleagues. "If it becomes as a choice between a Republican and Nancy Pelosi, I'll obviously support Nancy Pelosi," Lynch said on Sunday.
Lynch's shift in messaging around Pelosi comes a few days before members take an early Speaker vote behind closed doors in caucus on Wednesday, where she's expected to get the nomination. Just last week, Lynch signed a letter saying he'd vote against her for Speaker. He's the less-vocal member of the Massachusetts delegation's anti-Nancy contingent. The outspoken Moulton, a face of the national effort to oust Pelosi, tried to clear up questions about whether his crusade could result in a Republican Speaker during a town hall last week.
"There's no way in hell I'm supporting [California Republican Rep.] Kevin McCarthy, okay?" Moulton said in Amesbury. "He's not going to be our next Speaker."
"Prove it!" someone shouted. Confusion aside, there's pretty much no chance a Republican is elected Speaker in January. The question is whether Pelosi can lock up the votes she needs, which is getting more and more likely each day. Rep. Jim McGovern will attend a meeting tonight between Pelosi and the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, which could vote against her as a bloc if she doesn't give more power to regular House members, according to POLITICO.
On Sunday, Rep. Joe Kennedy III said Pelosi has the "overwhelming support of almost everybody" in the Democratic Caucus, in an appearance on "Keller @ Large." Pelosi "isn't getting in the way of anybody" trying to bring their vision to the American people, Kennedy said. Unless your name is Seth Moulton and you want a new House Speaker, that is.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
COLUMBIA GAS EXPLOSIONS DEVASTATED COMMUNITIES - AND THIS IS WHERE GOVERNOR CHARLIE BAKER IS?
IS THIS LEADERSHIP?
TODAY - Gov. Charlie Baker, Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, state Senate President Karen Spilka, state House Speaker Robert DeLeo, state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and state House Minority Leader Brad Jones huddle for a leadership meeting. Rep. Joe Kennedy III speaks at a New England Council breakfast in Boston. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh speaks at the Copley Square tree lighting. The MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board meets.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Ed Markey are in Lawrence with Rep. Niki Tsongas, Rep. Seth Moulton, Congresswoman-elect Lori Trahan, Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt and Columbia Gas and NiSource officials for a Merrimack Valley pipeline safety hearing. Sports betting begins in Rhode Island. Tsongas is a guest on "Radio Boston."
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 | FROM THE HUB |
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- "ACLU criticizes Boston police commissioner's Facebook post," by Jeremy C. Fox and John Hilliard, Boston Globe: "The ACLU chapter is among the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed Nov. 15 in Suffolk Superior Court that seeks to force Boston police to release information about the department's practice of labeling young men and teenagers from Central America as gang members — allegedly with often flimsy evidence — and sharing that data with federal immigration officials."
- "Ed chief leaving has Boston Public Schools' plans up in air," by Kathleen McKiernan, Boston Herald: "The city's first-ever education chief, Rahn Dorsey, has left his position amid Boston Public Schools' search for a new superintendent, putting into question the future leadership direction of the city's school system. Dorsey, who came on in 2014 from the philanthropic world as a former director at the Barr Foundation, was seen as a bridge between public schools, charter and parochial schools."
- "In Dorchester, Michelle Obama Encourages Young Women Of Color To Dream Big," by Quincy Walters, WBUR: "Former First Lady Michelle Obama was in Dorchester on Saturday encouraging young women of color at the Boys & Girl Club to dream big. Obama made the stop before heading to the TD Garden arena to promote her new memoir, 'Becoming,' as part of her 10-city tour. The book mostly focuses on her life — from growing up on Chicago's South Side, to her time in the White House."
- "'I been in hell all my life,'" by Maria Cramer, Boston Globe: "This past fiscal year, the state allocated just $90,000 to a community-based reentry program, funding a single halfway house in Worcester. Meanwhile, even as the incarceration rate in Massachusetts has fallen, reoffending levels remain high, a cycle that costs the state millions and puts public safety at risk. More than half of the men who left the state's maximum security prisons in 2014 were reincarcerated within three years, according to the state Department of Correction's latest figures."
- "Former Mount Ida College students and staff are trying to move forward," by Laura Krantz, Boston Globe: "Ten months after Mount Ida College in Newton abruptly closed, the school's former professors are struggling to find new jobs, and many former students are facing drastically higher tuition bills at new colleges. Meanwhile, an attorney general investigation into the actions of the college trustees is progressing, and state officials are working to avoid last-minute closures of other struggling colleges."
- "Two Harvard guys based their million-dollar business on a whole lot of nothing," by Thomas Heath, Washington Post: "When I think about entrepreneurs and Harvard, I think about Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook mob, who started their little dorm project for kicks and turned it into something that's worth more than a small country. Pete Davis and Jon Staff aren't the Facebook guys. Davis and Staff are the anti-Facebook guys. They built a back-to-nature 'tiny house' business called Getaway that's all about locking up the iPhone (literally), heading into the woods, communing with black bears and (if that does it for you) decompressing."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "What's next for Harvard's affirmative action case? It's complicated," by Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: "All sides have prepared for the Harvard University admissions case to land in front of the Supreme Court, with the justices ultimately weighing in on the future of affirmative action for the next generation of college students. But it may not be that simple. Several legal experts say it's possible that the justices may give the case a pass, given the complexity of the arguments, the racially tense climate of the country, and the fact that they've grappled with the issue as recently as 2016."
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| EYE ON 2020 |
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- "Brianna Wu is coming back for 2020," by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: " Brianna Wu, candidate for Congress, issued her first campaign press release about two months after she lost. A Democrat who unsuccessfully challenged US Representative Stephen Lynch in the September primary, Wu did not have a press secretary, money, or much of a staff for her freshman campaign. But as she promised well before Election Day, she intends to learn from that experience and make a comeback tour."
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| DATELINE D.C. |
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- "Despite youthful blue wave, age and power still intertwined in Washington," by Jess Bidgood and Liz Goodwin, Boston Globe:"The graying Capitol got a jolt of youth earlier this month when a new class of House lawmakers, smartphones in hand, descended upon Washington for their freshman orientation. ... But this ambitious class of younger members has entered a Washington where age and power seem more intertwined than ever before. Make that old age and power."
- "Another rebel Dem softens on opposing Pelosi for speaker," by Rachael Bade, Heather Caygle and John Bresnahan, POLITICO:"Another Democrat who has threatened to vote on the House floor against Nancy Pelosi for speaker seemed to soften that stance on Sunday, giving the California Democrat the appearance of momentum before a key test vote on Wednesday. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), one of 16 lawmakers or members-elect who had signed a letter promising to vote against Pelosi on the floor, said on Sunday he would back her over a Republican during the critical Jan. 3 vote."
- "Congress is taking new steps to stop robocall scammers," by Andy Rosen, Boston Globe: "Thousands of holiday dinners will be interrupted this season by buzzing phones bearing recorded messages from telemarketers, promising wealth and threatening financial ruin. But here's something to be thankful for: By next year, the national plague of robocalls could be in retreat. ... In a rare moment of bipartisanship this month, US Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts joined Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, to sponsor a bill that would make it easier for the Federal Communications Commission to levy $10,000 fines against people caught making unwanted robocalls."
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "Anti-Pelosi effort raises questions for Moulton," by Chris Lisinski, The Lowell Sun: "Sixteen representatives and representatives-elect, led in their opposition by U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, signed a letter Monday pledging not to support House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for another term as speaker of the House. Since then, the landscape has changed. ... As a result, experts and commentators are wondering: where, exactly, is Moulton going with this?
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| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
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- "Marijuana stores are open in Mass. Now what?" by Dan Adams, Boston Globe: " After a two-year wait that tested the patience of marijuana consumers and business owners, recreational pot shops are finally open for business in Massachusetts. Now what? So far, just two cannabis retailers have opened their doors: Cultivate in Leicester and New England Treatment Access, or NETA, in Northampton, each located far from the state's most populated areas around Boston. In Boston, it will probably be months before the first shop opens."
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| ALL ABOARD |
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- "20 minutes for one bus, 2 minutes for the next: Why some MBTA trips run back-to-back," by Adam Vaccaro, Boston Globe:"It's one of the most irritating experiences a bus rider can have: After standing on the side of the road for 15 or 20 minutes, the bus finally comes plowing up to the sidewalk — followed almost immediately by another. ... The phenomenon, called "bunching," is common across the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus system, sometimes afflicting the subway as well, an intractable transit problem that MBTA officials say they are trying to address but will have difficulty eradicating."
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| THE LOWELL CONNECTOR |
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- "After years of lobbying, civics ed is law," by Sophia Eppolito, The Lowell Sun: " After nine years of advocating for civics education measures, members of the Lowell youth advocacy group UTEC saw their work pay off during a recent invitation-only signing. Gov. Charlie Baker approved the Act to Promote and Enhance Civic Engagement, which requires the state to strengthen civics education requirements by mandating that American history, social sciences and civics be taught in public schools."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "BORDER CHAOS," "MARKEY TO COLUMBIA EXECS AHEAD OF TODAY'S HEARING: WE WANT ANSWERS!" — Globe:"Migrants rush US border, flee tear gas," "Long wait seen for pot stores in Boston," "For riders, trial by transit." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "Briefings: For Holyoke Council, a Roman Holiday Announcement," by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics and Insight: "Transition will come early to the Holyoke City Council. Ward 2 Councilor Nelson Roman will be resigning to pursue a job out of state. Although Roman's exit will have an impact on the Council, it may not to greatly alter the political environment in the city. Rather, Roman's exit could, initially, be felt most in terms of the Council's diversity."
MAZEL! to Brianna and Andy Castillo, who were married at the Salem Cross Inn in West Brookfield on Saturday. Andy is a reporter for the Daily Hampshire Gazette and Brianna is a registered nurse at Baystate Children's Hospital
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Bob Dunn, court reporter for the Berkshire Eagle.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Patriots beat the Jets 27-13.
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