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Presented by JUUL Labs
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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
WHO OWNS THE LEFT? — A battle is brewing between two New England progressives for the first-in-the-nation primary. And as New Hampshire hangs in the balance, who will have the home field advantage —Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts or Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont?
Sanders made a three-stop swing in New Hampshire yesterday, snapping selfies, delivering his stump speech and scooping ice cream with the founders of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. While Sanders drew large crowds and enthusiastic support, Warren is gaining on him in the polls.
Former Vice President Joe Biden holds the lead among New Hampshire voters, but a poll released last week found Sanders and Warren are nearly tied for second place. Sanders has support from 12 percent of Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire, and Warren was a point behind him with 11 percent of support, according to a Tel Opinion Research poll. The margin of error was 4 percent.
Sanders said yesterday that wide support in the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary would put him on track to perform well in the other early voting states of South Carolina and Nevada, and then California. "If we can win those states I think we have a very strong path to victory," Sanders said.
But that momentum hinges on New Hampshire. Sanders is hoping to replicate a show of strength there like he had in 2016, but the field has totally shifted. Namely, he's got company on the left side of the party.
Warren and Sanders both call for bold, sweeping change to the political system, rather than the approach pitched by more moderate candidates like Biden. When Sanders said the word "incrementalism" yesterday, the audience in a Rollinsford, N.H., backyard booed.
Both New England lawmakers are pitching the progressive populism that Sanders brought to the national stage in 2016. Sanders ripped Amazon for not paying enough in taxes yesterday, and Warren has laid out a policy plan to break up big tech companies like Amazon. Sanders talked yesterday about how some Americans living paycheck-to-paycheck couldn't come up with with $500 if their car broke down, and Warren makes a similar pitch about how many families could not spot $400 in an emergency.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Marty Walshattend the Amazon Seaport groundbreaking. Baker, Walsh, Secretary of State Bill Galvin, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, state Sen. Joseph Boncore and state Rep. Aaron Michlewitz attend a ribbon cutting for The Union. Walsh speaks at a luncheon for Boston Public Schools valedictorians. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito co-chairs an Economic Development Planning Council engagement session.
Rep. Katherine Clark surprises a a former World War II spy with a Congressional Gold Medal at the Lincoln Senior Center. Rep. Seth Moulton campaigns in Lynn. Rep. Jim McGovern volunteers in Leominster, visits a food bank in Gardner and hosts an academy night in Whitinsville.
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A message from JUUL Labs:
Youth vaping is a problem. We're taking action. No youth or non-nicotine user should ever try JUUL products. We've taken a series of actions to greatly reduce youth use of tobacco products, including our own. Learn more about our youth prevention efforts: JUUL.com/youth-prevention
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Casinos and daily fantasy industries get on same page about sports bets," by Andy Rosen, Boston Globe: "Key players in the state's gambling industry are aligning on major aspects of how legalized sports betting could work in Massachusetts, potentially heading off a fight over the spoils of a potentially lucrative business that is rapidly expanding around the nation. The state's three casinos say they now support mobile sports betting, and that both casinos and established fantasy sports firms should be able to run digital sports books. That's a position casinos in other states have resisted, and one that online betting companies, including Boston's well-connected DraftKings, have long been pushing. The management of MGM Springfield, Plainridge Park Casino, and Encore Boston Harbor plan to lay out their position Tuesday, when a legislative panel begins two days of high-stakes hearings that could set the scene for the state's first major gambling expansion since casinos were legalized in 2011."
- "Amid growing pressure, lawmakers push to overhaul school funding formula," by Victoria McGrane, Boston Globe: "Towns are threatening lawsuits. Teachers, students, and other activists thronged the State House and the Boston Common demanding more money for schools. Officials in struggling urban districts say they're counting on the Legislature to deliver a revamped funding formula by the time they start the next school year. Amid this external pressure, the House and Senate chairs of the Legislature's Education Committee say they hope to unveil as soon as next month a consensus bill to overhaul Massachusetts's troubled education funding formula, which a legislative commission concluded nearly four years ago is shortchanging K-12 education in the state by $1 billion or more."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "AG: Logan Airport contractor falsified payroll records," by Katie Johnston, Boston Globe: "Not long after she started working for an airline contractor at Logan Airport in the summer of 2017, the payroll coordinator said, she was instructed to cheat workers out of wages. Those workers, mostly wheelchair attendants who transport elderly and disabled passengers for JetBlue Airways and other airlines, made $11.25 an hour, plus tips, for Flight Services & Systems, known as FSS. Gratuities were supposed to bring the workers up to $12 an hour, the minimum wage at Logan at the time. To ensure this, workers were instructed to claim at least 75 cents in tips for every hour they worked — regardless of what they actually made. If they didn't, the payroll coordinator did it for them. After a few months, the payroll coordinator spoke up. A few weeks later, she said, she was fired. Then she contacted the attorney general."
- "Guards acquitted in death of Bridgewater State patient Joshua Messier were reinstated -- each with back pay over $200K, state records show," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican:"Three guards who were acquitted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Bridgewater State Hospital patient Joshua Messier have returned to work at the Department of Correction — each with six-figure payments for the wages they lost while they were out of work. George Billadeau, John Raposo and Derek Howard were all paid large sums of money on Jan. 23, 2019, according to newly released data on state settlements. Billadeau was paid $312,780; Raposo was paid $234,000 and Howard was paid $225,160."
- "Beyond budget figures: Report provides a snapshot of 1.8m on MassHealth," by Priyanka Dayal McCluskey, Boston Globe: "It's known as the state's budget buster, a big public entitlement program whose enrollment is often growing and costs are always rising. The Massachusetts Medicaid program, known as MassHealth, provides health coverage to more than a quarter of the state population. So, who benefits from the program? A new report attempts to describe these 1.8 million people, as lawmakers prepare to finalize the state budget over the coming weeks. While it doesn't recommend policy changes, the report attempts to humanize a program that is often reduced to numbers and statistics."
- "Environmental Police pay $95K for allegedly harassing, firing a hearing-impaired employee," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "The Massachusetts Environmental Police paid $95,000 to settle a lawsuit by a former employee who says he was mocked and harassed for being hearing impaired. The state paid the settlement to Ralph Claudomir in December 2018 to settle a lawsuit that was initially filed in 2015. According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, Claudomir, of Milton, is deaf in one ear and lost partial hearing in the other. He was hired by the Environmental Police in April 2011 as the registration bureau chief, in charge of managing the offices where people register their boats and recreational vehicles. Claudomir disclosed his disability during job interviews."
- "For women in Mass. on front lines of the fight to dismantle Roe v. Wade, hope mixes with skepticism," by Deanna Pan, Boston Globe: "Perhaps no Supreme Court case has so fundamentally changed the course of women's lives in the United States as Roe v. Wade. Frances Hogan was no exception. A devout Catholic, Hogan, 73, started volunteering for antiabortion causes in 1968 when she was a student at Boston College Law School. But she didn't become a full-fledged activist until the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in 1973, affirming women's access to abortion as a constitutional right. Hogan was shocked, incredulous even. Then she remembered something her father had said years before, during a childhood vacation to Washington, D.C ."
- "Mayor says Boston has housed 1,000-plus homeless veterans," Associated Press: "Mayor Marty Walsh says Boston has provided housing to more than 1,000 homeless veterans over the past five years. Walsh said in a statement Monday the city continues to work on the problem, even though Boston was deemed to have ended chronic homelessness in 2016 among those who served in the armed forces. He says Boston now has one of the lowest rates of veteran homelessness in the U.S. Officials say most are Vietnam veterans."
- "Massachusetts Cities, Towns Seeing Population Growth, Says U.S. Census Bureau," The Associated Press: "Population in most Massachusetts cities and towns is continuing to grow. That's according to the latest population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Boston, Cambridge, and Framingham had the largest population gains in raw numbers from 2017 to 2018, while Sudbury, Sharon, and Stoneham had the largest increase by percentage. Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said the fact that 82% of Massachusetts communities saw an increase in residents during the same period is important as the state prepares for the upcoming federal 2020 Census."
- "Weekend gunplay worries Boston officials," by Brooks Sutherland, Boston Herald: "Two shootings Sunday in Boston are pushing city leaders to double down on efforts to get out ahead of any possible expected uptick in violence as summer approaches. "It gets concerning to me," said Mayor Martin Walsh, who told reporters Monday he feels confident that the summer programs he and police Commissioner William Gross have implemented will help keep people involved and out of trouble. 'When you have a stretch where you don't have much activity going on and then you have this kind of stretch, especially around Memorial Day and these holidays that people should be celebrating the memories of fallen veterans who put their life on the line for us.'"
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "She's got a plan for that. Warren tries to break out with flurry of policy proposals." by Ali Vitali, NBC News: "When voters ask Sen. Elizabeth Warren about her plan for universal child care, she's likely to launch into a story about her Aunt Bee — a woman who, as the candidate tells it, came to help, arriving "with seven suitcases and a Pekingese named Buddy" — and stayed for 16 years. It's a story to tell voters more about Warren herself, but it also serves to highlight one of her many policy prescriptions for the country. The Massachusetts Democrat has churned out a consistent stream of policy proposals since getting in the president race, with more than a dozen in-depth plans ranging from leveraging public lands in the fight against climate change to student loan debt forgiveness. While other candidates have worked to increase their name ID, Warren is pushing to make her name synonymous with having "a plan for that" — the thing that could differentiate her from the Democratic field of more than 20 contenders."
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| TRUMPACHUSETTS |
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- "Wampanoag tribe fights latest in long history of ills," by Brian MacQuarrie, Boston Globe: "The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe typically takes the long view when confronted with yet another setback in the four tumultuous centuries since it greeted the Pilgrims in Plymouth. The tribe was decimated by English settlers in the 17th century, forced onto lands that later became this Cape Cod town, and then had to wait until 2007 for federal recognition. In another blow, President Trump tweeted May 8 that House Republicans should vote against continued federal protection for their tribal lands, which the Mashpee Wampanoag need for a $1 billion casino in Taunton. "Let's roll back the tape 400 years," tribal chairman Cedric Cromwell said with a sigh."
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| KENNEDY COMPOUND |
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- "Joe Kennedy III, LGBTQ group rip Trump administration proposal on transgender protections," by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: "Congressman Joe Kennedy III, a Newton Democrat, on Friday slammed a Trump administration proposal targeting discrimination protections for transgender people in health care. "Allowing discrimination and hatred to enter our exam rooms was a vestige of our dark past when patients could be denied care simply because of who they are," Kennedy said in a statement. 'By attempting to overturn the Health Care Rights Law, the Trump Administration is spreading fear and confusion across our health care system and putting the lives of transgender Americans at risk.'"
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "Meet the Iraq War veteran and presidential candidate who wants to carry on John McCain's legacy of public service for a new generation," by David Choi, Business Insider: "Moulton fought in two major battles in the Iraq War and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation medal with accompanying "V" devices for valor. His award citations reportedly included "fearlessly [exposing] himself to enemy fire" after four of his Marines were wounded. While there are plenty examples of lawmakers embellishing their military record, Moulton continues to underplay his service. During his initial bid for Congress, few people knew of his merit-based awards — including his parents and the majority of his campaign staff, according to The Boston Globe."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "BEAUTIFUL!" — Globe: "Bringing high ideals to a low-wage industry," "Lawmakers prioritize education funds bill." |
| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "NH voters sizing up crowded Democratic field," by Christian M. Wade, Gloucester Daily Times: "Chuck Bailey hasn't decided whom he'll vote for in next year's first-in-the-nation presidential primary, but the choice could come down to electability. Bailey, a Democrat, said picking a candidate who can deprive incumbent Republican President Donald Trump of a second term in the White House will be a key factor in his decision. "One of the things that's on everyone's mind is who can beat Trump," said Bailey, 78, of Amherst. "We need a change of leadership and direction, for the sake of the country." Two dozen Democrats have entered the primary to take on Trump — a historically high number of contenders that includes seven senators, four members of the House and two sitting governors."
- "Shrewsbury GOP mailing called a 'poke in the eye,'" by Mark Sullivan, Telegram & Gazette: "A rift between the state Republican Party apparatus and the Baker-Polito administration made itself felt in last month's town election here, political observers say. In the campaign for Shrewsbury Housing Authority, the state GOP subsidized a mailing on behalf of Brenda Brown, a political newcomer who was one of three candidates for a seat on the board. While municipal elections in Shrewsbury are non-partisan, Ms. Brown is a Republican. However, so is the incumbent Housing Authority chairman Ms. Brown was challenging. Paul Campaniello's re-election campaign for a third five-year term was backed by Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and state Rep. Hannah Kane, both Shrewsbury Republicans. In getting involved in the Housing Authority campaign, the state GOP was backing a challenge to a local Republican incumbent, endorsed by the Republican lieutenant governor, in the lieutenant governor's own backyard."
- "Shark Attacks Prompt New Kind Of First Aid Training For Beachgoers," by Hayley Fager, WCAI: "Fake limbs and rolls of gauze sat on tables in the community room at the Orleans Police Department, as a recent Stop the Bleed training got under way. The trainings are a modern-day equivalent to CPR classes, says Orleans Fire Chief Anthony Pike. Stop the Bleed teaches response to major wounds, like shark bites, and the program has been popular. "I think a lot of our residents are realizing that we're going to have to coexist with great white sharks, which make our beach potentially very dangerous," Pike said. William Lytton, 62, survived a shark attack in Truro last summer, Pike said, in large part because people on the beach knew how to treat his wounds."
SPOTTED: Bill Weld having dinner on Sunday night at the Republic restaurant in Manchester, N.H. with his wife Leslie, son Quentin and his stepson Marshall, during a campaign swing in the state.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY - to Hana Veselka Vizcarra and Sabrina Correa, who celebrated Sunday; and Melissa Ludtke, who celebrated yesterday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Alan Khazei, who is 58.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes!! The Bruins beat the Blues 4-2.
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.
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