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WHAT PRESSLEY SAID ON TWITTER — Rep. Ayanna Pressley ripped White House adviser Kellyanne Conway on Twitter last night, telling the Trump administration official to keep Pressley's name out of her "lying mouth."
Conway took to Fox News yesterday to seize on a rift between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and four first-year House members over a vote on a Senate-backed emergency border funding bill.
Here's what went down: Pelosi told a New York Times columnist recently that Pressley and fellow liberal Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib "don't have any following," after they voted against the border spending bill, which they felt did not contain enough protections for migrant children. Pelosi felt was the best bill they could get through the Senate.
"All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world," Pelosi told the Times. "But they didn't have any following. They're four people and that's how many votes they got."
Conway jumped on the criticism, calling it a catfight and a "major meow moment" during a television interview. That's when Pressley hit back.
".@KellyannePolls oh hi Distraction Becky. Remember that time your boss tore babies from their mothers' arms and threw them in cages? Yeah take a seat and keep my name out of your lying mouth," Pressley wrote online yesterday.
Within hours, "Distraction Becky" was trending on Twitter, and Pressley's tweet had been liked and shared more than 100,000 times.
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 Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito announce new legislation for safety and enforcement provisions for transportation network companies. Polito chairs a weekly meeting of the Governor's Council. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh hosts a Venezuelan flag raising at City Hall Plaza, then speaks at a library groundbreaking in Dorchester. Rep. Seth Moulton and other lawmakers who served in the armed forces or as public servants call for the House to pass Amendment 270 to the National Defense Authorization Act, which would prevent the president from using unauthorized force against Iran.
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Want to know what's REALLY happening on Capitol Hill? Get in the game by reading the Huddle, POLITICO's fun and essential play-by-play guide to Congress. Melanie Zanona pulls back the curtain and takes you inside the backrooms on Capitol Hill to keep you apprised of the latest from both the upper and lower chambers. Sign up today.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "CONFEREE SEES BUDGET DEAL AS 'PRETTY CLOSE,'" by Michael P. Norton and Colin A. Young, State House News Service:"State budget negotiators are "pretty close" to an overdue agreement, according to a House negotiator, and the lead Senate conferee told the News Service on Tuesday, "I want it done." "I am concerned as we approach the summer break, which is going to be coming up in August, that the clock is ticking so I think we need to reach consensus probably sooner than later," said Rep. Todd Smola of Warren, one of two Republicans serving on the six-member fiscal 2020 budget conference committee. Asked how close the committee was to a deal, Smola said, 'Pretty close.'"
- "Safety allegations raise control board issues," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "THE MBTA's FISCAL and Management Control Board is widely viewed as a government success story - five, unpaid gubernatorial appointees who have brought public scrutiny to the inner workings of the state's troubled transit authority. But the allegations made by former MBTA chief safety officer Ronald W. Nickle suggest the board is far from perfect. Nickle claims he was fired by the T in March for identifying safety hazards and pushing leaders to be more transparent about derailments, electrocutions, track problems, excessive overtime, and other incidents Gov. Charlie Baker said on Monday that he supported T management's decision to fire Nickle, suggesting the T has a strong rebuttal to Nickle's claims. But the incident should factor into the Legislature's deliberations about how to replace the control board once its term expires next year. The big question: How can the T's chief safety officer be fired and no one on the control board asks why?"
- "Section 35 Panel Recommends Mass. End Civil Commitments To Prisons, Jails," by Deborah Becker, WBUR: "How Massachusetts involuntarily commits people to addiction treatment is likely to change after much debate about one of the most visible intersections of the public health and criminal justice systems. A state commission has released its final recommendations about the civil commitment process under the state law known as Section 35. With more than 5,700 involuntary commitments to addiction treatment in the last fiscal year, Massachusetts is a state where these types of commitments are widely used. It's also believed to be the only state that sends civilly committed men to jails and prisons for treatment, even though they haven't committed any crimes."
- "Mass. Says It Does Not Provide RMV System Access To Federal Authorities," by Steve Brown, WBUR: "Following reports that federal investigators are using some states' driver's license databases for searching for possible facial recognition matches, the Baker administration says federal authorities do not have access to Massachusetts' license system. "The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles cooperates with law enforcement on specific case by case queries related to criminal investigations but does not provide system access to federal authorities and is not negotiating to do so," Judi Riley, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, said in an email to WBUR."
- "Mass. lawmakers hear calls to update public school curriculum," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "From the science of climate change to trauma response to mental illness, lawmakers and advocates on Tuesday made their case for updating the Massachusetts public school curriculum to equip young people for modern realities. The Education Committee held a hearing on a series of bills that propose instruction on topics supporters said deserve more attention in the classroom. Much of the testimony focused on bills dealing with mental health education. Rep. Natalie Higgins and Sen. Nick Collins offered bills (H 482, S 244) that would make mental health education a required subject, while a Sen. Dean Tran bill (S 731) would establish mental health promotion as an optional component of high school health education curriculum."
- "Mass. Is Spending $86M From The GE Headquarters Sale On Workforce Housing," by Michael P. Norton and Matt Murphy, State House News Service: "The Baker administration announced Tuesday that it will use $86 million that the state received from the sale of General Electric's headquarters to create workforce housing and homeownership opportunities for first-time buyers. Under plans outlined by Gov. Charlie Baker, a $60 million commitment will create about 500 new homes that will be affordable to moderate income, first-time home buyers. About 260 new workforce rental units will be supported with the remaining $26 million, according to the governor's office."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "'Stay in Boston,' DA Rollins urges law students of color," by Greg Ryan, Boston Business Journal: "Boston's law firm leaders widely acknowledge the need to diversify their ranks. Minorities make up less than 5 percent of partners in the Boston area, according to a survey this year, putting the region behind places like New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. To address that shortcoming, managing partners at 17 of Boston's largest law firms brought together the city's legal interns of color on Monday evening, for a first-of-its-kind soiree on the rooftop terrace at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP's Financial District office. And they invited one of the biggest names in Boston's legal community to speak to the aspiring attorneys: Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins."
- "Harvard fires fencing coach over Needham house sale," by Michael Levenson, Boston Globe: "Harvard said Tuesday that it is firing its longtime fencing coach, finding that he violated the university's conflict-of-interest policy by selling his home to a wealthy businessman whose teenage son was looking to apply to the university and fence on the team. The university retained a private law firm to review the deal in April, when the Globe first reported that the coach, Peter Brand, and his wife, Jacqueline Phillips, had sold their home in May 2016 to Jie "Jack" Zhao, whose son, then a high school junior, was interested in fencing for Harvard."
- "Mass. Attorney General Maura Healey defends Obamacare as court takes up issue," by Meghan Ottolini, Boston Herald:"Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey voiced her defense of the Affordable Care Act Tuesday, rallying with Obamacare supporters hours before the U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments over the law's constitutionality. "This isn't just a fight about the law, it's a fight about country, our values, and whether we're going to take care of one another," Healey said, standing on the harbor side of the John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston. With Healey's stance, Massachusetts joins 16 other states defending the ACA in Texas v. United States, which will be tried in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Louisiana. The law's latest challenge comes nine years after President Obama first enacted the legislation, and after two Supreme Court cases."
- "Who gets abortions in Massachusetts? Here's what the data show," by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: "Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a bill that would codify abortion rights in state law and remove barriers that now prevent women in certain circumstances from getting abortions. Women under 18, for example, need a parent's consent or a judicial order to get an abortion — a restriction the bill would remove. The bill would also allow an abortion after 24 weeks if a fetus is diagnosed with a fatal anomaly. Abortions are now allowed in Massachusetts after that time only if the mother's life or health is threatened. There were 18,256 abortions in Massachusetts last year, according to the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, which tracks the data. The annual number has dropped dramatically over time, after peaking at 44,044 in 1979."
- "Police investigating whether alt-right group is linked to fireworks incident near Bunker Hill Monument," by Travis Andersen, Boston Globe: "Demonstrators who set off flares near the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown late Saturday had their faces covered, and law enforcement officials are trying to determine whether they are linked to an alt-right group, authorities say. Boston police were called to the monument area around 11:45 p.m. and were met by a park ranger, who told them he'd been informed by witnesses that up to 20 people with "cloths covering their faces" had lit off flares and paint canisters placed at the base of the William Prescott statue, a department incident report said."
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "Here's what legal experts are saying about the Kevin Spacey sexual assault case," by Travis Andersen, Matt Rocheleau and John R. Ellement, Boston Globe: "A missing phone at the center of Kevin Spacey's pending sexual assault case on Nantucket, coupled with the accuser's refusal to answer questions about the device, could force prosecutors to drop an indecent assault and battery charge filed against the actor, legal experts said Tuesday. "If I were a betting man, I'd say this case is going to end short of a trial" via dismissal, said Chris Dearborn, clinical professor of law at Suffolk University and a former Massachusetts public defender. Dearborn and other specialists spoke to the Globe following a dramatic hearing Monday in Nantucket District Court, where Spacey's 21-year-old accuser asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination regarding the phone."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Elizabeth Warren welcomes Tom Steyer to the 2020 race — with a subtweet," by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com: "Welcome to the Democratic presidential primary, Tom Steyer. Elizabeth Warren disapproves of your campaign. "The Democratic primary should not be decided by billionaires, whether they're funding Super PACs or funding themselves," Warren tweeted Tuesday afternoon, just hours after Steyer, a billionaire hedge-fund founder and liberal philanthropist, officially launched his 2020 campaign. While her tweet did not mention Steyer by name, it mirrored previous criticisms Warren had lobbed at billionaires considering self-funded presidential campaigns, like Starbucks founder Howard Schultz and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg."
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| FROM THE DELEGATION |
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- "Trahan filing bill, ignores Pence's assurances," by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: "US REP. LORI TRAHAN on Wednesday described her recent trip to detention facilities along the US- Mexico border last week, talking about how the conditions she saw spurred her to write legislation addressing a small part of the problem. The Accountability for Migrant Deaths Act would require that Congress be notified within 24 hours of a migrant dying while in US custody. The bill would also mandate that the House Committee on Oversight and Reform or another committee with jurisdiction hold a public hearing within a week of that notification to receive testimony from appropriate agency officials relating to the death. The measure would also limit the secretaries of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services from exerting executive privilege to avoid publicly testifying."
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| THE CLARK CAUCUS |
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- "Katherine Clark quietly eyes leadership ascent," by Scott Wong and Mike Lillis, The Hill: "She's the most powerful woman in the Capitol you've probably never heard of. But for Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.), the vice chairwoman of the Democratic Caucus, that soon may change as she eyes a climb to the top. The progressive Massachusetts Democrat has been quietly working behind the scenes to curry favor with House colleagues, writing checks and campaigning around the country on their behalf. She's been holding one-on-one meetings with members in an effort to lend them greater voice, and hosting lawmakers at monthly policy dinners, including a June gathering with celebrity chef José Andrés on disaster relief."
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| IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN |
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- "At 'wit's end,' Mariano pushes Weymouth air-monitoring bill," by Chris Lisinski, State House News Service: "House Majority Leader Ronald Mariano urged colleagues Tuesday to advance legislation that would require additional air-quality monitoring near compressor stations, a bill he told constituents two weeks ago he would try to fast-track amid ongoing controversy over a Weymouth proposal. Mariano, a Quincy Democrat, opened a Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy hearing Tuesday by saying he was at his "wit's end" dealing with decades of pollution from industrial facilities in the area of the Fore River, which runs between Quincy and Weymouth. Now, after what Mariano described as "egregious shortcomings" in the Baker administration's approval of a Weymouth natural gas compressor station, he pushed for the legislation as necessary to ensure public health."
MASS FISCAL ALLIANCE CONCEALS ITS MEMBERSHIP AND CONTRIBUTORS AND HAS OFFERED SLANTED UNTRUE ATTACKS ON DEMOCRATS. ITS POSTAL PERMIT IS OUT OF STATE. AS SUCH, ANY INFORMATION OR REPORTS GENERATED SHOULD BE QUESTIONED FOR THEIR VERACITY.
- "Study: Carbon tax carries high cost, low benefit," by Mary Markos, Boston Herald: "A proposed Carbon tax in Massachusetts would have an "insignificant" impact on the environment and be costly to taxpayers and the economy, according to a new study. The study, commissioned by the Fiscal Alliance Foundation and conducted by the Beacon Hill Institute (BHI), was based on a bill filed by Rep. Jennifer Benson (D-Lunenburg), An Act to Promote Green Infrastructure and Reduce Carbon Emissions, which has 108 co-sponsors. Paul D. Craney, spokesperson for the Fiscal Alliance Foundation, argued that Benson's carbon tax does not factor in the fact that Massachusetts cannot control what air enters and leaves the state and that carbon emission control would only be effective at the federal or international level."
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| ALL ABOARD |
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- "Developers pressed to fund extra T service," by Tim Logan, Boston Globe: "As debate roars over how to fund improvements to Greater Boston's dysfunctional mass transit system, state officials are increasingly pressuring real estate developers to pitch in. In recent months, they have reached agreements with developers of two big projects north of downtown to pay for extra service on the MBTA's Orange Line. The arrangements mark a new approach to subsidizing public transportation with developers' money. Traditionally, builders have agreed to improve, or build, transit stations located near their projects, but they haven't funded operations. With more such deals likely on the way, transportation advocates say they could someday become standard practice — a way to meet the added demand on the system from new apartment and office buildings sprouting along T routes."
- "Red Line ridership continues to lag," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "Red Line ridership continued to lag behind normal levels during the last week of June - the continuation of a trend that began after a train car derailed at the JFK/UMass station on June 11. The number of weekday tap-ins - people using Charlie Cards or tickets to pass through fare gates - remained below 200,000 every day during the last week of June as it did during the two preceding weeks. Normally, Red Line tap-ins exceed 200,000 a day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Red Line taps averaged 193,156 during the last week of June, up 1.6 percent over the previous week and 6.6 percent above the week of the June 11 derailment. But the number was 4.3 percent below the first week in June and 4.4 percent below the average for all of June 2018."
- "A new program helps late-night workers in Boston get subsidized Lyft rides," by Janelle Nanos, Boston Globe: "Last call may signal the end of the party for Greater Boston's nightlife revelers. But service workers — those who tend bar or run restaurants — still have a long night ahead of them to close the establishments. And without reliable late-night public transit options, getting home is often a difficult and expensive endeavor. For several months, though, the ride-hailing service Lyft has been piloting an effort to help service workers save money on fares. Since mid-April, in a first-of-its-kind partnership, the company has teamed up with restaurateur Garrett Harker to test a subsidized ride program at three of Harker's restaurants. About 70 employees at Eastern Standard and the Hawthorne in Kenmore Square and at Branch Line in Watertown pay a base fare of $3.50 for a shared ride home from work. The restaurant group and Lyft subsidize the rest."
- "At Aquarium Station, 'Water Transportation' Is A Multi-Million-Dollar Problem," by Robin Washington, WGBH News: "In a bit of unintended irony, the train announcement for Aquarium Station on the Blue Line tells passengers it's the stop to make a connection for water transportation. The announcement is referring to the T's water shuttle, but riders are likely more familiar with the water on the platform. "I always see water [there]," said Amy Cosman, who's been using the stop for five years. She said she's never seen it without water on the platform, which the T has addressed by placing orange cones that one more typically sees when someone is mopping a floor."
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| ON THE STUMP |
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- "Liss-Riordan loans campaign $1 million for Markey challenge," by Aidan Ryan, Boston Globe: "Shannon Liss-Riordan, the Brookline labor attorney challenging US Senator Edward J. Markey in next year's primary, has loaned her campaign $1 million for her effort to topple the incumbent, according to a preliminary copy of a fund-raising report from her campaign. She raised just shy of $145,000 and will report about $992,000 in cash on hand for the second quarter, which ended June 30. Liss-Riordan officially began her campaign in May."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "DREAM COME TRUE," — Globe: "Harvard fires fencing coach over house sale," "Developers pressed to fund extra T service." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "Dozens of officers searching for Pittsfield man who escaped custody," by Haven Orecchio-Egresitz, The Berkshire Eagle:"More than 30 law enforcement officers from multiple agencies remain on the hunt for an inmate who escaped custody Monday afternoon at Berkshire Medical Center. Harry Chandler, who has a black belt in judo, overpowered a deputy with the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office as he was being released from the hospital. The escape triggered an extensive police manhunt in the Morningside neighborhood, including the use of a state police helicopter, that lasted until 4:30 a.m. Tuesday. Officers resumed their search at 8:30 a.m., Sheriff Thomas Bowler said."
- "Aerosmith reunited with restored tour van salvaged from Chesterfield woods," by Erin O'Neill, Daily Hampshire Gazette:"Rock legends Aerosmith were reunited with their original tour van from the 1970s, which was plucked out of the Chesterfield woods last summer on the TV show "American Pickers." Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, hosts of the show on the History Channel, purchased the van for $25,000 and restored it. In an episode that aired Monday, Wolfe and Fritz presented the now-road-worthy 1960s International Harvester Metro Van to members of Aerosmith in Las Vegas. "I think it's f------ amazing," Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry said when the band saw the restored van for the first time."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Braintree councilor and mayoral candidate connected to RMV scandal," by Audrey Cooney, Braintree Forum: "Thomas Bowes, a Braintree town councilor and mayoral candidate, is the director of a state Registry of Motor Vehicles board that failed to process tens of thousands of notifications letting the RMV know about out-of-state traffic violations, including one for the driver in a New Hampshire crash that killed seven motorcyclists in June. Bowes is the director of the RMV's Merit Review Board, which manages drivers' records for traffic violations, insurance claims and out-of-state driving records. A Massachusetts Department of Transportation review of the RMV's procedures for sharing data with other states launched after the deadly crash revealed a massive backlog of unprocessed out-of-state notifications that should have suspended the licenses of hundreds of Massachusetts drivers."
- "Officials outline plan to boost businesses still struggling from gas disaster," by Jessica Valeriani, Eagle-Tribune: "Officials huddled outside Rose & Dove Gift Shop Tuesday morning to detail a new regional marketing campaign that will boost small businesses still struggling from the Sept. 13 gas disaster. They also provided an update on business recovery efforts. The campaign, called Rock the Register, is aimed at helping local businesses get attention and bringing customers back to local shops. Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera said the initiative is funded through $10 million from Columbia Gas for economic development in the three impacted communities of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover."
- "Drone video captures great white shark interaction off Cape Cod," by Edward Sutelan, Cape Cod Times: "An interaction between two great white sharks captured by a drone off the coast of Chatham has researchers at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy hoping to learn more about their behavior. The nonprofit's local team "is hoping to see the high res version to learn more about the interaction" between the great white sharks in a video the group calls "FIRST FOOTAGE EVER," according to Atlantic White Shark Conservancy social media pages. The video comes just as great white shark sightings in the Cape Cod area are becoming more frequent."
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| MEDIA MATTERS |
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- Adrian Ma joins WBUR as a business reporter. Tweet.
TRANSITIONS - Lynette Cook-Francis was named senior vice president for student engagement and enrollment management at Simmons University, beginning Aug. 23.
MAZEL! to Spectrum Health Systems, Inc., which celebrates its 50th anniversary.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Edie Mead Holway, Andy Flick, chief of staff to Rep. David Trone and former political director for the Serve America PAC, and Samuel Weinstock, legislative aide for Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
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