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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: WALSH HEADS TO NAACP CONFERENCE— Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is headed to Detroit today with NAACP Boston Branch President Tanisha Sullivan to attend the NAACP convention and accept an invitation to host next year's gathering in Boston.
The NAACP announced that it would hold its 2020 convention in Boston in March, and Walsh will formally accept the offer during this trip to Michigan.
"In 2020, I'm incredibly proud that Boston will host this crucial convention. I look forward to working with our partners to make this event an outstanding success, and invite all of our city to join me in letting our country's top leaders on issues of race, equity and justice know how welcome they will be in Boston," Walsh said in a statement.
Walsh will host a reception for convention attendees who live in Boston and New England this evening. Tomorrow, Sullivan and the mayor will formally accept the invitation to host the 2020 event at the conclusion of this year's convention.
NEW THIS MORNING: PEMBERTON TAKES ON SEN. ED MARKEY — A second Democratic challenger to Sen. Ed Markey is jumping in the race today. Steve Pemberton, an executive and author, says he'll use his background as a former foster child in New Bedford to bring a renewed sense of urgency and lived experience to the Senate. Pemberton had been in the exploratory phase of a Senate run, and today he's making his candidacy official, saying it is time for a new generation and new voices.
"I see this as less a discussion about difference , because I don't see myself as being fundamentally different than Mr. Markey on a number of issues, but I'm going to be more urgent about things like income inequality, and access to higher education, and access to qualify health care, because it is personal and it should be personal," Pemberton told me in an interview yesterday. "I think it's going to be a different perspective."
Pemberton is formally announcing his Senate bid with a video released this morning, and will kick off his campaign with an event at Bristol Community College in New Bedford today with his wife, Tonya, and their kids. Later, Pemberton will visit Doyle's Cafe in Jamaica Plain.
Pemberton joins labor attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan in the race to unseat Markey. Liss-Riordan chipped in $1 million of her own money to her campaign this quarter, according to campaign finance reports, and has opened an office in Boston.
Pemberton is best known as the author of "A Chance in the World," a memoir about his rags-to-riches story growing up as a foster child in New Bedford, which was turned into a movie. Right now, he's the chief human resource officer at Workhuman, a tech company in Framingham, where he lives. Pemberton previously served as a senior executive at Walgreens, and had lived in Illinois, where that company is headquartered.
"I arrived back here in Massachusetts professionally in 2017. I have lived in the commonwealth for over 45 years. This is my home. I was born here, I went to public high school here, I went to college here, I met my wife here, my children were born here," Pemberton said. "All of my connections, my relationship, and particularly for me, for whom home was hard to find, this is my home."
Pemberton has an inspirational personal story. He was born into hardship — his mother died from alcoholism and his father was killed by gun violence. Pemberton spent his childhood in foster homes that were unstable and even violent. He overcame the odds, graduated from Boston College in the late 1980s and began a successful career. That life experience is what Pemberton says would make him an asset in the Senate.
"I'm an example why you should make the investments and commitments in those who are the most vulnerable in our society. I like to think that my life arc, my life journey that began in such a perilous place, that was embodied in that prediction for me: not a chance in the world," Pemberton told me. "Things turned out a bit differently for me."
Here's where Pemberton stands on a few Democratic issues: Pemberton says he agrees with the goals of the Green New Deal, a resolution introduced by Markey and progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He told me he sees health care as a human right, but left the door open for future talks about Medicare for All or other options. He says President Donald Trump is "unfit for office" and ought to be impeached, and he will not take corporate PAC money for his Senate campaign.
Pemberton is working with Northwind Strategies, the firm founded by Doug Rubin, who was chief of staff to former Gov. Deval Patrick and the strategist behind Sen. Elizabeth Warren's 2012 win.
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 is in Colorado for the Republican Governors Association summer meeting. Acting Gov. Karyn Politoand New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell announce an expansion of the Transformative Development Initiative in New Bedford. Polito announces recipients of the Massachusetts Dredging Program's 2019 grant round in Hingham and leads a roundtable on the RESPECTfully campaign in Quincy. Attorney General Maura Healey is a guest on WGBH's "Boston Public Radio." Boston Mayor Marty Walsh testifies before the Joint Committee on Financial Services, before traveling to the NAACP convention in Detroit.
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TECHNOLOGICAL DISRUPTION - WHO WILL WRITE THE RULES?Chapter two of POLITICO's Global Translations" podcast, presented by Citi, is now live. Explore the emergence of 5G technology with host Luiza Savage, understand its role as the foundation for the future of artificial intelligence, and learn who will write the rules in the race to dominate technological advancement. Listen Now.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Massachusetts Legislature passes $43.1 billion state budget for fiscal 2020," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican:"The Massachusetts House and Senate on Monday passed a $43.1 billion state budget for fiscal 2020, 22 days after the start of the fiscal year. The figure is larger than the budgets initially proposed by Gov. Charlie Baker and voted on by the House and the Senate earlier this year, all of which were closer to $42.7 billion. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Aaron Michlewitz, D-Boston, called the budget "a balanced and fiscally responsible proposal built off of existing revenues we know we can count on going forward." The budget passed the House unanimously, 158-0. The Senate vote was 39-1 ."
- "Frustrated lawmakers abruptly end RMV oversight hearing," by Andy Metzger, CommonWealth Magazine: "FRUSTRATED OVER THE lack of cooperation from the Baker administration on a legislative probe into extensive failures at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, lawmakers cut short their oversight hearing Monday morning, essentially telling Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack to come back when she had something to tell them. An "extremely disappointed" House Speaker Robert DeLeo lent his support to lawmakers on Monday afternoon, calling upon "the Administration and MassDOT to participate in the Committee's fact-finding process without exception or qualification." On Monday morning Pollack hardly got a word in edgewise as the co-chairmen of the Transportation Committee, Rep. William Straus and Sen. Joseph Boncore, admonished her for failing to produce documents or secure the appearance of key registry figures."
- "Lawmakers largely followed Baker's lead to reach compromise to curb drug costs," by Priyanka Dayal McCluskey, Boston Globe:"State lawmakers on Monday approved a $43.1 billion state budget that included something rarely seen in 2019 politics: a compromise on a difficult hot-button issue. Legislators voted in favor of new policies to curb the cost of prescription drugs in the state Medicaid program, putting their stamp on a plan initially laid out by Governor Charlie Baker in January. Consumer advocates applauded the compromise, while drug company lobbyists indicated they could live with it. Lawmakers softened some of Baker's original language but generally followed his blueprint to require drug companies to negotiate discounted prices with the state."
- "State calls off sale of East Boston easement rights," by Michael Jonas, CommonWealth Magazine: "STATE TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS said on Monday they are canceling the planned sale of rights to a stretch of land in East Boston and instead committing to a study of the area to see if the parcel could better be used to alleviate congestion on busy Route 1A. Joseph Aiello, chairman of the MBTA''s Fiscal and Management Control Board, said at the start of the group's meeting on Monday that an agenda item to hold a discussion regarding the railroad right-of-way was being withdrawn and the invitation for bids was being canceled."
- "Massachusetts budget aims to ease eligibility for homeless shelters," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican:"Massachusetts is on the verge of repealing a rule advocates say led to many homeless families spending a night in a car or emergency room before becoming eligible for shelter. Families with children today can enter shelter in Massachusetts if they were a victim of domestic violence, were evicted or suffered a natural disaster. Or, for a family to qualify under a rule meant to prevent children from living in unsafe situations, they must have spent a night in a place "not meant for human habitation." Advocates for homeless people have been trying for years to repeal this rule, which was put in place under former Gov. Deval Patrick in 2012 and kept by Gov. Charlie Baker.
- "SPEAKER'S CLIMATE CHANGE BILL TO GET HOUSE VOTE WEDNESDAY," by Colin A. Young, State House News Service:"The House is expected on Wednesday to debate and vote on legislation Speaker Robert DeLeo has championed to provide $1 billion over 10 years to help cities and towns prepare for and adjust to climate change. The so-called "GreenWorks" bill is on the docket for consideration before the full House during Wednesday's formal session, according to a scheduling email from the speaker's office. DeLeo had said he wanted a vote on his bill before lawmakers take a summer recess, typically at the end of July. The bill (H 3941) would create the GreenWorks infrastructure program and allocate $1 billion over 10 years via grants through the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. DeLeo's plan would see the state borrow the money -- a total of $1.295 billion -- and make the 20 years of debt payments exempt from the state's statutory debt ceiling."
- "Education advocates see progress on Beacon Hill," by James Vaznis, Boston Globe: "Many education advocates are characterizing the state's new budget as a big step toward overhauling school funding, but they are still eager for Beacon Hill to pass a separate and more comprehensive remake of the state's 26-year-old funding formula. There is some reason for optimism: The state budget calls for the largest increase in school funding in years, $268.4 million, bringing overall spending in the school funding program known as Chapter 70 to $5.18 billion. But advocates are looking for a permanent, long-term fix."
- "UMass tuition freeze dies in budget talks," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "The approval Monday of a $43.1 billion state budget resolves a question that had kept University of Massachusetts officials from setting tuition rates for this fall, though students will have longer still to wait before they know what their final cost will be. UMass trustees last week postponed a planned vote on tuition and fees for the school year that begins in September, with school officials saying they first needed to see the outcome of the budget deliberations that stretched three weeks into the fiscal year. That vote has not yet been rescheduled as of Monday evening, about six weeks before the start of fall classes for the roughly 75,000 UMass students."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Advocates Call For Reduced MBTA Fares For Low-Income Riders," by Simón Rios, WBUR: "Transit advocates are calling for a reduced fare for low-income MBTA riders. The call comes after many T fares increased by an average of 6% earlier this month. The advocates, who filled the sidewalk Monday ahead of a joint meeting of the Department of Transportation board and the MBTA Fiscal Management Control Board, want low-income riders to pay the same monthly price as a youth pass: $30 a month. "A low-income fare would make the system more affordable and viable for low-income households, encouraging ridership for the MBTA, and ultimately transforming the MBTA into a pathway to opportunity, not the obstacle it currently is for low-income people," Nicole Rodriguez, a researcher with the nonprofit Community Labor United, said to the crowd."
- "Wu singles out Baker for MBTA train blame," by Hillary Chabot, Boston Herald: "City Councilor Michelle Wu — building on her MBTA constituency outreach agenda — blasted Gov. Charlie Baker Wednesday and warned that the decades-old subway system is headed for a "total shutdown," after a Blue Line blackout once again delayed commuters during morning rush hour. "We have a limited window to find the funding and the political will to get a plan in place. I think there's one person that is really holding a lot of that back, which is Gov. (Charlie) Baker," said Wu. "When there are Red Line train cars that are older than me and still running and haven't been fixed up, it is inevitable that we are going to get to the point of more derailments, more risk for people's lives, and the system is headed towards a total shutdown." A power issue plunged Blue Line riders into darkness Wednesday morning, forcing an evacuation of one train as thousands of riders were heading to work."
- "FBI-sponsored forensic lab in Chelsea will analyze digital evidence from cellphones, computers," by Maria Lovato, Boston Globe: "A new Federal Bureau of Investigation-sponsored digital forensics laboratory has opened in Chelsea, officials announced Monday. The New England Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory (NERCFL) is only the 17th of its kind in the United States. The laboratory is devoted entirely to examining digital evidence, such as computers and cell phones, several local law enforcement organizations said in a statement. The location will also serve as a training center. The site is located inside the FBI Boston Division headquarters and will provide its services and support to law enforcement agencies throughout New England, officials said."
- "Local Puerto Ricans join calls for island governor to quit," by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: "MASSACHUSETTS PUERTO RICANS are joining the groundswell of calls for the island's governor, Ricardo Rosselló, to resign following the release of private chats showing him and other top government officials mocking Hurricane Maria victims, joking about shooting the female mayor of San Juan, and disparaging gay people and women with homophobic and misogynistic slurs. This leaked chats, which were first reported earlier this month, are the final straw for many Puerto Ricans worldwide, including millions that live on the mainland US, who have grown increasingly angry over the island's economic crisis and mismanagement of the recovery from Hurricane Maria, which hit in 2017."
- "Jeffrey Epstein doled out millions to Harvard and others. Is that cash tainted?" by Rob Wile and Aaron Brezel, Miami Herald:"From Bill Cosby to Harvey Weinstein, big-ticket charitable donors have turned out to be thieves, abusers and scoundrels. Now comes Jeffrey Epstein, a human ATM machine long suspected of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls at residences around the world and, as of this month, formally charged by the U.S. Justice Department with sex trafficking. The multimillionaire hedge fund manager lavished at least $30 million on universities, scientists, politicians, cultural organizations, think-tanks — as well as his local police department, according to records of three of his charities. Records for a fourth were not available. That $30 million figure includes at least $2 million doled out following a short stint in the Palm Beach stockade that resulted when a 53-page federal sex trafficking indictment got whittled down to a pair of minor prostitution-related charges late in the last decade."
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| ON THE STUMP |
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- "State Representative Jon Santiago endorses our campaign," from the St.Guillen campaign: "From the holidays she spent helping her father work with homeless youth in the neighborhood, to her time as a teacher at the McKinley School and her many years of outreach and engagement in Villa Victoria, Alejandra has been and remains deeply connected to the South End. I am thrilled to endorse her candidacy for Boston City Council At-large and excited to knock on doors with her throughout our diverse and vibrant community," Representative Jon Santiago said in a statement.
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| DAY IN COURT |
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- "Mayor Walsh may be called to testify in City Hall corruption case," by Maria Cramer, Boston Globe: Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh could be called to testify in the City Hall corruption case that began Monday, dragging him into a politically charged case he has tried to downplay. Walsh's name was among dozens of potential witnesses read to a federal jury Monday, an indication that he could be called to take the stand. If Walsh were to testify, it would be the first time that a sitting mayor in Boston has taken the stand in a criminal trial in nearly 100 years. Not everyone on a witness list will necessarily be called to testify. Judge Leo T. Sorokin told jurors that Walsh and several other high-profile city leaders, such as former Boston Police Commissioner William Evans, were people "who will testify in this trial or about who you might hear testimony." Still, Walsh's name raises the prospect of the spectacle of a sitting mayor being asked questions under oath about the alleged corruption of two of his top aides."
- "Diversity Lacking Among Judges In Massachusetts," by Anaridis Rodriguez, CBS Boston: "Is the Massachusetts criminal justice system failing communities of color? WBZ-TV is looking at the state's courts, prosecutors and prisons in a series of special reports this week. Out of 82 seats in the Commonwealth's Superior Court, Justice Shannon Frison is one of two African-American justices. "I'm a poor, black woman, from Chicago, who's also gay and a Marine. You can't replicate that experience," said Frison. "No matter where you are and what you've done. How serious your matter is, what your ethnicity or race is, you're almost guaranteed to be in front of a white judge in Massachusetts, on your criminal matter," Frison said. The 49-year-old Marine is a Harvard and Georgetown graduate."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Warren warns of 'coming economic crash,'" by Alex Thompson, POLITICO: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday predicted an imminent economic crisis unless the Trump administration and Congress quickly pass legislation to regulate the financial sector and significantly reduce middle class household debt. "Warning lights are flashing. Whether it's this year or next year, the odds of another economic downturn are high — and growing," Warren (D-Mass.) wrote in a Medium post entitled "The Coming Economic Crash--And How to Stop It." "I see a manufacturing sector in recession. I see a precarious economy that is built on debt — both household debt and corporate debt — and that is vulnerable to shocks. And I see a number of serious shocks on the horizon that could cause our economy's shaky foundation to crumble," she wrote. Most of Warren's proposals to head off the crisis are policies she has called for recently on the campaign trail such as forgiving over $600 billion in student loan debt, enacting her "Green Manufacturing Plan", strengthening unions, providing universal child care and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour."
- "How to Get a Selfie With Elizabeth Warren in 8 Steps," by Thomas Kaplan, Tamir Kalifa and Eden Weingart, The New York Times: "Sure, you could wear a campaign button. But a photo with the candidate is so much more versatile: suitable for avatars, posting with a clever hashtag, even printing out and framing if you want to go analog. Posing for the camera with a presidential candidate used to be a perk generally reserved for wealthy donors. At Senator Elizabeth Warren's events, all it costs is passing some time in a well-organized selfie* line. *The pictures are not technically selfies. At a recent event in Lansing, a small army of campaign staff members — working like a factory assembly line that hums along — helped usher voters through their encounter with Ms. Warren in eight key steps."
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| MOULTON MATTERS |
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- "This Tiny Boston Tunnel Is the Missing Piece to Finally Connect the Entire East Coast," by Kastalia Medrano, Thrillist: "If you look at the 457 miles of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor (NEC) rail lines, you'd see what looks like uninterrupted service up and down the East Coast. The Acela Express line runs from Boston down through New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C., while the Downeaster line connects Boston to northern reaches of New England, through New Hampshire and up to Portland and Brunswick, Maine. But zoom in on Boston, over the North Station and South Station, and you'll find a tiny hole -- just 1.5 miles -- where the two lines don't meet in the middle, splintering East Coast transit, snarling commutes on Boston's T subway system, and fracturing regional rail lines. For decades now, proponents of what's known as the North-South Rail Link have been fighting to connect the stations with an underground tunnel that would run underneath downtown Boston, and simultaneously fix commutes while unifying the entire east coast rail corridor. At a recent Town Hall in Newburyport, Massachusetts, a woman stood and told Representative Seth Moulton about her commute into Boston from Lawrence, a suburb of Boston that connects to North Station via a regional rail line, but not South Station."
- "No midsummer night's debate for Moulton," by Ethan Forman, Eagle-Tribune: "Congressman Seth Moulton, yet again, will not be among 20 presidential candidates on the stage now for the second round of Democratic National Committee debates, July 30 and 31 on CNN. But, as before, that doesn't mean the decorated Marine Corps veteran who served four combat tours in Iraq is giving up. And on Thursday, he scored a key endorsement from retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a four-star general who commanded U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan."
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| DATELINE D.C. |
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- "Insider or outsider? Ayanna Pressley might be trying to have the best of both worlds," by Laura Krantz and Jazmine Ulloa, Boston Globe: "When Representative Ayanna Pressley took the oath of office in the House chamber in January, she arrived with 13 years experience as a staffer on Capitol Hill and nine years on the Boston City Council. It was the resume of a political insider. But how she got there — upsetting 10-term Representative Michael Capuano after launching a gutsy Democratic primary challenge — was the daring move of an outsider. Since then, Pressley has tried to straddle a difficult line: one foot in the establishment and the other in "the Squad," the band of four rebel congresswomen intent on shaking up Washington. Their boldest act of political defiance so far has put them squarely in President Trump's political line of fire and at the heart of a national debate on race, patriotism, and free speech."
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| ALL ABOARD |
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- "T notes: Workforce slated to grow 10.5% this year," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "THE MBTA WANTS TO INCREASE the size of its workforce by 10.5 percent this fiscal year. In a presentation to the T's Fiscal and Management Control Board, Matt St. Hilaire, the agency's chief human resources officer, said he wants to add a total of 834 workers - a net increase of 652 once the 182 needed to offset expected employee departures are excluded. The 652 net new hires would represent an increase of 10.5 percent above the 6,198 employees working at the agency as of June 30, the last day of fiscal 2019."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "RMV CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT!" — Globe: "Unraveling a mystery: sunflower syndrome," "Staff woes stagger nursing program," "A MASSIVE, ROLLING CALL TO QUIT." |
| FROM THE 413 |
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- "Diocese hires retired judge to investigate abuse claims," by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "A retired judge will immediately begin investigating allegations of misconduct, some dating to the early 1960s, made against that late Bishop Christopher J. Weldon of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield. The diocese announced Monday that it has hired Peter A. Velis after learning that newly promulgated procedures from the Vatican by Pope Francis, aimed at handling allegations of misconduct against bishops, would likely not apply to those who have already died. Velis retired as a Superior Court judge in 2012 after 14 years on the bench, overseeing trials in all four western Massachusetts counties as well as in Barnstable County."
- " Long Live the Noble Clerk (of Springfield)" by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight: " The City Council named the new City Clerk to succeed the outgoing Clerk, Anthony Wilson, who has served since 2016. Tasheena Davis, an associate city solicitor and the Council's legislative attorney, was elected on an 8-4 vote. She will take office August 1. Because Wilson is leaving midterm, hers will run through 2022. Last month, the Cambridge City Council elected Wilson that city's new clerk. Under the City Charter, the Springfield Council would elect Wilson's successor. However, that process was nearly hijacked by Mayor Domenic Sarno. City Council President Justin Hurst moved quickly to initiate a selection process that ultimately yielded two candidates: Davis and Nancy Ramos."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Gas company misses deadline for testing soil at Weymouth site," by Jessica Trufant, Patriot Ledger: "Residents and officials fighting a proposed natural-gas compressor station on the banks of the Fore River say it's unlikely that construction of the controversial project could start this year after the gas company missed a deadline to submit additional hazardous waste soil testing. The state Department of Environmental Protection last week entered into an administrative consent order with Algonquin Gas Transmission, a subsidiary of Spectra Energy-Enbridge, to submit by Jan. 17, 2020, more environmental sampling and analysis related to hazardous waste cleanup of the site. Algonquin missed the first deadline of July 19."
TRANSITIONS - Christopher McLoon joins Nutter as a partner in its tax department.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to former state Sen. Kathleen O'Connor-Ives, Boston Herald reporter Lisa Kashinsky; Vasundhra Sangar, legislative director to Rep. Smitty Pignatelli (h/t Dana DeBari); and Jeremy D. Goodwin.
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Red Sox beat the Rays 9-4.
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