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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Long time no talk! It's good to be back in your inbox.
IN WITH THE NEW — It was out with the old on Beacon Hill over the holiday — and today, it's in with the new. State lawmakers will be sworn into the 191st session of the General Court this morning, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is in the early days of her 2020 run for president.
Warren grabbed hold of the 2020 conversation on New Year's Eve when she announced she's launching an exploratory committee for a presidential bid. She's the first top-tier candidate to take this step toward a 2020 campaign, meaning all eyes are on her chances as a candidate, the top-level staffers behind her operation and whether she's ready for a matchup against President Donald Trump.
If you want to keep tabs on Warren's life as a candidate , look at her Instagram stories and live streams. Warren sipped a beer in her kitchen and reflected on her announcement on New Year's Eve. Last night, she posted highlights from a party with supporters, including Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu, at the Summer Shack in Cambridge. If TV is more your thing, Warren will do her first cable appearance as a 2020 candidate with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC tonight.
In the legislature, state lawmakers take their oaths of office and elect their leaders today, turning the page on a tumultuous 190th General Court. They'll also take their seats in the state Senate chamber after more than a year of meeting in Gardner Auditorium during renovations.
And as we head into the next session , Beacon Hill spent the holiday taking care of unfinished business. Gov. Charlie Baker signed two bills dealing with the National Grid lockout and natural gas safety on New Year's Eve. Some lawmakers burned the (almost) midnight oil that night, staying in session until almost 10 p.m. The next day, they sent several other bills to Baker's desk before gaveling out for the last time.
Down in Washington , Congresswoman-elect Ayanna Pressley and Congresswoman-elect Lori Trahan are sworn in tomorrow, closing the book on a historic Democratic primary contest. And in Boston, Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito will be officially sworn in for their second term on Thursday after a landslide November 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 and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito attend swearing-in ceremonies in the Legislature with Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr and House Minority leader Brad Jones. Baker and Polito attend an Inaugural Interfaith Ceremony at Morningstar Baptist Church in Mattapan. Baker and Polito attend an inauguration ceremony for Suffolk County District Attorney-elect Rachael Rollins,alongside Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey. The Governor's Council meets.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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- "Five freshman lawmakers to watch on Beacon Hill," by Matt Stout and Victoria McGrane, Boston Globe: "They've yet to lodge a single vote or be assigned an office. But Beacon's Hill incoming class of lawmakers has already sent reverberations through the Massachusetts political scene with surprising victories and, in some cases, blunt commentary. Here are five faces to watch come Jan. 2, when they'resworn in for the first time as state legislators."
- "Watch your wallet: new state laws could affect everything from your paycheck to the price of your vacation," by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: "Don't just count calories this new year. Your bank account stands to bulk up, or slim down, too. A cascade of changes awaits the average Massachusetts taxpayer in 2019, thanks to a mixture of a tax cut, a tax hike, new fees, and a slowly rising minimum wage. There's also a newly enshrined summer tax holiday, which could come in handy as you pay more for that vacation rental home . . . and the car you rent to get there. And if you work Sundays, you could be taking less money home each week."
- "4 progressive women from Western Massachusetts hope to make a difference on Beacon Hill," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "They have organized a women's march and run social service agencies and businesses. They include a single mother and a lesbian mother. They have expertise in HIV/AIDS care, foreign language translation, federal budget policy and economic development. Four progressive women from Western Massachusetts are set to join the state Legislature on Wednesday, bringing with them a diverse set of experiences and perspectives. They are all new to elected office, and they chose to run amid the #metoo movement, as women around the country are developing an increasingly powerful voice in politics."
- "Massachusetts Legislature bans disability insurers from charging women more than men," by Shira Schoenberg, Springfield Republican: "In a last-minute legislative session on New Year's Eve, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a bill banning sex discrimination in disability insurance. Women's rights advocates have been pushing for years to ban insurance companies from charging women more than men for policies. But insurers say there are legitimate reasons for considering sex in deciding how likely someone is to make a claim."
- "BAKER SIGNS GAS SAFETY BILL," by Katie Lannan, State House News Service: "Utilities operating in Massachusetts will face new oversight on natural gas work under legislation Gov. Charlie Baker signed nearly as soon as he received it from lawmakers Monday afternoon. The bill, which Baker originally filed on Nov. 20, implements a recommendation the National Transportation Safety Board made in its ongoing review of the Sept. 13 natural gas fires and explosions that killed one person and damaged homes and businesses throughout Andover, North Andover and Lawrence."
- "Baker signs National Grid legislation," by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: "GOV. CHARLIE BAKER signed into law on Monday morning a bill that extends the unemployment benefits of workers locked out by their employers, giving a legislative victory to steelworkers locked out by National Grid. While the governor had indicated he would sign such legislation, his decision to sign the bill Monday morning surprised nearly everyone."
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| FROM THE HUB |
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- "Employer group balks at fees to prop up MassHealth," by Priyanka Dayal McCluskey, Boston Globe: "A prominent Massachusetts business group is calling for an immediate end to new fees that cost employers across the state $300 million last year, noting that Beacon Hill failed to follow through on its part of a bargain to tame the rising costs of the state Medicaid program. Governor Charlie Baker proposed the fees and legislators approved them in 2017, requiring employers, over two years, to contribute more toward the costs of the state program that provides health coverage for poor and low-income residents. Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a group representing 4,000 employers, plans to submit a bill to the Legislature this month that would end the fees right away — one year early."
- "Dot Vietnamese uncertain, fearful of move to deport 'criminal aliens,'" by Jennifer Smith, Dorchester Reporter: "Vietnamese-Americans say a Trump administration move toward deporting some Vietnamese political refugees who came to the country in the aftermath of the Vietnam War has left a pall of uncertainty and fear in Dorchester's Southeast Asian community. Under a 2008 agreement between Washington and Hanoi, the US is barred from deporting Vietnamese people who arrived in the United States before July 12, 1995, when the countries resumed diplomatic ties. The administration raised the prospect of deporting many long-term immigrants from Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Cambodia last year, asserting that 'criminal aliens' are subject to standard immigration law and not protected under the agreement."
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| THE OPINION PAGES |
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- "The Mass. state Senate prepares for an urgent 2019 agenda," by Senate President Karen Spilka, Boston Globe: "When I first ran for state representative in 2001, I chose "For Our Future" as my campaign slogan. I didn't realize it at the time, but this phrase would become much more than a slogan; it has become a constant call to action. As the state Senate opens its first session of the 191st General Court on Wednesday, that call to action feels more urgent than ever. We are currently in a time of remarkable change, not just in our state, but nationally and globally."
- "First, let's fix the political system," by Lori Trahan, Boston Globe: "As part of the largest Democratic freshman class elected to the House since Watergate, this Congress — and particularly my freshmen colleagues — have a mandate to fix problems in our political system, to unrig our democracy, to unmoor the entrenched special interests in Washington, and to usher in a new standard of ethics and integrity that ensures that public servants serve the public, not line their own pockets."
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| WARREN REPORT |
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- "Warren battles the ghosts of Hillary," by Natasha Korecki, POLITICO: "The anti-Elizabeth Warren narrative was written before the Massachusetts senator even announced she was exploring a presidential run. She's too divisive and too liberal, Washington Democrats have complained privately. Her DNA rollout was a disaster — and quite possibly a White House deal-breaker. She's already falling in the polls, and — perhaps most stinging — shares too many of the attributes that sank Hillary Clinton. In the year of the woman, it adds up to one unwelcome mat for the most prominent woman likely to be part of the 2020 field."
- "The steady hand," by Andy Metzger, CommonWealth Magazine:"AS SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN made her way down the rope-line on election night, a familiar figure was close by her side. Roger Lau had managed Warren's lopsided victory over a Republican state rep and now he was managing her exit from a clutch of reporters. It was Lau in his element, staffing the candidate, keeping the Fairmont Copley Plaza victory party on track, while trying to stay out of the frame. A stranger to the television-viewing audience that may have caught a glimpse of him, the Somerville resident is a constant presence with Warren and has won renown among untold numbers of candidates and operatives across Massachusetts."
- "Warren plans 4-city Iowa visit this weekend," by Isabel Dobrin and Natasha Korecki, POLITICO: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren will visit four cities in Iowa this weekend, her presidential exploratory committee said Tuesday, her first trip to the early-caucus state since launching her 2020 exploratory committee on Monday. The Massachusetts Democrat is scheduled to make stops in Council Bluffs, Sioux City, Storm Lake and Des Moines, according to her exploratory committee."
- "Politicos: Elizabeth Warren beer video all flat," by Sean Philip Cotter, Boston Herald: "U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's livestreamed New Year's Eve chat — featuring the former Harvard prof cracking and swigging a beer — is being widely panned as inauthentic pandering, with some political operatives calling it a desperate effort to compete with young contenders. 'It's called 'pulling a Beto,'' Democratic consultant Scott Ferson chuckled, referring to up-and-coming progressive Beto O'Rourke, a possible 2020 rival of Warren."
- "Region's lunch-car vote may prove challenging to Warren," by Mike Sullivan, Telegram & Gazette: "Lunch-pail voters once made up a significant part of the Democratic base, and since you can't get much more lunch-pail than the dining cars manufactured by the old Worcester Lunch Car Co., the T&G on Monday visited several diners to ask about a potential Warren White House bid. If local diner opinion is any indication, Ms. Warren, a champion of the Democrats' progressive wing, has her work cut out for her if she does enter the race."
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| DATELINE D.C. |
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- "Mitt Romney says Trump has 'glaring' character shortfalls," by Peter Bailey-Wells, Boston Globe: "Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is chastising President Trump for "glaring" shortfalls in leadership and character, suggesting that Trump's words and actions have hurt America's stability and global reputation. The incoming Senator from Utah and 2012 Republican nominee for president raised questions about Trump's conduct in an op-ed piece published Tuesday night by The Washington Post. Romney said that he didn't find fault with all of the president's policies but was discouraged by Trump's approach to the national discourse, especially over the last month."
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| TRUMPACHUSETTS |
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- "Trump: Ask Warren's psychiatrist if she thinks she can win in 2020," by Louis Nelson, POLITICO: "President Donald Trump expressed excitement Monday at the prospect of running for president next year against Sen. Elizabeth Warren but told a Fox News interviewer that 'you would have to ask her psychiatrist' if the Massachusetts Democrat believes she can beat him ."
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| KENNEDY COMPOUND |
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- "With Fall River at the center, Joe Kennedy III named newsmaker of the year," by Will Richmond, Herald News: "While we recognize Fall River as the hometown to a federally indicted mayor in 2018 — it is due to Kennedy's decision to choose Fall River for this speech, his involvement in local issues and his increased national presence that he has been chosen as The Herald News 2018 Newsmaker of the Year. And much of Kennedy's year started with that speech."
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| MARIJUANA IN MASSACHUSETTS |
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- "Eugene McCain wanted to open a slots parlor in Revere. Now it's pot shops in Western Mass." by Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: "The man whose unsuccessful 2016 campaign to edge into the casino market violated state campaign law by disguising the identities of its financial backers has shifted his focus to another new-to-Massachusetts industry — marijuana sales. Eugene McCain, whose plan to transform a dilapidated Revere trailer park beside Suffolk Downs into a slots casino was rejected by voters, is now president and lead shareholder of Canna Provisions Inc. His company has secured local special permits to build retail marijuana stores in Holyoke and Lee and is seeking state licenses from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission."
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| ALL ABOARD |
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- "Problems on Mattapan line extend beyond trolleys," by Colman M. Herman, CommonWealth Magazine: " A HEAVILY REDACTED study on the future of the MBTA's rail link between the Red Line's Ashmont Station and Mattapan indicates problems associated with the line are not confined to the 75-year-old trolleys themselves. The study suggests many of the infrastructure components of the so-called Mattapan High Speed Line are in rough shape. Various elements of the infrastructure, including tracks, stations, bridges, signals, switches, and the maintenance facility, were ranked marginal or poor 41 times; fair, moderate, or functional 48 times; good 47 times; and excellent only 5 times."
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: "2019 NEXT BIG THING," "WOODSTOCK OR WOODFLOP," "SHE'S NO LIZ SIX-PACK," — Globe: "A new House puts Trump on defensive," "Companies demand state halt on health fees." |
| BEHIND THE TOFU CURTAIN |
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- "Amherst police lieutenant sues town: 30-year veteran cites hostile work environment," by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: "A 30-year-member of the Amherst Police Department is alleging employment discrimination and seeking unspecified monetary damages in a civil lawsuit filed against the town and the department in Hampshire Superior Court. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Police Lt. David R. Knightly of Hadley, who joined the force in 1988, outlines a pattern of adverse actions and retaliations alleged to have been taken by Police Chief Scott Livingstone and Police Capt. Jennifer Gundersen, which led to a hostile work environment that compromised Knightly's health."
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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- "Columbia Gas to 'discuss' funding extra firefighters," by Jill Harmacinski, Eagle-Tribune: " Just before noon Monday, the Fire Department received an emergency call about "an odor of gas coming from the basement" of a Broadway business. No fire was found, but the call was just one of hundreds of gas-related complaints last year in the city. Fire Chief Brian Moriarty expects such calls will continue in the new year in the wake of the Sept. 13 Merrimack Valley gas disaster, and has suggested Columbia Gas should pay $1.1 million for an extra engine company to work in South Lawrence around the clock."
- "Fishing closure looms over South Shore lobstermen," by Mary Whitfill, Patriot-Ledger: "The annual fishing closure that forces a halt of the lobstering industry each winter is still a month away, but lobstermen are already pulling their traps out of the water and preparing for a long three months of trying to make ends meet. For the last four years, federal regulations have forced lobstermen out of the water from Feb. 1 to April 30, an attempt to lessen the number of North Atlantic right whales that die due to fishing gear entanglements. Not only can the fishermen not be in the water, but they also have to pull all of their traps from the ocean floor before Feb. 1 - as many as 800 per commercial license."
TRANSITIONS — Holyoke City Councilor Jossie Valentin joins Sen. Elizabeth Warren's campaign staff. Tweet.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY — to Leah Malone, who celebrated Saturday, and to UMass President Marty Meehan, who turned 62 on Sunday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Dan Koh, former MA3 candidate and former chief of staff to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and Annie Starke, policy adviser at Brownstein Schreck (h/ts Jill Barclay and Laura Howard).
DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Bruins beat the Blackhawks 4-2.
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