By Lisa Kashinsky

With help from Kelly Garrity

FOLLOW THE MONEY — Maura Healey burned through $8 million in her gubernatorial bid. Now she’s hitting the summer fundraising circuit on the Cape and Islands to replenish her campaign coffers.

In the past few weeks, Healey has collected checks across fundraisers on Martha’s Vineyard and Provincetown, according to attendees and invitations obtained by Playbook. She’s scheduled to headline another event on Nantucket next Saturday, per the Nantucket Current. Her campaign declined comment.

Healey likely won’t be on a ballot again until 2026. But it’s smart politics not to wait around to pad her depleted war chest. Healey started her first run for governor with more than $3 million in her campaign bank account, and at one point grew her cash on hand to more than $5.5 million.

But she also spent heavily despite facing no significant competition for the corner office. By March of this year, Healey’s account had dwindled to just $632,000, according to state campaign finance records.

Now she’s cashing in on the deep-pocketed donors who’ve decamped to their summer homes on the Cape and Islands. The governor has brought in nearly $350,000 in the past two months, and her bank account has swelled back over $1 million. That’s not counting last Sunday’s Provincetown fundraiser, or the upcoming reception at the Nantucket home of Ken Jarin and Robin Wiessmann. Truro state Sen. Julian Cyr and Falmouth state Rep. Dylan Fernandes are on the host committee for the Nantucket event.

It’s notable that Healey is holding events on the islands, where donors are typically more focused on federal races. Case in point: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley fundraised on Nantucket last week for her presidential campaign.

And Vice President Kamala Harris is set to headline two fundraisers on Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday. Tickets for a “grassroots” reception range from $50 for guests to $10,000 for hosts. Tickets for a higher-dollar gathering start at $3,300 and climb as high as $25,000 for co-hosts and $50,000 for hosts.

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Also dashing for cash on the Cape and Islands next weekend: Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who have four events scheduled between them.

TODAY — Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll have no public events.

Tips? Scoops? Going to a political fundraiser? Drop me a line: [email protected].

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From left: Gov. Maura Healey, Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano at the fiscal year 2024 state budget signing on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, at the Massachusetts State House. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO

SIGNED, SEALED AND DELIVERED — Gov. Maura Healey changed little of what lawmakers sent her when she signed the $56 billion state budget on Wednesday, flanked by top legislative leaders in a show of Democratic unity.

But she did tinker with a few items:

— Healey returned eight of the 112 policy sections with amendments, including delaying the implementation of free calls for the incarcerated until Dec. 1 because "we needed a little bit more time to be able to get it done.”

— She also axed a policy section that would have pulled $205 million in one-time funds into the budget, and cut $205 million in net spending to balance it out. That included slashing $1 million for “Hey Sam,” a text help line for young people operated by the suicide-prevention group Samaritans, because its “goals are sufficiently funded through" allocations for the 988 suicide and crisis hotline. But the move drew alarm from state Sen. Becca Rausch, who wants lawmakers to override the veto. The Legislature has until Nov. 15 to make such a move.

The budget green-lights one of Healey’s signature policy proposals: the $20 million “MassReconnect” program to make community college free to those over age 25 who lack college degrees. It also makes universal free school meals permanent and grants certain undocumented immigrants access to in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities.

Boston will finally get a seat on the MBTA board of directors. And the state is bringing back the pandemic-era program that pauses eviction cases while tenants have pending applications for rental aid.

House Speaker Ron Mariano said legislative leaders “weren’t surprised” the spending plan that’s now the second-latest in 22 years “went a little long,” given that it was being negotiated in tandem with tax relief.

Yet Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka offered no timeline for filling the $580 million hole they left in the budget for tax-code changes. And the governor declined to set a deadline for them at the budget bill signing.

— “Sen. Velis: State budget ‘very robust’ for veterans,” by Maddie Fabian, Daily Hampshire Gazette.

— “Boston receives ‘go sign’ from state for Long Island bridge project,” by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: “Boston is one step closer to reconstructing a 35-acre recovery campus on Long Island for people struggling with addiction after state authorities issued a key permit for the city to rebuild the Long Island bridge, city officials announced Wednesday. The permit, known as a Chapter 91 license, evaluates the impact of a project on public access to coastline and waterways. The next steps for Boston’s Long Island Bridge project: a federal consistency review by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management and a bridge permit from the US Coast Guard.”

— “Boston City Council backs tax breaks for businesses hurt by Mass and Cass mess,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “City Councilor Erin Murphy’s double-barreled approach to tackling the ‘public health crisis’ at Boston’s Mass and Cass was praised for giving businesses there a break, but knocked for assertions that street cleaning equipment was spreading diseases. Murphy’s proposal came in the form of two hearing orders, both of which were discussed at a Wednesday City Council meeting.”

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

— “'Regular guy who wants to fix issues': This Taunton mayoral candidate would serve for free,” by Daniel Schemer, Taunton Daily Gazette: “If you want change, if you want a difference from what has been happening, then I am the right choice. I’m just a regular guy who wants to fix issues,’ proclaimed Charles Frederick Wright, or Chuck Wright, as he likes to be called, who is running for mayor of Taunton.”

— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The SEIU Massachusetts State Council has endorsed Worcester City Councilor Khrystian King for mayor. The state council represents over 115,000 members; King, a social worker, is a member of SEIU Local 509.

— “College Admissions Dad Cleared of Fraud Wants $1 Million Back,” by Patricia Hurtado, Bloomberg: “Private equity investor John B. Wilson has already gotten his fraud conviction overturned in the sprawling ‘Varsity Blues’ college admissions scandal. Now he wants the $1 million he paid to the scheme’s mastermind back. Wilson, founder of Hyannis Port Capital, was among dozens of parents charged with taking part in the scam to cheat their kids’ way into elite institutions.”

— “Elizabeth Warren and Ron DeSantis agree on one way student-loan borrowers should get a path to relief: getting rid of debt in bankruptcy court,” by Ayelet Sheffey, Insider: “[T]he Education and Justice Departments in November announced a series of reforms to the process to make it easier for borrowers to access bankruptcy. And it's something both Warren and DeSantis support.”

— “Sen. Elizabeth Warren joins rally in support of SAG-AFTRA members in Boston,” by Russ Reed, WCVB.

— “Mass. cannabis industry falls short on equity aspirations,” by Cassie McGrath, Boston Business Journal: “Five years after the first recreational cannabis dispensaries opened their doors, none of the state’s largest retail companies — those with the maximum number of licenses allowed by law — are classified as equity businesses.”

— “Leominster maternity unit is essential service, state health department says,” by Henry Schwan, Telegram & Gazette: “The maternity unit at the UMass Memorial Health hospital in Leominster is an essential service, according to state public health officials, representing the latest development in the health care system’s plan to close the unit Sept. 23.”

— “Slammed by climate emergencies, Mass. farmers ask, 'Now what?',” by Barbara Moran, WBUR: “It started with a deep freeze in February that killed most of the peach and plum crops. Then a May frost ruined a lot of the blueberries and apples. July brought heavy rains and floods. All told, the crazy weather has ruined nearly 3,000 acres of crops in the state, affecting more than 100 farms and costing about $15 million, according to [the] Department of Agricultural Resources. And it's left farmers asking themselves a pretty big question: how to keep farming in a rapidly changing climate.”

— “Former Foxboro town manager to receive four months' salary in exchange for resignation,” by Jeff Peterson, The Sun Chronicle: “Now-departed town manager John Coderre ‘voluntarily’ tendered his resignation in exchange for a financial settlement amounting to four months’ salary, according to the terms of a separation agreement released publicly this week. But the circumstances that prompted his abrupt exit less than three months after being hired remain veiled in secrecy.”

—“Trapped in limbo: Haitian refugees in Worcester await permission to work,” by Veer Mudambi, Telegram & Gazette.

— “North Andover's [Tuesday] storm damage estimated at $20M,” by Will Broaddus, Eagle-Tribune.

— THE CHRIS-ENING: Chris Sununu is “very partial to folks that have governor in front of their name.” But just because he introduced Chris Christie at a town hall in Salem, N.H., last night doesn’t mean he’s going to endorse him. Ditto for Doug Burgum, who Sununu appeared with at a recent house party. Or Vivek Ramaswamy, who he’s due to link up with next week.

Free of a reelection bid or a White House run in 2024, New Hampshire’s outgoing governor is hitting the presidential campaign trail for everyone else. Each appearance with a candidate raises questions about who Sununu is going to endorse. But he insisted to Playbook last night that he doesn’t have anyone in mind — yet. “As soon as I know, you’ll know," he said.

— “These libertarians want to take over New Hampshire. But first, a clothing-optional gun show,” by Annalisa Quinn, Boston Globe.

TRANSITIONS — John Guerra has joined the Hildreth Institute as community outreach and public relations manager.

— Former Elizabeth Warren campaign manager and DNC deputy executive director Roger Lau is also now serving as senior adviser to the Biden Victory Fund. The expanded role includes advising the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to state Rep. Tackey Chan, state Rep. Steven Ultrino, Matthew MacWilliams, Ryan O. Ferguson and Mike Linhorst. Happy belated to Jake Elitzer, who celebrated Wednesday.

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