By Lisa Kashinsky

‘START PAYING ATTENTION’ — Top Massachusetts Democrats fed up with federal inaction on immigration are beginning to lash out at President Joe Biden.

“The guy’s running for president. He better start paying attention to this,” an audibly frustrated House Speaker Ron Mariano said Wednesday. He had just been asked by Playbook whether the White House should designate a point person to coordinate states’ responses to the migrant surge, as Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker suggested in a letter to Biden this week.

“We need to put a framework around this from the feds,” Mariano told reporters. “We need someone to take charge of this and say ‘this is what you can expect.’”

Massachusetts House Speaker Ron Mariano at the State House | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO

Massachusetts Democrats used to be careful not to name-drop Biden when talking about immigration issues even as they publicly pleaded with his administration for more money for the state’s emergency shelter system and expedited work permits for migrants. They instead made nonspecific references to the federal government and directed their concerns toward Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

But Biden is safe no longer as frustrations with his administration’s response — or lack thereof — to the deluge of new arrivals overwhelming Democratic strongholds begin to outweigh the potential political consequences of publicly berating the president.

Mariano’s comments come as lawmakers weigh Gov. Maura Healey’s request for $250 million in additional funding for the emergency shelter system that’s now housing more than 6,700 homeless families, about half of which the state estimates are migrants.

The Healey administration is burning through existing state money for the shelter program at a rapid clip. If families continue to flood the system at the current rate (about 25 per day) the Healey administration predicts it will exhaust the $325 million the state budgeted this fiscal year for the emergency shelter program in January — a full six months early.

Money could run out even sooner for the administration’s “family welcome centers” and temporary emergency shelters at Eastern Nazarene College and Joint Base Cape Cod, and to pay the state's contracts with hotels housing homeless families. That's all according to the administration's responses to House leaders’ questions about the cost and mechanics of the shelter system that were provided to Playbook.

The extra $250 million “would fund our current caseload through the end of the fiscal year,” the administration said. It includes $130 million for shelter and associated services, $33 million for the temporary emergency shelters and $87 million for “wraparound services and community supports” like school district reimbursements.

But lawmakers are taking their time with this one as they work to understand the scope of the rapidly worsening shelter crisis. And the process could be further dragged out if they separate out the shelter funding from the rest of the $2 billion supplemental spending bill Healey filed to close out the last fiscal year.

Shelter aid is “really not part of the closeout discussion, because that is fiscal ‘24 dollars that we’re supplementing,” Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues told Playbook. “My first priority is closing the books on fiscal ‘23.”

GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Tips? Scoops? Email me: [email protected].

TODAY — Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll launch their “Cutting Taxes, Saving You Money” tax-relief tour with stops at 11:30 a.m. at Gardner Elementary School and 2 p.m. at the Haverhill YMCA. Driscoll keynotes the Massachusetts Municipal Cybersecurity Summit at 9:30 a.m. in Worcester. Senate President Karen Spilka is on WBUR’s “Radio Boston” at 11 a.m. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks at Estella restaurant’s anniversary celebration at 4 p.m.

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Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signs tax breaks into law on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 at the State House. | Lisa Kashinsky/POLITICO

TOUTING THEIR TAX CUTS — Maura Healey is embarking on the tax-relief victory tour that Charlie Baker never got to take after the Democratic governor signed off on many of the tax-code changes her Republican predecessor put forward some 20 months ago.

Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll will traverse the state to tout savings for renters and low-income families and heirs and corporations. The slogan for their tour: "Cutting taxes, saving you money.” There’s even scissors on the graphic, for added emphasis.

“Tax cuts are officially here in Massachusetts. The first major tax cuts in over 20 years,” a triumphant Healey declared minutes after inking into law one of her signature gubernatorial campaign promises.

Not everyone is so thrilled. Progressives are still pushing back on elements of the tax package that they view as benefitting the wealthy and big corporations and undermining revenue gains from the so-called millionaires tax.

And the Massachusetts High Technology Council is still considering legal action over changes to how future Chapter 62F rebates will be distributed. The tech trade group co-commissioned an Opinion Diagnostics poll that shows 62 percent of registered voters want the state to continue distributing refunds proportionally rather than making them equal for all taxpayers.

But legislative leaders who spent the better part of two years haggling over tax relief were all smiles at the State House ceremony. And the detente between House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka appears to be continuing. The two publicly praised their partnership on the tax package and penned a joint op-ed for CommonWealth Magazine extolling its benefits.

Top Democrats riding high on collaborative spirit also couldn’t resist poking fun at the chaos befalling their counterparts in Congress. “Isn’t it great to have a speaker actually in the House?” House Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz quipped.

— “Will $1 billion tax bill make Mass. more competitive? Don’t count on it,” by Jon Chesto, Boston Globe.

— “Healey makes first judicial nominations as governor, tapping commercial litigator and defense attorney,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “Governor Maura Healey, a former civil rights lawyer and Massachusetts attorney general, began sketching her vision for the state’s judicial bench Wednesday, tapping a commercial litigator and defense attorney for two openings on the Superior Court. Adam L. Sisitsky, a Framingham resident and securities attorney at Mintz, and Tracy E. Duncan, a Springfield-based defense attorney, marked Healey’s first judicial nominations."

— “Salary transparency in job postings would be required under new bill passed by Mass. House,” by Katie Lannan, GBH News: “Pitched as a way to help further combat racial and gender pay gaps, the bill would require businesses in the state with at least 25 employees to list a position's salary or wage range in their job postings.”

— “A bill that would lower the stakes of the MCAS has its hearing on Beacon Hill,” by Max Larkin, WBUR: “Supporters of the Thrive Act said the MCAS doesn't reflect students’ full capacity and fails to close real achievement gaps between groups of students. Meanwhile, the bill’s opponents said the test provides a meaningful, high standard across a diverse state.”

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— “Over concerns, Boston council approves $3.4 million in controversial BRIC grants,” by Danny McDonald, Boston Globe: “With votes that broke along racial lines, the Boston City Council Wednesday passed a collection of grants totaling $3.4 million in additional funding for a controversial police intelligence gathering center amid concerns over potential civil liberties violations and racial profiling. The council approved the funding for the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, which maintains the city’s gang database and coordinates antiterrorism efforts with other law enforcement agencies, by a series of 7-5 votes. All councilors who voted in favor of the grants were white, while all those who voted against them were people of color.”

Progressive activists are blasting Mayor Michelle Wu for pushing more money for the BRIC after previously calling to abolish its controversial gang database. And they don’t share Wu’s belief that “several consequential policy and leadership changes” at the BRIC and the Boston Police Department have created a “significantly different environment today.” More on the progressive pushback from WBUR’s Walter Wuthmann.

DESANTIS SLAMS MASS — Struggling Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis is trying to score political points off Massachusetts again.

The Florida governor slammed the state on X for “housing illegal aliens on the taxpayers’ dime” after a Boston Herald columnist reported that military families were having their hotel reservations for the upcoming Army-Navy game canceled to make room for migrants and homeless families.

But DeSantis got it wrong: While the state has been contracting with hotels and motels to house families in the emergency shelter system, wholly undocumented immigrants are not eligible for services under the state’s “right-to-shelter” law.

Gov. Maura Healey said she’s “very distressed to learn that any veteran may have been moved from a hotel” and has instructed her veterans secretary, Jon Santiago, to reach out to anyone affected by the cancellations.

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DEBT DOUBTS — President Joe Biden has canceled another $9 billion in federal student loan debt. But even as Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on X that the president’s “focus on cancelling [sic] student debt is paying off,” she told Insider that she’s worried broader debt relief could again be stopped by the Supreme Court.

CONGRESSIONAL CHAOS — The fight for the speakership has begun in Washington, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) are the first in the ring, POLITICO’s Congress team reports.

VIEW FROM THE LEFT — “McGovern, Neal rip ‘clown show,’ ‘spectacle’ on Capitol Hill,” by Maddie Fabian, Daily Hampshire Gazette.

— “Galvin asks judge to delay Trump ballot ruling,” by Christian M. Wade, Eagle-Tribune: “Secretary of State Bill Galvin is asking a federal judge to reject a request for a preliminary injunction sought by a long-shot Republican presidential candidate who is suing him to keep Donald Trump's name off the 2024 ballot.”

— “Healey announces 3-state offshore wind procurement,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine: “Nervous about rising prices for offshore wind power, the states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut are banding together to solicit larger wind farm projects that hopefully will come with lower price tags. … Individually, the three states were planning to solicit as much as 6,000 megawatts of offshore wind power in January; now they will solicit bids together.”

Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of new episodes – click here.

— “Massachusetts cannabis sales may be up, but employment is down,” by Cassie McGrath, Boston Business Journal: “For months, industry leaders have been warning the market is reaching saturation, with too many stores and too much flower. Companies — even the largest ones — are tightening operations to stay alive. That's meant a reduction in jobs. For the first time, cannabis employment is down across Massachusetts."

— “Embattled former Amherst superintendent gets HR director job in Westfield,” by Dave Eisenstadter, MassLive: “Former Amherst Regional Public Schools Superintendent Michael Morris, who left amid an ongoing controversy involving alleged staff mistreatment of transgender students, has taken a job as director of human resources for Westfield’s public schools.”

— “Chicopee ballot will measure public support for 4-year mayoral term,” by Jonah Snowden, MassLive.

— “Biden nominates New Hampshire federal prosecutor Seth Aframe for Boston-based US Circuit Court seat,” by Jim Puzzanghera, Boston Globe: “President Biden on Wednesday nominated New Hampshire federal prosecutor Seth R. Aframe to the First US Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston in a second attempt to fill the appellate seat after the White House’s first choice, Michael Delaney, withdrew amid controversy last spring.”

— “A developer proposed nearly 500 apartments on South Shore Plaza. Then residents killed it,” by Andrew Brinker, Boston Globe.

— “MIT professor is latest Massachusetts scientist to win Nobel Prize,” by Sam Turken, GBH News.

— “Foxboro schools to phase out use of Native American imagery in logo,” by Jeff Peterson, The Sun Chronicle.

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SPOTTED — at the tax-relief bill signing at the State House: former Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey, Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, Newburyport Mayor Sean Reardon, Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur, Housing Secretary Ed Augustus Jr. and Tara Healey.

TRANSITIONS — Melissa L. Gilliam will be the first woman and first Black person to lead Boston University. She takes over as president on July 1, 2024. Gilliam is currently EVP and provost of The Ohio State University.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Teresa Heinz Kerry.

NEW HORSE RACE ALERT: TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEPRESSION — Hosts Steve Koczela and Jennifer Smith are joined by the Boston Globe’s Taylor Dolven to take a trip through the myriad problems facing the MBTA. Host Lisa Kashinsky breaks down the MassGOP’s latest legal and financial woes. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud.

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