State House News Service Weekly Roundup: Exit 10A
The rush from Beacon Hill to the westbound turnpike this week had as much to do with two of Worcester’s political sons beating feet from the capitol as with the impending Memorial Day weekend. As Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray attempted as graceful an exit as possible from politics, fellow Worcester Democrat Rep. John Fresolo made his hasty escape under an ethics cloud feeling “marginalized” by his peers and pressured to resign, which he did. If not for those two storylines, the focus may have been on the Senate’s breakneck budget debate concluding Thursday night as senators wiped their hands clean of 725 amendments and passed a $ 34 billion fiscal 2014 budget without the need for Senate President Therese Murray to threaten a Friday or Saturday workday. But on this week in late May, Tim Murray one of his wishes, for better or worse, as the gaze of the Boston political media was affixed firmly for once on central Massachusetts. Click here to subscribe to MASSterlist, a free morning newsletter by State House News Service that highlights political news from a wide array of newspapers and journals in Massachusetts and New England Murray leaves the administration after next week to take over as president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, a job closer to home and his family that will pay at least $ 75,000 more than he was earning as a sidekick to Patrick. He’ll finish his service with one last sniff of power as acting governor when Patrick travels to Chicago on Friday to headline the Organizing for Action Illinois State Founders Summit. Murray said he was not actively looking to leave before his term expires. But his decision was not a total shocker since Murray already pulled the plug on his political career in January when he decided not to run for governor, the job many that he would pursue after running in lockstep with Patrick for so many years. For the most part, the arranged marriage between Murray and Gov. Deval Patrick turned out to be a happy and prosperous one. Since 2006, Murray has rarely, if ever, contradicted Patrick on policy or politics, and he was a foot soldier in the 2010 reelection campaign while maintaining good ties with municipal leaders who mostly like and trust the former mayor. However, the Worcester Democrat’s star started to dim in the winter of 2011 after a poorly explained pre-dawn car crash on a Sterling highway and subsequent questions about his ties to corrupt former Chelsea Housing Authority Director Michael McLaughlin. All Murray wanted to do on Wednesday was take a bow, talk about his work […]
State House New Service Weekly Roundup: Exit Strategy
Clouded by sharp rhetoric, fragile egos and fluid whip counts, an endgame to the showdown between Gov. Deval Patrick and legislative leaders over tax increases and transportation began to emerge in which everyone could come out a winner, or at least save face. On this Democrats seem to agree: It’s in everyone interest to find a solution, and quickly, before unresolved questions of new revenue for the MBTA and MassDOT force action on fare hikes and muddy a budget process now fully underway and reliant upon said tax hikes. The Senate’s plan to go slightly higher on new revenue than the House—$ 600 million versus $ 500 million—and direct as much as $ 800 million to transportation spending five years from now triggered a thawing in Gov. Deval Patrick’s adamant opposition to the direction of the debate. “Very hopeful,” Patrick said when asked his thoughts on the Senate plan – a far cry from “pretend fix,” “fiscal shell game” and “meaningless” used to describe the House version. Click here to subscribe to MASSterlist, a free morning newsletter by State House News Service that highlights political news from a wide array of newspapers and journals in Massachusetts and New England When Patrick said he thought it not “likely” that the transportation debate would end without additional revenue, it’s possible he did so because he knew his veto threat was just that—a threat he never really believed he would have to follow through with. Advocates remained skeptical heading into the weekend. Transportation for Massachusetts claimed Senate Ways and Means overstated its revenue plan, particularly with regard to leasing property to utilities, putting the risk of higher fees, fares and tolls on motorists and transit riders. Regardless, the shift from Senate President Therese Murray and Ways and Means Chairman Stephen Brewer appeared to hit its mark leading into the Senate’s rare Saturday debate, leaving previously disenchanted liberal Democrats like Sen. Dan Wolf teetering on the fence. The revised plan came after two “very good, long caucuses,” as described by Murray, where Senate members “talked out” and progressives “got to be very passionate about what they feel should happen going down the road.” So the House claims the mantle of true pocketbook protectors, the Senate plays peacemaker and Patrick cuts his losses, signs the bill and says they moved in my direction? A looming possibility. They may not be talking to the governor, but Murray and Speaker Robert DeLeo are talking to each other. The House on Monday engaged in its first real debate of the year on the tax and transportation bill, carrying on late into the evening hours before approving tax hikes […]