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Politics

Still no deal on $2.8B supplemental budget that includes dollars for unions, shelters

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House and Senate lawmakers walked away from lightly attended sessions Wednesday without a deal on a supplemental budget that would close the books on the last fiscal year, and includes crucial funding for union contracts and emergency shelters.

Nearly two weeks after the Legislature finished formal law making for the year, Democratic leaders in both chambers have so far failed to find consensus on a $2.8 billion supplemental budget that includes $250 million for the besieged shelter system and nearly $400 million for public employee contracts.

Informal sessions Monday were held open for hours before legislators adjourned with no public deal and Wednesday sessions lasted only minutes in each branch.

Both the House and Senate are scheduled to meet again Thursday at 11 a.m. in informal sessions, where any one lawmaker has the power to block advancing bills.

A panel of six lawmakers is negotiating the supplemental budget, which includes money for more than 90 collective bargaining agreements and allows the state comptroller to close the books on fiscal year 2023.

But negotiators rarely talk about the status of discussions in public, often leaving residents and stakeholders in the dark until after a deal is reached or time runs out for consideration of the bill. The top House and Senate budget writers, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and Sen. Michael Rodrigues, both Democrats, are leading the talks.

A spokesperson for House Speaker Ronald Mariano said negotiators “continue to talk and exchange proposals.” A Rodrigues spokesperson declined to comment on the status of negotiations.

Senate President Karen Spilka said she is “optimistic” a deal could be reached this week but did not dive into specifics on what the public could expect.

“I’m hopeful that we can do the whole thing,” she said of differences between House and Senate versions of the bill.

Republicans have pushed Democrats to split off the funding from the main proposal, which includes the more controversial shelter aid.

The collective bargaining agreements contain pay raises for roughly 100,000 workers across the state, legislative Republicans have said. And the failure to act on the raises “would represent a severe injustice” to public sector workers, one Senate Democrat has said.

“This is a supplemental budget that should have been passed at least a month ago and maybe more so that we could close the books on fiscal year 2023,” Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr told reporters Wednesday. “That is the first consequence of not having a document passed at this point. Along with that consequence, there are many others. And it is not a positive situation. However, we are here not merely to be critics. We’re here to try to move us all toward a solution.”

The bill also includes millions in disaster relief funding for communities hard hit by natural disasters this year and allows the state comptroller to file a statutorily required end-of-fiscal-year report that was due at the end of October.

Legislative Republicans have threatened to block the proposal if it comes up during informal sessions with language around shelter funding they do not agree with.

“I hope people realize it’s critically important that we get this done as soon as possible and that it will move forward,” Spilka said of potential Republican resistance.

House lawmakers proposed placing rigid requirements on the Healey administration’s ability to spend $250 million in shelter funding, including specifically carving out $50 million for an overflow shelter site for families waiting for shelter placement. Senators argued Gov. Maura Healey should have more flexibility with the money.

Spilka did say which path negotiators may choose to go with.

“You’ll see that soon, hopefully,” she said.

Lori Trahan elected to Democratic leadership role

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LOWELL — U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan has seen firsthand how having Massachusetts lawmakers at the leadership table in Washington leads to better outcomes for the commonwealth. The state has been at the forefront of receiving American Rescue Plan Act money, CHIPS and Science Act funding, infrastructure investments and housing assistance.

“That political clout is what prompted President Biden to call our delegation the most effective in Congress,” she said by phone on Wednesday.

Trahan was elected by her colleagues Wednesday morning to serve in House Democratic leadership as co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.

The DPCC is the messaging arm of House Democratic leadership. Trahan will be able to channel her lived experience as a born-and-bred Lowellian and her political expertise as a three-term congresswoman into crafting messaging that she said will show the “difference between how Democrats govern and Republicans govern — about how we’ve delivered.”

“I’m honored and humbled by the trust my colleagues have placed in me to help lead the House Democratic Caucus over the next year,” she said in a statement. “I ran for this position because I want to do everything in my power to ensure that Democrats are successful in defeating MAGA Republican extremism, retaking the House and returning the American people to the center of everything we do in this chamber.”

It’s one of many hats Trahan wears in Congress. In addition to her election as the DPCC co-chair, she currently serves as a member of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ Regional Leadership Council, a senior whip on House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark’s whip team, and a member of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.

Trahan is also co-chair of the Congressional Cambodia Caucus, which has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the largest and most prestigious art museums in the world, is in possession of stolen Cambodian art.

“We’ve alerted the DOJ,” Trahan said last May. “My request is very straightforward. I want the results of the Met’s internal investigation to be made public. I’ve asked for a thorough update on its investigation, a deadline to make a determination on the provenance of these artifacts, and a commitment from the Met to return the pieces to the people of Cambodia if they were stolen.”

Trahan said she plans to bring that same accountability, focus and ferocity to her new role of providing messaging about Democratic initiatives, investments and goals, which she said is always informed by her Mill City background.

“When you see those investments play out right in your hometown, you can actually develop the story and the narrative for how Democrats deliver for hard-working families like the ones in Lowell,” she said.

She said the issues that matter to Lowell and residents in her 3rd Congressional District, which includes 34 other communities in Essex, Middlesex and Worcester counties, matter to voters across the country.

“There are so many issues that we talk about in Washington where I see a direct line from issues in Lowell,” Trahan said. “Housing, transportation, the addiction crisis, public-school education — making sure those resources that play out in my hometown, I can see the impact of those investments … We have a remarkable story to tell between now and next November, and we have a caucus full of talented messengers already working to make sure hardworking families across the nation hear it.”

Expert: School aid funding vulnerable to ‘glitch’

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BOSTON — The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will get a more in-depth look next month at what one longtime budget watcher called a “glitch” in the school aid funding law that could lead to “a pretty serious funding crisis, particularly in low income districts.”

Noah Berger, director of the Mass. Teachers Association’s Center for Education Policy and Practice, brought up the issue with the Chapter 70 funding law at Tuesday’s board meeting and called on Gov. Maura Healey “to just fix that glitch, it’s pretty easy to do technically and it will have a very significant effect on funding for school districts.”

The problem has to do with the formula’s inflation calculations, according to Berger, who is the former longtime head of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.

“There’s a provision in the law that caps inflation adjustments in Chapter 70 at 4.5 percent. That meant that while districts were experiencing 8 percent inflation and costs [last year], the actual resources coming to them through Chapter 70 were only going up based on a 4.5 percent inflation rate. That did lead to significant funding, even at that cap,” Berger said. “But this year, the situation will be much worse.”

Depending how inflation behaves in the near future, Berger said that it could lead to unexpected decreases in the state school funding that districts receive every year.

“The inflation factor that looks like it will be used this year, and you can check with your technical people, but it looks like it’s gonna be about 1 percent and we don’t yet have the final data. If that happens, then the amount of Chapter 70 aid that districts get will be, the new aid will be less than half of what it was last year,” said Berger. “A reduction, probably, of over $300 million in new aid, which will have a pretty devastating effect on school districts.”

The $56 billion annual budget that Healey signed in August contains a $594 million, or 9.9%, increase in Chapter 70 funding as state government continues to move toward full implementation of the 2019 school funding law known as the Student Opportunity Act.

The board did not discuss Berger’s comments, but member Mary Ann Stewart brought up the idea of a “glitch” after a discussion of the board’s Budget Committee’s report on fiscal 2025 planning. She asked if it was “something we need to have a better understanding of.”

Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley suggested the topic be put on the board’s December meeting agenda so that Bill Bell, DESE’s chief financial officer, can go over it in greater detail.

“As was noted, again, the inflation number has come down a little bit, but that thing moves. So I think Bill doing kind of a primer on that would be a good idea for the December meeting,” Riley said.

Fitchburg State presents ‘Do the Right Thing’

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FITCHBURG — The Center for Italian Culture (CIC) at Fitchburg State University will present a free screening of Academy Award winner Spike Lee’s classic film “Do the Right Thing” in November as part of its year-long exploration of the Italian immigrant experience.

The series, “Nuovo Mondo: A Century of Migrations from and to Italy,” will present “Do the Right Thing” (1989) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, in Ellis White Lecture Hall in Hammond Hall, 160 Pearl St.

Lee’s acclaimed comedy-drama explores the simmering racial tensions in a Brooklyn neighborhood between African-American residents and the Italian-American owners of a local pizzeria, culminating in violence and tragedy on a hot summer day. Admission to the screening is free and open to the public.

In addition, the Fitchburg State University Archives and Special Collections, the CIC, and the Fitchburg Historical Society have collaborated to present a digital exhibit on Fitchburg’s Italian-American neighborhood, the Patch.

All materials were sourced from the Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library, the Center for Italian Culture Archives, and the Fitchburg Historical Society.

This digital exhibit was created by Ross Caputi, archival assistant at the Center for Italian Culture Archives, and Asher Jackson, archivist at Fitchburg State University, in collaboration with the Fitchburg Historical Society. It can be viewed at https://fitchburgstate.libguides.com/c.php?g=1188881&p=9980974.

Additional information on the CIC’s series can be found online at FitchburgState.edu/Nuovo-Mondo.

(Courtesy Fitchburg State University)

Mass. Senate quits X

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BOSTON — The Massachusetts Senate and President Karen Spilka joined a growing exodus Tuesday from X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that has reportedly been shedding advertisers and users amid owner Elon Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

Musk responded last week to a tweet that detailed a theory claiming that Jewish people are driving “hordes of minorities” to replace white people and said the post contained “the actual truth.” Since then, major advertisers have paused or pulled their ads from the platform, Media Matters published a report showing ads for major corporations appearing on X next to antisemitic material (and Musk has sued over it), and more individual users have given up on the former Twitter.

The X accounts for @MA_Senate and @KarenSpilka were no longer active or available on X as of about 3 p.m. Tuesday.

“Actions speak louder than words, but words still matter. Elon Musk has long promoted and enabled hateful speech and it is clear that he is not committed to hosting a platform that builds productive, respectful dialogue. With Elon Musk’s endorsement of a monstrous and dangerous antisemitic lie, I can no longer justify using the X platform for any reason,” Spilka said in a statement Tuesday. “I can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and LinkedIn, as can the Massachusetts State Senate. I hope you will follow me, and the Senate, on these platforms, and join us in leaving X.”

Lowell mayor courts register of deeds seat, controversy

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LOWELL — Shortly after winning reelection earlier this month, Mayor Sokhary Chau began laying out a political path that he hopes will make him the next Middlesex County register of deeds, but it just as easily might land him in the hot seat.

On Nov. 12, Chau released a statement about his intention to enter the race, following the announcement from longtime Register Richard Howe Jr. last month that he will not seek reelection in 2024, having served in the role since 1995. He replaced Ed Early who served in the position for three terms until his retirement.

In a text to his fellow councilors, obtained by The Sun, Chau said his background in the mortgage industry and the legal and real estate fields made him a good candidate for the position.

“I want you to hear from me personally that I’m throwing my hat in the ring to run for Middlesex North Registry of Deeds,” Chau wrote. “Dick Howe has done an amazing job using technology to advance and improve the operations of the office.”

He said that he would “continue to build upon his good work of improving customer service and promoting the Registry of Deeds.”

Chau echoed many of these same sentiments in a press release provided to The Sun later on the same day.

Karen Cassella, who campaigned against Howe in the 2018 race, also recently announced her candidacy. She currently works in the office, which is located in the Lowell Justice Center renamed in honor of the late Judge Cornelius Kiernan. If elected, Cassella would be the first woman to serve as the Middlesex County register of deeds.

“I have made the decision to run because I believe I have the knowledge and ability to identify and implement needed changes that will help the functionality of the office,” Cassella said by email on Monday. “I have been part of the Registry of Deeds for thirty-two years, having performed all aspects of the job which has given me extensive knowledge and experience of operations throughout all departments which I feel is critical to the role.”

In closing his message to his colleagues, Chau said, “As we enter our new term in January, I also want to assure you I will be fulfilling my duty to represent District 6 on the Council for my full term.”

Serving two political masters simultaneously has been done before, when then-Mayor Ed Kennedy won his state Senate race, and served out the two years of his concurrent win to the City Council. And when Steve Panagiotakos was first elected state representative, he served out his term on the School Committee.

“From a state ethics perspective, as someone elected to the Legislature could serve simultaneously as a city councilor, I think the caveat would be that you can only get one salary,” Howe said by phone on Monday.

But there’s no precedent for an elected official to a quasi-judicial position like the Registry to also hold a municipal-level seat, said Howe.

“I don’t know if anyone can give you a clear answer because there’s so few register of deeds positions,” he said. “The person in this position has to make judgments on what documents can and cannot be recorded.  I can’t answer definitely one way or the other. I think it’s sort of an open question.”

Under a Plan E form of government, if Chau were to either yield his council seat or be ruled to have to yield it, Justin Ford, his challenger in the District 6 race, would be appointed to the council.

“If a vacancy occurs on the council, it’s the second-place finisher that ascends to the office,” Howe said, pointing to School Committee member Susie Chhoun, who finished second in the 2021 race against Andy Descoteaux for District 3. When Descoteaux resigned his seat in 2022, Chhoun was appointed.

Not so fast, Director of Elections Greg Pappas said by phone on Monday, countering that a special election would need to be held.

“That works for at-large, that doesn’t really work for districts — it’s not supposed to work that way,” Pappas said. “… In the case of a councilor district, usually, if it’s in the first year, they do a special election within 90 days. If it’s the second year, they just leave it vacant until the end of the year because people who voted didn’t vote for that second person.”

Ultimately whether Chau is allowed to hold two seats simultaneously may be decided by his potential boss, Secretary of State William Galvin.

“They come in under the secretary of the commonwealth,” Pappas said. “They answer to Galvin budget-wise and otherwise. Even though they’re elected, they come under the Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin.”

Challenger Ford bristled at the idea that the newly reelected Chau would not only divide his attentions between campaigning for a state-level position, but if elected would also keep his council seat.

“It was an honor to run for city council and uplift the voices of my community, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to hear the concerns of District 6,” he said by text on Monday. “That is why I was concerned when I read the news of Sokhary Chau’s intent to run for ‘Middlesex Register of Deeds’ in 2024. District 6 deserves a fully committed council member. Running a campaign for the register of deeds will take time and energy that should be invested in addressing the concerns of District 6 constituents. So for someone to seek a new political office before being sworn into the office you were just elected to, isn’t fair to the residents who elected you.”

Chau is churning the political waters in other areas. Last week, he released a statement in support of fellow Councilor Danny Rourke to take the gavel as Lowell’s mayor in January. Rourke cruised to an unopposed reelection victory last Tuesday.

“As we look forward, and plan for the next Council term, we also recognize the importance of selecting a potential new Mayor,” Chau wrote. “I have decided to put my support behind Councilor Dan Rourke for Mayor. This is an important decision for the Council and the City. I believe Councilor Dan Rourke believes in the same main principles as I do: to work with everyone in the City, to unite the community and not to be divisive, and to cast wide resident support from all levels and neighborhoods in our community.”

The mayor of Lowell, who is elected by and from the City Council members, also sits as chair of the School Committee. It only takes a simple majority vote of the council to elect the mayor, and Rourke already reportedly has six votes, but there’s a lot of time for horse-trading between now and January.