Episode 202: State House Roundup: Back to Beacon Hill

2/17/2022--Today on The Horse Race, we look ahead to next week’s reopening of the State House. After more than 700 days of closure due to COVID, doors open on Tuesday, and legislators will return to their offices.

In this week’s installment of State House Roundup, friends of the pod Katie Lannan and Chris Lisinski of State House News Service break down the ramifications of the in-person return and highlight the major policies being tackled on Beacon Hill now— namely, voting reform, a bill to create a pathway for undocumented immigrants to obtain drivers licenses, and a drug pricing transparency bill.

This week also saw the exit of Harvard professor Danielle Allen from the governor’s race. Allen cites the caucus and nominating process as major barriers to nontraditional candidates’ access to the ballot. Her departure leaves two remaining candidates in the Democratic primary — Attorney General Maura Healey and state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz.

Full transcript below:

Steve Koczela: [00:00:29] Today on The Horse Race, the Massachusetts State House is opening after more than 700 days closed for COVID 19. We catch up on what's going down with another edition of State House Roundup. It's Thursday, February 17th. [00:00:41][12.0]

Lisa Kashinsky: [00:00:51] Welcome back to The Horse Race, your weekly look at politics, policy and elections in Massachusetts. I'm Lisa Kashinsky here with Jennifer Smith and Steve Koczela and half of our bunker is remote today. [00:01:02][11.5]

Steve Koczela: [00:01:03] That's right, there's big horse race news today. This is our first day in two years. It's not just the State House that we opened after seven hundred days. It's also the horse race bunker Libyans are in are in the OG Horse Race bunker and up on Beacon Hill. Lisa and Jenn are still remote. But hopefully sometime soon we'll all be back in the bunker together [00:01:22][19.0]

Jennifer Smith: [00:01:23] just so that everyone can get the kind of selfies with the giant glasses of the Dunkin iced coffee that Lauren Dezenski used to occupy the bunker with. Is that the plan? [00:01:34][11.1]

Steve Koczela: [00:01:34] Yes, I'm currently searching everywhere for the old Maltesers glasses that we used to wear sometimes when we'd be in here. But it also, you know, it's just good to be back where it started to come back into the office more often. You know, like, like many companies, I think starting to take baby steps back toward at least some amount of in-person work. Not exactly sure what that's going to look like. But for the pod, that means that we'll be able to be in-person in the pod with a bit better sound quality, hopefully for a lot of the pods going forward. [00:02:04][30.3]

Jennifer Smith: [00:02:05] Yeah, sure. Provided, of course, our listeners think the sound quality is better today. So that remains to be seen, doesn't it? [00:02:10][5.3]

Steve Koczela: [00:02:11] I have faith in Libby. [00:02:12][0.6]

Jennifer Smith: [00:02:13] We all have faith in Libby. But OK, so you guys are back in the pod bunker. You're back on the hill. So should we talk about what else is going on with the hill? We're going to spend a whole episode on that, but we might just want to start with the high level stuff. What do you think? [00:02:27][13.8]

Steve Koczela: [00:02:27] Let's go. [00:02:28][0.2]

Steve Koczela: [00:02:29] Giddy up. [00:02:29][0.3]

Jennifer Smith: [00:02:31] Horrible. Horrible, horrible people. [00:02:34][2.3]

Steve Koczela: [00:02:34] This is a roundup. That's a horse thing too, right? It's around, though. That's where we go around and like lasso, different events. [00:02:41][7.1]

Jennifer Smith: [00:02:42] Lasso different. Oh my gosh. OK. You keep your rodeo over there in the bunker. I'll keep mine remote. The state legislature is losing women, it's losing a lot of women, it's losing plenty of people who are retiring, seeking other offices or, you know, otherwise leaving the legislative body for various reasons. But notably for us today, we're talking about what happens if other women don't come in and kind of fill these seats where these departures are happening. The House and Senate, there have the potential to backslide on a lot of the diversity and kind of more representative body that it's been clawing its way toward for the past few years. Lisa, you covered this pretty thoroughly in playbook last week. So what's it actually look like? How many women are leaving and where does that leave the Legislature? [00:03:37][54.8]

Lisa Kashinsky: [00:03:38] The Legislature had hit a high an all time high earlier this session of 32 percent women, and that is already going down. You know, there were a couple of additions off special elections--Jamie Belsito, Lydia Edwards. But then we've had Claire Cronin, who's already left, you know, Maria Robinson and Sheila Harrington, who have had hearings for a new gigs, several state senators and representative who are running for statewide office again, other state senator and state representatives who are already said that they won't be seeking reelection at the end of this session. So there is a lot of turnover happening right now, and there's fear among political watchers about what that could mean for women's representation on Beacon Hill. [00:04:27][49.0]

Jennifer Smith: [00:04:29] So does this gap look like it's going to be made up in any way, or is that just up in the air? [00:04:34][5.7]

Lisa Kashinsky: [00:04:35] It could be made up. There are, of course, already women stepping up to run for some of the seats that are opening up and some of the seats that were created in the redistricting process. One person in particular, Kate Donahue, is running for, you know, big veteran Democratic activist in #mapoli lands is running for a newly created seat. So yes, there are people stepping up to run. And then some of the people who are leaving say the house like Nika Elugardo and Liz Miranda are vying for the Senate. So there are women running, but with redistricting changes and depending on who wins these elections again, because it's so early, you know, it remains to be seen what the total makeup and percentage is going to be. You know, come next session. [00:05:15][40.5]

Steve Koczela: [00:05:16] And of course, the other big news that just broke earlier this week is that Danielle Allen, the Democrat running for governor, is now out of the race, and she's not exactly leaving with good feelings about the process. Lisa, you wrote all about this. What's going on there? [00:05:29][12.5]

Lisa Kashinsky: [00:05:30] Yes, she had some choice words about the caucus system on her way out that she says it can push out qualified but nontraditional candidates and rob voters of a real choice on their ballot. Basically, what's going on is the Democrats are in the middle of holding their caucuses to select delegates for the state party's June convention, and at the convention, candidates need to win at least 15 percent support from those delegates to make it onto the primary ballot. So in Danielle's case, what happened is less than two weeks in the delegate math wasn't adding up for her with the caucuses that were remaining. And she basically is arguing that the system is too complex, too onerous a standard for ballot access, particularly for nontraditional candidates. Those who you know, a little bit newer to the scene or maybe lack some of the organizing knowhow that more seasoned candidates can bring to the table. And she's vowing to try and change it. [00:06:21][51.3]

Steve Koczela: [00:06:22] Yeah, certainly making your way through the caucus and convention system is difficult and complicated task, and there have been other qualified candidates in recent years both that have done it successfully. You know, you think of Deval Patrick and Elizabeth Warren coming from being unknown, but then also others that might have been appealing to voters that didn't make it through. So certainly a question, I think, worth debating whether this is the best system. [00:06:43][21.3]

Jennifer Smith: [00:06:45] And it really has been kind of a series of difficult fundraising, you know, moments and difficult poll numbers compared to the other candidates in the race that Danielle Allen has been, you know, facing and dealing with here. So we're kind of right at the start of caucus season right now. Did this feel like a possibility or did she kind of frame this as a shocking realization right at the start of caucus season? [00:07:12][27.4]

Lisa Kashinsky: [00:07:13] Well, she is a professor, so she approached this very academically and was very straightforward about it when I talked to her a few hours after she announced her decision and just said again, the math just wasn't there. Looking at the caucuses that were left, you know, the delegates that were still potentially in place, she just didn't see a path to getting that 15 percent. And since you can look ahead and see all of the caucuses that are left, you know, the Democratic Party has put that out publicly. You can get a sense of who is still in play. And you know, again, a lot of these delegates do you know Maura Healey from the times that she's run statewide twice before? And Sonia Chang-Diaz has been on Beacon Hill for 10 years, so it was a tough, uphill battle that she was facing the whole time. [00:07:55][42.4]

Steve Koczela: [00:07:56] And then just of course, looking at the polling, we released a poll a couple of weeks back now and there was another poll out this morning from the Mass Fiscal Alliance. That poll was done and a bit of an unusual way where all the Democrats and Republicans were kind of put together in one poll question that was then asked of everybody, rather than kind of saying who Democratic primary voters versus Republican primary voters might support. But we can look at it and see, OK, well, just among Democrats, what did they say? And you see that exactly that challenge showing up where among the Democrats that were asked the question, Maura Healey earned 46 percent support compared to Danielle Allen's one point nine or two percent support. Sonia Chang-Diaz also had two percent. So Maura Healey certainly, you know, does draw out a huge amount of support, and that is the challenge of running when you're less well known to the political system. [00:08:46][49.1]

Jennifer Smith: [00:08:47] Mm-Hmm. And Lisa, what has the reaction been so far? Obviously, this news just broke, but Danielle Allen, as you know, was the first black woman to run for governor as a member of one of our major parties. So how's that been received so far? [00:09:01][14.5]

Lisa Kashinsky: [00:09:03] Her exit is raising some questions about whether the gains that women and candidates of color saw in last year's municipal races are still struggling to translate at the statewide level. But there are still women running for each of the six constitutional offices in the state, and there are several women of color in the mix. [00:09:19][16.3]

Jennifer Smith: [00:09:20] So it does kind of touch on the question from earlier, which is essentially we know there are some barriers to entry here, but how simple are they? What does it take to navigate them? We've seen several candidates do that pretty successfully, but they also apparently needed a little bit more of either an in or their message at that moment was resonating with the Massachusetts state voters in a way that possibly Danielle Allen's really struggled to break through in this moment here. So obviously, this leaves us with state Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz and Attorney General Maura Healey on the Democratic side. Of course, there are some folks running to try to be governor as Republicans. They are gearing up for their conventions right now, so we will drop in on them at some future date to see how that is shaking out. But how about we take a turn right back up to Beacon Hill, kind of where we started and see if they've been doing any actual legislating along with planning to open their lovely doors? [00:10:24][64.0]

Steve Koczela: [00:10:25] Let's go. [00:10:25][0.2]

Jennifer Smith: [00:10:28] As we noted last week, and honestly, most weeks for this pandemic so far, the emptiest building these days is the State House of all places. That's changing soon. So we've got reopening and some actual legislation to talk about today. We're joined again for a roundup of all things Beacon Hill with good friends of the pod, Katie Lannon and Chris Lisinski of the State House News Service. Good to have you guys both on. [00:10:50][22.6]

Chris Lisinski: [00:10:51] Hi! [00:10:51][0.0]

Katie Lannan: [00:10:52] Thanks for having us. [00:10:52][0.6]

Jennifer Smith: [00:10:53] Katie, Chris, your favorite question for this whole pandemic has a different actual answer today, so let's hit that first. Why is the State House still empty and when will that change? [00:11:03][9.7]

Katie Lannan: [00:11:04] Well, it is empty because as we have all talked about for nearly two years, it's been closed for nearly two years to the public. But that is finally, we have a date for when that's going to change. And that date is next Tuesday, though that there is still seems like a good bit of details to be ironed out before that happens. [00:11:25][20.9]

Chris Lisinski: [00:11:26] And once it does actually reopen, it's probably not going to go right back to the way it once was. First of all, that's the Tuesday of school vacation week, which is usually a really quiet time in the Legislature and also a time when people who might normally want to swing by have other plans to take care of. And it's also likely that a lot of things that have rolled out during the pandemic, such as live streamed informal sessions and remote access to committee hearings, are going to remain in place for the foreseeable future and possibly forever. So the building's doors will once again be open to the public. But you know, some other COVID era features are still going to be sticking around. [00:12:07][40.8]

Steve Koczela: [00:12:08] And Katie, you mentioned some of the complexities involved in reopening the building. What are some of those? What are some of the details that either have been worked out and not announced or still need to be worked out in terms of exactly how reopening is going to work and what the rules are going to be? [00:12:21][13.2]

Katie Lannan: [00:12:22] I think the the biggest detail that's kind of up in the air at this point is the vaccine mandate that's going to be in place that, you know, the announcement that they would reopen the building came out with very few details. They did say that vaccination would be required, but haven't really set up a clear pathway as to how proof of vaccination will be shown. If it's the type of thing where you need to show it. If you're, say, a lobbyist and you're in the State House every day, are you proving your vaccination status every time you come in? Is it on file somewhere? If you're, you know, I think Senate President Spilka and Speaker Mariano were asked about what does that mean for kids under five? There's a lot to be-- any vaccine policy has a lot of details, and the clock is ticking really for, if you know, maybe people do want to spend their school vacation week touring the State House and how that will work out. [00:13:22][59.8]

Chris Lisinski: [00:13:23] And in a pretty significant departure from the way that this had been talked about before, it became official. There is a testing component to get into the State House as well. It's not just a vaccine requirement, it's a vaccine requirement or a negative COVID test within the past 24 hours is how legislative leaders described it. When we talk to them this week, we asked if an at home test would be valid, and they said yes still remains to be seen how exactly they'll insure. Those at home tests are indeed from within the past 24 hours, or if that's even possible to do at all. So there are still a lot of question marks surrounding this, for sure. [00:13:59][36.6]

Lisa Kashinsky: [00:14:01] And one of the factors that went into that testing option is the fact that there are four representatives who are still out of compliance with the House's vaccine mandate. So are these new rules as reopening these policies? Is this going to impact the amount of state legislators in the building? What's going on with that? [00:14:17][16.2]

Chris Lisinski: [00:14:18] One thing that I think is really interesting is at least the way they've presented this initially. It sounds like the Senate and the House are on different pages. You know, this came up when when Mariano and Spilka were talking to reporters about the reopening plan and someone asked, Is this-- does this imply that lawmakers are now going to be required to work in person? Mariano said on the House side, it's something along the lines of, you know, we're looking to have every single office staffed among the hundred and fifty eight current House members, maybe a hundred fifty seven. And Spilka said it's actually instead going to be up to each senator to do what they feel is best for their office, given their travel schedule and their time in their districts. So I think you'll probably see more people in the building than you have over the past two years, but it doesn't seem like it's going to be a everyone come back into the office like the before times. [00:15:11][52.6]

Katie Lannan: [00:15:12] And I think it's worth noting, too, that the policy, whether remote work is continued to be allowed, will affect not just the unvaccinated lawmakers that are out there, but those with far flung districts with long commute times typically you see those types of lawmakers in the building when they have sessions, when they have committee hearings, when there's a caucus. But the commute is something that a lot of them consider. I know there are a lot of people who have said they are able to get more done in their district when they're not traveling into Boston every day. And you know, we've long seen lawmakers spend Fridays in their districts traditionally anyways. So I don't think we'll see everyone kind of pour back in regardless of what the rules end up being. [00:16:04][52.2]

Jennifer Smith: [00:16:05] The thing that I've been curious about as well is is not just the process of people getting into the building, but also what happens if people remove masks once they're in there? Notably, a few weeks ago, at a Boston City Council meeting, people came in masked and then removed their masks in the meeting, and the meeting had to go remote. Of course, last week, as we were finishing reporting, a group of protesters made it into the statehouse despite it being closed. So you do have kind of those dual security questions, right? Not just who's coming into the building, but also what is it like inside the building if something were to happen? [00:16:43][37.8]

Chris Lisinski: [00:16:44] I don't think that those questions have really been answered, at least not publicly. Lisa, I think it was even you who asked Mariano and Spilka, you know, you mentioned that on Monday, you saw several people wandering around the State House who have authorized access but aren't wearing masks currently. And I think the Senate president's response was, well, we'll ask them to wear their masks. It's just like any other workplace. So how they're actually going to enforce that if visitors are less than inclined to listen to a polite request to mask up? I'm not sure. And frankly, I'm also not sure what the staffing levels are like for enforcement. You know, legislative leaders say they have enough court officers and enough rangers on hand to handle this. But this is probably going to be a kind of work that we haven't ever seen before because we've never seen what it's like to enforce a mask mandate at a State House open to the public. [00:17:36][51.8]

Steve Koczela: [00:17:37] Something to look forward to and watch for sure. But let's move on and talk a bit about the actual legislation that they're working on. First, Katie, then Chris, what are some of the big bills that you've been watching that the Legislature has been working on for the last few weeks and months? [00:17:50][12.9]

Katie Lannan: [00:17:51] Sure. I mean, as we're as we're talking today on Wednesday, the house is planning to take up a bill that would allow unauthorized immigrants, people who do not have documentation to show legal presence in the country, a pathway to get driver's licenses. So that's something we're certainly watching to see how that plays out. Not not the best timing for your podcast schedule. I don't know why they didn't plan that differently, but other things we've seen move recently include a pharmaceutical company transparency and oversight bill in the Senate. And, you know, health care is something that there there seems to be some interest on this session, although not all coming from the same angle among the major players. [00:18:34][43.3]

Chris Lisinski: [00:18:36] Two other things that are worth watching. One is the initial round is already done and that's on long term elections reforms. Both the House and Senate have approved their own versions of bills that would sort of enshrine voting options that were rolled out for the first time during the pandemic. This is the greater access to mail in voting expanded early voting days. What we're watching for is where they're going to land on allowing new voters to register and cast a ballot in one single trip to the polls. That's something that the Senate supported and that the House does not support and instead suggested sending that out to a study that effectively kills it. So we're watching in the coming weeks and months where that is going to land once it comes out of conference committee. The House also last week approved a soldier's home oversight reform bill. This stems from the COVID 19 outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home early in the pandemic. So we're waiting to see what the Senate is going to do with that, and if it's going to hew more closely to the recommendations that the legislative committee that investigated that crisis produced or if it's going to follow some of the changes the house made to that along the way. [00:19:41][65.3]

Jennifer Smith: [00:19:42] And on the subject of both COVID, but also voting. Chris, you wrote about the COVID bill that Governor Baker just signed. So it's got about hundred and million in it. It also moves the statewide primary date. So details on that, please. [00:19:56][14.3]

Chris Lisinski: [00:19:57] Yeah, our statewide primary will now take place on September 6th. That's two weeks earlier than it normally would fall. You know, if lawmakers didn't act at all the way that the state law is written, it would happen on September 20th but what has become a tradition here in Massachusetts is moving away from the date that that is normally outlined. Secretary of State William Galvin says that if we held the election on September 20th, he wouldn't have enough time to to make ballots available to overseas voters and military voters to comply with federal law. So instead, it will be moved up two weeks. We also saw nomination papers become available this week, so we're really officially in the swing of election season now. [00:20:38][40.5]

Lisa Kashinsky: [00:20:39] And the governor vetoed some sections of that bill, though, that were related to COVID, you know, deadlines around masks and vaccine equity. Talk to us about that. [00:20:48][9.3]

Chris Lisinski: [00:20:49] Yeah, some some of the things that he struck from it, he he basically said that they were unnecessary. One section would have required DPH to post some formal guidance about mask use on its website, something the governor said is already happening at this point that already does regularly, so no need to codify that into law. He also tried to strike some hard time deadlines around production of a vaccine equity plan, basically said, Look, you know, the state has tried its best amid numerous challenges to make vaccines available to everyone who needs them, make them available in harder hit communities, communities of color areas with lower median incomes. I think it's interesting that he he agreed to comply with requirements to produce some reports and to come up with a vaccine equity plan generally. But simply said that he doesn't think there should be a hard 120 day deadline to roll that plan out. [00:21:44][54.9]

Jennifer Smith: [00:21:45] And what's going on right now around the prescription drug price bill? That's been kind of ping ponging around, hasn't it, Katie? [00:21:51][6.1]

Katie Lannan: [00:21:53] Yeah, this is an issue that's certainly not a new one for the Senate. Without diving too much into the weeds of the past several years worth of efforts to pass comprehensive health care legislation on Beacon Hill. So last session, the 2019 to 2020 session, the Senate passed a very similar drug pricing bill that, among other things, both last term's bill and this bill look to put price caps for consumers on a monthly insulin supply. So they're not paying more than twenty five dollars a month. There would be new ways to bring drug companies and pharmacy benefit managers into the existing kind of health care analysis and oversight process. There'd be state regulation for PBMs and, you know, many other efforts. But that's a bill that the Senate passed a version of last session last session. There was kind of a lot of interest in doing health care legislation, and that came after the previous two year session, when the two branches were unable to reach an agreement on different huge sweeping health care bills at the end of session and the talks collapsed. They went up until midnight on July 31st. [00:23:13][80.7]

Katie Lannan: [00:23:15] There have been all sorts of roadblocks along the way different obstacles ranging from the death of a committee chair working on the bill several years back. That was the late Peter Kocot. It was the House chair of the Health Care Financing Committee at the time. Another chair left for a new job last session. And of course, there was the COVID pandemic right, which threw off everything on Beacon Hill, including health care in a way. Although there was health care legislation passed last session, it focused more on the pandemic related needs like telehealth and expanding access to that technology. And it kind of left these issues like drug prices on the Senate side, like mental health access, like the governor's priority is reprioritizing primary care, geriatric care and behavioral health care in the system we have in the House under Speaker Mariano, who was the former speaker's kind of go-to guy on some health care issues. He's always been interested in protecting community hospitals, so there's a lot of pieces out there. We haven't heard from the house on whether they have any interest in also tackling drug prices. So a million years ago, Jennifer, you asked me where drug pricing stands and where it stands right now is in that kind of limbo. We so often see on Beacon Hill, where one branch has passed a bill and the other hasn't really said if they plan on doing the same. [00:24:45][90.5]

Lisa Kashinsky: [00:24:46] So Katie, you also wrote this week about the State Department of Public Health changing its mask guidelines, and the congressional delegation is very split on this. But what's the general update there? [00:24:58][11.5]

Katie Lannan: [00:24:59] Yeah, the general update is the guidance has been relaxed. And remember, this is a recommendation, not a requirement. The DPH had previously said that everyone should mask up in indoor public spaces. They've walked that back to a version that was in place last summer last fall that says if you're unvaccinated, wear a mask, if you are vaccinated and you are at high risk or you live with. Someone who is or you live with someone who's unvaccinated, then you should still wear a mask in indoor public spots. [00:25:32][32.8]

Steve Koczela: [00:25:33] And that leaves us with everybody-- still all parents of kids under five, that counts. So that was, I have to say, pretty exasperating for those of us that fit into that category to see that that's still the guidance, especially given all the delays that there have been around that. But unfortunately, Chris Lisinski and Katie Lannan of Statehouse News, we have to leave it there. So thank you so much for joining us this week. [00:25:54][20.6]

Chris Lisinski: [00:25:54] Our pleasure. [00:25:54][0.2]

Chris Lisinski: [00:25:55] Plenty to talk about for next time. [00:25:56][1.2]

Steve Koczela: [00:25:57] Always. All right, well, that brings us to our favorite segment and based on our extensive audience analysis and our the financial department here at Horse Race Global Media Empire headquarters are extremely valuable at trivia section. Come get your points. You got to get your points. [00:26:27][30.0]

Jennifer Smith: [00:26:27] Yeah, they're about to be tied up in, I assume, extensive litigation over the dilution of their value. I don't know. It remains to be seen, but [00:26:35][7.9]

Steve Koczela: [00:26:35] for now there are more points to be had. Jenn, what's the question for this week? [00:26:38][2.7]

Jennifer Smith: [00:26:39] This one is near and dear to my heart. Senator Walt Timilty is looking for an oversight investigation into the delayed Mattapan trolley improvements. So if you see those little orange PCCs trundling their way from Ashmont to Milton, consider the trivia for this week, which is what is the very special thing about that trolley lines route? [00:26:57][18.4]

Steve Koczela: [00:26:58] That just leaves open so many different possibilities. [00:27:00][2.1]

Jennifer Smith: [00:27:02] No, no. That is a narrow question. We are asking you about the route. [00:27:05][3.1]

Steve Koczela: [00:27:06] All right. All right. Fair enough. [00:27:07][1.2]

Jennifer Smith: [00:27:08] Don't try and tell me what PCC stands for. Tell me about where it goes. [00:27:12][3.8]

Lisa Kashinsky: [00:27:13] So if you think you've got the answer or you'd like to commiserate with Jenn about the T, give us a shout on Twitter at The_HorseRace. Please do not tag the actual horse racing Twitters. We do politics here. But for now, that's all the time we have for today. I'm Lisa Kashinsky here with Jennifer Smith and Steve Koczela. Don't forget to subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe to my lovely Massachusetts Politico Playbook and ping The MassINC Polling Group for polls. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week. [00:27:13][0.0]