A top Democrat fighting with other Democrats. Republicans at war with Republicans.
Gov. Charlie Baker says politics is supposed to be a “team sport,” but at the moment both teams clearly have some clubhouse issues that need to be resolved before the 2022 season starts.
“It’s the political Twilight Zone, that’s what it is,” MassGOP Vice Chairman Tom Mountain said the morning after a contentious gathering of Republicans in Marlboro.
The infighting at the Massachusetts Republican Party reached a boiling point this week, while Secretary of State William Galvin lobbed some harsh critiques at House leaders over their plans for redistricting.
And in the middle of all that, the Legislature voted overwhelmingly in support of putting a Constitutional amendment to raise taxes on millionaires on the ballot in 2022. The largest tax hike in a generation is being pushed at a time when the state is awash in federal relief money, and critics said the wealth tax, which has polled well, might not be as lucrative as its boosters hope.
But supporters like Rep. Jim O’Day and Sen. Jason Lewis said the need for investment in schools and roads will outlast any one-time federal aid.
The same day Republicans on Beacon Hill were voting against the “millionaires’ tax” on Wednesday, warring factions of the party gathered in Marlboro behind closed doors and at odds over how to respond to state committee member Deborah Martell telling gay Republican Congressional candidate Jeffrey Sossa-Paquette it “sickened” her that he adopted children with his husband.
At the center of the maelstrom is MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons, a social conservative who was already in a middle of an intraparty fight over how warmly to embrace the moderate and popular Republican governor. Lyons has called Martell’s comments “offensive,” but has defended her right to express her beliefs, rooted, he says, in Catholicism.
But by refusing to demand Martell’s resignation, Lyons has heard calls from elected Republicans, including 29 of the 30 House members and seven past party chairs, for him to resign instead.
It didn’t do much to foster party unity for Lyons to accuse House Republicans, all except Billerica’s Marc Lombardo, of bowing to the “woke mob.”
On Beacon Hill, Republicans found it easier to band together in opposition to the “millionaires’ tax,” a proposal to tack a 4% surtax on all annual income over $1 million with the goal of generating $1.9 billion in new money for transportation and education.
That revenue estimate hasn’t been updated since 2015, and the right-leaning Beacon Hill Institute came out with a report the day before the vote suggesting the wealth tax would more likely lead to about $1.2 billion in new revenue and cost thousands of jobs in the process.
“I said before I don’t think we should be raising taxes,” Baker said.
Sen. Patrick O’Connor, of Weymouth, was the only Republican to support advancing the proposal to the 2022 ballot, and with 159 votes in favor there was little opponents could do but begin to prepare for a bruising 17-month campaign.
The action at the Statehouse didn’t end there.
On the House side of the building, Democrats voted to reverse the order of operations for redistricting by having the Legislature redraw the boundaries of state and federal districts before cities and towns adjust their own local precincts based on new population trends.
Instead of using precincts as the building blocks for legislative and Congressional districts, lawmakers in charge of redistricting would use Census blocks. Precincts would be molded to fit after the fact. The change pitched by Assistant House Majority Leader Michael Moran would also remove the June 15 deadline for municipalities to re-precinct, which no one expects them to meet because the actual Census data they need has been delayed until later this summer.
Voting and civil rights advocates agree this change will lead to more cohesive districts, but Galvin, who like Moran comes from Boston’s Brighton neighborhood, has called it a “power grab” by House Democrats to strip municipalities of local control in the name of self-preservation.
While the House didn’t listen to Galvin’s warnings, it did tack on a permanent expansion of mail-in voting to a mid-year budget bill that would allow voters to cast ballots early and by mail before every biennial state primary and general election.
Galvin supports a permanent expansion of voting by mail, as well as same-day registration, which was not a part of the amendment authored by Elections Laws Committee Chair Rep. Dan Ryan.
The vote-by-mail process would be similar to that used during COVID-19 last year, with applications for ballots going first to registered voters, followed by ballots that must be returned before the close of polls on election day, except in a presidential election.
The House gave the Senate a lot to think about over the weekend, and in turn, the Senate sent the House an extremely time-sensitive piece of legislation that would extend a slew of pandemic policies set to expire Tuesday when the COVID-19 state of emergency lifts.
The Senate bill also touches upon voting-by-mail, but only extends the practice through Dec. 15. If the bill becomes law, it would also temporarily allow municipal boards to continue to meet remotely and permit restaurants to sell take-out cocktails, among other things.
To-go cocktails, and helping the restaurant industry generally, has been a top priority of late for Sen. Diana DiZoglio, who jumped into the race for auditor this week.
The Methuen Democrat won’t be facing opposition from Governor’s Councilor Eileen Duff, who abruptly ended her nascent campaign Friday due to family health concerns, but could find herself running against a Senate colleague, assuming his trial balloon doesn’t pop.
Taunton Sen. Marc Pacheco has apparently been making calls to gauge what kind of support he could expect should the long-time senator and climate change fighter take the plunge.
Rep. Tami Gouveia, a second-term Acton Democrat, is also keen on higher office, though she’s got her eyes on becoming lieutenant governor and formally launched her campaign Monday, the same day that Babson College business professor and former small business owner Bret Bero said he too would explore a run for number two.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Galvin vs. Moran; Lyons vs. Everyone.
