The Mass Brief: The PROTECT Act just became a campaign issue, and it's going to test…

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        October 29, 2026

    The Mass Brief: The PROTECT Act just became a campaign issue, and it's going to test…

        Mass Brief

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THE MASS BRIEF

Thursday, October 29, 2026

      Good morning. Five days until Election Day, and the state is deep in the home stretch.

The Lead

The PROTECT Act just became a campaign issue, and it's going to test Gov. Maura Healey's handling of immigration.

      The law, signed in August to limit local cooperation with overzealous ICE enforcement, now has a bipartisan wrinkle. Twelve of the state's 14 sheriffs, ten Democrats and two Republicans, signed an Oct. 22 letter asking Healey to consider a fix. Their concern is a gap: the law bars sheriffs from tipping off ICE before releasing someone the agency wants to deport, with an exception for people who've completed sentences for certain violent felonies. That exception doesn't cover pretrial detainees, including those facing violent or drug-related charges. The sheriffs call it an "unintended public safety consequence."

      The letter sat quietly for several days. Then Republican nominee Mike Minogue took it to the State House steps on Tuesday, accusing Healey of "ignoring" the request. Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald, one of the two Republican signers, stood with him but insisted he wasn't there to politicize it, noting that mixing politics with public safety is "very dangerous." Healey's reply was to call ICE "a rogue agency," tie Minogue to President Trump, and say she'll "continue to talk with the sheriffs."

      That non-answer is the thing to watch. Healey leads comfortably, so the risk isn't losing the race; it's that a bipartisan, law-enforcement-flavored objection hands Republicans a talking point in the final week. A quiet legislative tweak after the election seems the likeliest outcome, but Healey will face pressure to say more before Tuesday. Full story at CommonWealth Beacon → | WBUR's take →

What Else You Should Know

Legal groups sue over ICE's disappearing detainee locations. Greater Boston Legal Services and three other groups filed suit in federal court in Boston, challenging a policy adopted last month that scrubs the locations of detainees with final removal orders from ICE's online locator. Lawyers say they can't find their own clients. Federal agencies deny anyone is being "disappeared," but more than 16,000 people were affected as of last month. WBUR →

Massachusetts Republicans are bracing for a rough Tuesday. With prices up and the president unpopular, GOP strategists admit the party is "struggling." Congressional hopeful Micah Jones, a 38-year-old Army combat veteran and former Democrat running for Seth Moulton's open seat, is trying to become the state's first Republican U.S. House member in 30 years by pitching a lower political temperature. WBUR →

Markey floats a national strike if Trump meddles with the election. Sen. Ed Markey said he wants millions ready to protest if the president tampers with Tuesday's results, citing reports about possible ICE deployments or the Insurrection Act. His Republican challenger, John Deaton, condemned the idea. Boston.com →

Question 3 would scrap party primaries. The measure creates a single all-candidate primary, with the top two advancing to November regardless of party. Backed by former governors Charlie Baker and Deval Patrick and opposed by the major parties, it has precedent in California and Washington, where the evidence suggests more competition, with caveats. Boston Globe →

Question 7: should smaller lots be a statewide right? The measure would allow single-family homes on residentially zoned lots of at least 5,000 square feet with 50 feet of frontage and public water and sewer. It applies everywhere but Boston. One supporter argues in CommonWealth Beacon that only a statewide mandate can break the "nobody wants density next door" logjam. CBS Boston → | CommonWealth Beacon op-ed →

Medford hired a teacher with a buried past. Michael Dampier taught music and led the marching band for 16 months before an anonymous email revealed he'd resigned from a Florida job nearly a decade ago amid an investigation into a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student. A simple call to his prior employer likely would have caught it. It raises hard questions about how schools vet hires beyond fingerprint checks. Boston.com →

A 14-year-old brought a loaded ghost gun to a Back Bay school. Boston police say a student at Snowden International was alerted on by a tipster Wednesday morning and found with a loaded Smith & Wesson ghost gun carrying 10 rounds. He was arrested nearby, and a Roxbury teen faces multiple firearms charges. Boston 25 →

Worth Your Attention

Tuesday, Nov. 3: Election Day. Polls open at 7 a.m., with a record-tying nine statewide ballot questions. Boston 25's explainer →

Nov. 2: A dangerousness hearing in Lowell District Court for Daquhan Cromer, arrested Wednesday after a year on the run from New Hampshire custody. Boston.com →

Question 9 decision: Voters will decide whether to keep the state's 2024 firearms law, which tightens licensing and ghost gun rules. Boston 25 →

End-of-Session Tracker

⏳ Formal sessions ended July 31. Conferees were appointed in time, so talks run until the term ends Jan 5 — 68 days
Energy Affordability & Clean Power (H5175)
House ✓Senate ✓ConferenceGov's DeskSigned
Economic Development (H5576)
House ✓Senate ✓ConferenceGov's DeskSigned
Massachusetts Data Privacy Act (S2619)
House ✓Senate ✓ConferenceGov's DeskSigned
Climate Resilience for Communities (S3064)
House ✓Senate ✓ConferenceGov's DeskSigned
Student Learning & Mental Health (phone ban) (S2581)
House ✓Senate ✓ConferenceGov's DeskSigned
Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention (H4767)
House ✓Senate ✓ConferenceGov's DeskSigned
Ballot Question Campaign Finance Reporting (S2916)
House ✓Senate ✓ConferenceGov's DeskSigned
Public Records & Government Transparency (H5469)
House ✓Senate ✓ConferenceGov's DeskSigned
Primary Care (S3141)
House ✓Senate ✓ConferenceGov's DeskSigned
Higher-Ed Infrastructure (BRIGHT Act) (H4769)
House ✓Senate ✓ConferenceGov's DeskSigned
Pet Equity, Treatment & Safety (S3028)
House ✓Senate ✓ConferenceGov's DeskSigned

Track all bills →

💰 Money Watch

Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

$15,000.00 Common Cause, Washington, DC → Vote YES on 4 Election Day Registration [Union/Association]
$12,000.00 Common Cause Massachusetts, Boston, MA → Vote YES on 4 Election Day Registration [Union/Association]
$10,000.00 Kestrel Land Trust, Amherst, MA → Vote Yes for Water and Nature [Union/Association]
$5,000.00 Anthony Baez, Boston, MA → Anthony Baez [Candidate Loan]
$5,000.00 Gwen Shipley (Lumen Academy), Concord, MA → Vote Yes for Water and Nature [Individual]
$1,839.66 MA Democratic State Committee, Boston, MA → Krista Ferrante [Committee]
$1,435.89 MA Democratic State Committee, Boston, MA → Maura T. Healey [Committee]
$1,000.00 Dennis Allen (Harold Brothers Mechanical), Marshfield, MA → Kevin Hayden [Individual]
$1,000.00 Andrea Arcari (Monarc development), Brookline, MA → David M. Biele [Individual]
$1,000.00 Giuseppe Arcari (Broadway Hospitality Group), Brookline, MA → David M. Biele [Individual]

Big Spending This Week

$250,000.00 Commonwealth for Tomorrow Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee paid Versus Media Group — Digital Media Buy [Independent Expenditure]
$55,977.46 Inc. Massachusetts First Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee paid Checkmate Strategies — Mailers [Independent Expenditure]
$9,400.00 Massachusetts Teachers Association Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee paid The New Media Firm Inc — Digital Advertising [Independent Expenditure]
$9,400.00 Massachusetts Teachers Association Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee paid The New Media Firm Inc — Digital Advertising [Independent Expenditure]
$9,340.06 Inc. Massachusetts First Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee paid Checkmate Strategies — Text Messages [Independent Expenditure]
$6,219.72 Inc. Massachusetts First Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee paid Checkmate Strategies — Mailers [Independent Expenditure]

      Data from the
      MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

This Week on Beacon Hill

Thursday, October 29, 4:00 PM
None
Topic: SPECIAL COMMISSION ON CABO VERDEAN CULTURAL CENTER
Location: Virtual Hearing, Boston
Monday, November 02, 9:00 AM
Joint Committee on Public Service (8 bills)
Topic: Sick Leave Banks & Miscellaneous Public Service Bills
Location: Written Testimony Only, Boston
S3269: An Act authorizing the town of Charlemont to continue the employment of fire dep (Filed by Paul W. Mark)
S3278: An Act establishing a sick leave bank for Jessica Lynlee Ayala, an employee of t (Filed by Brendan P. Crighton)
S3279: An Act establishing a sick leave bank for Margaret Connolly-Masson, an employee  (Filed by Mark C. Montigny)
S3280: An Act authorizing the town of Heath to continue the employment of the fire chie (Filed by Paul W. Mark)
S3281: An Act authorizing the town of Heath to continue the employment of a call member (Filed by Paul W. Mark)
... and 3 more bills

Full hearing schedule →

New on the Ballot

      Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

Daniel Wong (Democratic) — City Councilor, Somerville — Filed: 10/27/2026

Ballot Question Committees

Voter Choice for Massachusetts — N/A, N/A — Filed: 10/27/2026

OCPF →

One More Thing

        The Boston Globe's Yvonne Abraham ran the numbers on this cycle's $11.6 billion in political ad spending, a record. For scale: that's more than the National Cancer Institute's entire annual budget, or enough to buy a new Chevy Bolt for 370,000 people, roughly every resident of Cambridge, Lynn, and Springfield combined. Her plea: "Can't we just watch our cute otter videos in peace?" Five more days. Boston Globe →

See you tomorrow morning. The Mass Brief publishes every morning.

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