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The Mass Brief
Thursday, June 5, 2026
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The Lead
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Beacon Hill Plays Hide the Ball — Again
Massachusetts voters spoke clearly in November 2024: audit the Legislature. Nearly two years later, the House's answer is a bill that Auditor Diana DiZoglio says “essentially negates everything that you voted for.” House Speaker Ron Mariano pushed through legislation Thursday that carves out so-called “constitutional functions” from any audit, creates its own narrow list of public records — bypassing the existing public records law entirely — and strips courts of any role in enforcing the process. Mariano called it a transparency milestone. House Minority Leader Brad Jones, a Republican, had a more vivid description: “a shit sandwich with extra pickles.” What makes this remarkable is the bipartisan disgust. This isn’t a case of Democrats versus Republicans — it’s Beacon Hill versus everyone else. DiZoglio, who has been fighting this battle in court since the ballot question passed, called the bill unconstitutional and said lawmakers are “painting this as some sort of transparency measure” while actually building a shield. The fast-moving bill was designed partly to head off a separate ballot initiative that would subject the Legislature and governor’s office to the public records law — which tells you everything about what Beacon Hill thinks of voters weighing in again. What happens next: the bill heads to the Senate, where it’s far from a done deal. And DiZoglio and reform advocates show no signs of standing down. If the Legislature doesn’t act to their satisfaction, expect that ballot question fight this fall to get very loud, very fast. |
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What Else You Should Know
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Karen Read Goes on Offense Fresh off her acquittal last summer, Karen Read filed a civil lawsuit Thursday against the Massachusetts State Police and the Canton Police Department, alleging a “culture of bias and corruption” enabled a botched and potentially criminal investigation into her. The suit lands one day after Canton Police Sergeant Sean Goode — who testified at Read’s first trial and was under investigation for misconduct — resigned from the department. The legal reckoning from this case, it turns out, is far from over. |
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Boston Cop Arraigned on Manslaughter Charge Boston Police Officer Nicholas O’Malley pleaded not guilty Thursday in Suffolk Superior Court to voluntary manslaughter in the March shooting death of Stephenson King Jr., 39, who was a suspect in a Tremont Street carjacking. O’Malley says he fired because he believed the car was about to crush his partner; prosecutors say body camera footage tells a different story. O’Malley was released on personal recognizance — the case now moves toward trial in Superior Court. |
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Wu Picks a Fight on Beacon Hill Mayor Michelle Wu endorsed political newcomer Latoya Gayle over incumbent state Senator Nick Collins of South Boston on Wednesday — a rare and pointed move that escalates their two-year war over property tax policy. Collins has repeatedly blocked Wu’s efforts to shift more of the tax burden onto commercial real estate, and Wu is betting her post-reelection political capital can flip his seat. Whether that capital travels from City Hall to a state Senate primary is the real question here. |
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Rent Control Advocates Blink — Sort Of The coalition pushing a statewide rent control ballot question is offering lawmakers a way out: pass a local-option bill allowing cities and towns to adopt their own rent caps, and the ballot campaign goes away. The compromise is significantly looser than the original proposal — allowing rent hikes up to 10 percent and permitting increases between tenants — but it would ban no-fault evictions. Advocates have a July 1 signature deadline looming, so the clock is ticking on both sides. |
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Boston’s Budget Chaos Continues The Boston City Council voted 10-3 Wednesday to punt Mayor Wu’s $4.9 billion city budget to next week, but did approve two big pieces of the puzzle: pulling nearly $70 million from emergency reserves to plug current-year deficits, and passing an $1.73 billion Boston Public Schools budget — by a tight 8-5 vote — that includes hundreds of job cuts. The teachers union had pushed the council to reject the BPS budget outright in protest; some councilors argued that would have solved nothing given the district’s real enrollment decline and rising costs. |
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ICE Grabs Driver Outside Peabody Courthouse Lucas Di Benedetto, 41, of Newburyport — charged with drunk driving after allegedly crashing his car the wrong way into a State Police cruiser on Route 1 — was taken into ICE custody by federal agents as he arrived at Peabody District Court Tuesday morning. The agents were waiting for him in the parking lot, with a camera crew in tow. A default warrant was issued in the state criminal case. The courthouse parking lot falls outside the protections of Massachusetts’s Protect Act, which bars ICE from state executive-branch property. |
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Worth Your Attention
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Senate teachers retirement vote: The Massachusetts Senate is taking up legislation Thursday (S 3109) that would give roughly 6,500–8,500 teachers who missed the window to enroll in the “Retirement Plus” enhanced benefits program back in 2001 another chance to sign up — righting what Senate President Karen Spilka called a “flawed rollout” two decades ago. CommonWealth Beacon → |
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Nantasket Beach this Friday: Hull police are boosting staffing Friday in response to social media posts about a planned large gathering at Nantasket Beach, with zero-tolerance enforcement promised for alcohol, disorderly conduct, and parking violations — worth knowing if you’re headed to the South Shore this weekend. Boston.com → |
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Mass. GOP ballot deadline: Friday is the last day for Republican candidates Mike Walsh (attorney general) and Anne Manning-Martin (lieutenant governor) to withdraw from the September primary, after state Democrats formally accused both of submitting fraudulent signatures to qualify for the ballot. Boston.com → |
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💰 Money Watch
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Yesterday's Biggest Contributions
Big Spending This Week
Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance |
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New on the Ballot
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Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance: Candidates
Ballot Question Committees
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One More Thing
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The Boston City Council’s Republican minority leader situation doesn’t exist, but Beacon Hill’s does — and Brad Jones delivered the line of the week with his “shit sandwich with extra pickles” review of the House’s transparency bill. Somehow, that’s the most honest thing said on Beacon Hill in months. |
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