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| Good morning. There's a traffic cone that flew first class to Logan yesterday and got a welcome from the governor. We'll get there. First, the stuff that actually matters. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The ICE crisis just got a Massachusetts governor's attention — again. Governor Maura Healey said Tuesday she's "sick to her stomach" over Monday's fatal shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 26-year-old Colombian man legally authorized to work in the U.S., who was killed by an ICE agent in Biddeford, Maine — just a short drive from the New Hampshire border and well within the orbit of a region Healey has to think about constantly. It's the second fatal shooting by ICE agents into a vehicle in about a week, following an earlier incident in Texas, and a third immigration-related death Tuesday in Florida, where a man fleeing federal agents was struck and killed by a tractor trailer. The pattern is now impossible to ignore: agents claim they're targeting someone, the person shot turns out not to be the target, and the agency's explanation shifts by the hour. What makes this more than a Maine story is the response it's triggering across the region. Trump administration officials have quietly ordered ICE to pause most vehicle stops — a real, if temporary, retreat — after Maine's Republican Senator Susan Collins personally called Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to demand it. Healey, who made similar demands after ICE agents killed two people in Minnesota earlier this year, is once again calling for the agency to be "called back" entirely, arguing untrained, uncertified agents without body cameras are operating with zero accountability. Meanwhile in Biddeford — a mill city built by generations of immigrants that literally blocked a KKK march in 1924 — residents are holding vigils at the same river crossing where that stand happened a century ago. Here's what to watch: whether the vehicle-stop pause holds, whether Mullin's agency actually implements body cameras (Collins says she wants that mandatory), and whether pressure from swing-state Republicans like Collins — who's up for reelection and facing a primary challenge from former Maine CDC chief Nirav Shah — turns into real policy change or just another news cycle. For Massachusetts, where Healey has spent much of this year positioning herself as the loudest statehouse critic of ICE tactics, expect more of this fight to play out at press conferences here, not just in Augusta or D.C. |
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Wu is picking fights with her own party's incumbents. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is doing something no recent Boston mayor has done: openly campaigning against sitting Democratic state senators — the ones who blocked her tax proposals — by backing their primary challengers. It's a break from the backroom-dealing style of predecessors like Marty Walsh and Tom Menino, and it signals Wu is betting her political future on reshaping Beacon Hill rather than climbing to higher office herself. WBUR → The Merrimack Valley bus strike is over, but the free-ride math problem isn't. A 10-day strike by drivers and mechanics left thousands of car-less riders stranded and nearly 30 routes dark before ending Friday with a temporary deal. The bigger issue looms: Massachusetts has poured growing money into fare-free buses statewide (all 15 regional transit authorities now charge nothing), but this strike exposed how fragile that model is when budgets, labor, and exploding ridership collide. Boston Globe → A GOP lieutenant governor hopeful is officially off the ballot. The Supreme Judicial Court denied Anne Manning Martin's appeal after election officials found more than 1,200 fraudulent or invalid signatures among her nomination papers. She's out of the September 1 Republican primary for lieutenant governor, leaving Shawn Oliver as the GOP's likely nominee. GBH News → Worcester still hasn't acted on police oversight, ten months later. After a federal investigation found Worcester police used excessive force and discriminated against Black and Latino residents, an independent think tank recommended a civilian review board back in October. City Manager Eric Batista and Mayor Joseph Petty have promised action repeatedly — but nothing has happened, and residents are losing patience. GBH News → The SJC just made it harder for small towns to block solar projects. The state's highest court ruled that Petersham — a heavily forested Central Mass. town near the Quabbin — improperly denied a permit for a solar and battery storage project over tree-preservation concerns. The ruling clarifies that towns need a specific public-safety rationale, not general worries about deforestation, to block these projects — a big deal as solar developers increasingly eye rural land statewide. CommonWealth Beacon → New Bedford is rethinking festival safety after a juvenile stabbing. A minor was arraigned on assault with intent to murder charges after a triple stabbing at Buttonwood Park during the Whaling City Festival left three people injured. Mayor Jon Mitchell says the city will review safety protocols and consider earlier closing times for future events. Boston Globe → |
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• Legislative conference committee negotiations continue on the Big Tech/social media and school phone-ban bills, with lawmakers still deciding whether to merge the two or split them into separate final bills. CommonWealth Beacon → • Municipalities can now apply for Healey's new "Build for Mass" infrastructure loan programs — $75 million in low-interest financing for clean energy, seawalls, water systems, and downtown projects, announced Tuesday at a Local Government Advisory Commission meeting. CommonWealth Beacon → • Massachusetts's Congressional delegation just introduced a water infrastructure emergency bill in response to July's Haverhill sewer pipe break that sent untreated wastewater into the Merrimack River — worth tracking as Congress takes it up. State House News Service → |
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FY2027 Budget Tracker
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Current stage: Sent to Governor
Governor's Budget (H2) — filed House Budget (H5500) | 1744 amendments filed — house_floor Senate Budget (H5501) | 1 amendments filed — conference Conference Budget (H5555) — governor_desk
📋 No notable actions in the last few days. |
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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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This Week on Beacon Hill
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Monday, July 20, 9:00 AM Joint Committee on Revenue (4 bills) Topic: Miscellaneous & Late Files IV Location: Written Testimony Only, Boston
Tuesday, July 21, 12:00 PM Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs (2 bills) Topic: Late Files Location: Written Testimony Only, Boston
Tuesday, July 21, 1:00 PM Joint Committee on Election Laws (6 bills) Topic: Late File Legislation Location: A-1 , Boston
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New on the Ballot
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Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance: Candidates
PACs
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