| | | | |  | | By Mia McCarthy and Kelly Garrity | DROPPING DEBT — President Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan is in limbo. Gov. Maura Healey is getting her plan started in the health care industry. The MA Repay Program — started by former Gov. Charlie Baker before he left office — was designed to address health care worker shortages following the COVID-19 pandemic. Now Healey is focusing these funds on an issue she has rallied behind: forgiving student loans for health care workers. Healey has been a longtime supporter of student debt cancellation. In 2021, she urged Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in student debt through executive action alongside Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley — two other champions on the issue. But after the Supreme Court shot Biden’s $20,000 student debt cancellation plan into uncertainty, Healey is taking matters into her own hands. On Monday, her administration announced 2,935 health care workers would receive $140.9 million in student loan repayments through the MA Repay Program. “The MA Repay Program will be life-changing for thousands of our hardworking healthcare professionals while also helping more people enter and stay in this critical industry that has been suffering from workforce shortages,” Healey said in a statement. Every eligible applicant was able to get help with their student debt cases, Driscoll said Monday at a press conference at Brockton Neighborhood Health Center. Awardees — who must be licensed to work in Massachusetts and committed to working in underserved communities for two years — could receive up to $50,000 in student loan repayments. “We’ve got funding to support the repayment of student loans for anyone who’s been through a university or college,” Driscoll said. Of the loan repayment recipients, 45 percent are people of color and 70 percent are women. As for what’s next, Driscoll said an additional $100 million of student debt relief will be available for the next round of health care workers, which will focus on nurses, home and human services providers, and clinical or case management mental health workers. “This is about giving back to those who give so much to us,” Driscoll said in a tweet. During the press conference, Driscoll also highlighted free community college programs added to the state budget as another way the state is tackling future student debt. Teachers could be Healey’s next target. The Department of Higher Education will be launching a loan repayment program for up to $25,000 of student debt relief for educators in Massachusetts who work at a public K-12 school for at least four years, according to the governor’s office. Healey’s finding other avenues too, including a student loan repayment exemption in her proposed tax package. “The Healey-Driscoll Administration is committed to making higher education and job training more affordable and accessible in Massachusetts,” Karissa Hand, a spokesperson for the governor, said in a statement. But Healey hasn’t lost hope for Biden’s plan yet. Hand added that the governor “also supports student debt relief efforts at the federal level.” GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Sen. Ed Markey is officially the longest serving member of Congress representing Massachusetts, surpassing late Sen. Ted Kennedy as of today. Markey has served for 46 years and 293 days and is runner-up for longest serving member of Congress still in office, behind Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley. TODAY — Healey and Driscoll will join legislators, advocates and leadership from Massachusetts’ public colleges and universities for a press conference highlighting tuition equity in Massachusetts at 11:30 a.m. in Lawrence. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu visits the New England Conservatory’s "Everyone Can Make Music" program at 9:30 a.m. in the South End. She hosts a press conference welcoming the National Association of Asian American Professionals annual leadership conference to Boston at 10:30 a.m. at City Hall. Thanks for reading this week! Lisa will back in your inbox tomorrow. Stay in touch: mmccarthy@politico.com, kgarrity@politico.com.
| | | | DOWNLOAD THE POLITICO APP: Stay in the know with the POLITICO mobile app, featuring timely political news, insights and analysis from the best journalists in the business. The sleek and navigable design offers a convenient way to access POLITICO's scoops and groundbreaking reporting. Don’t miss out on the app you can rely on for the news you need. DOWNLOAD FOR iOS – DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID. | | | | | |  | DATELINE BEACON HILL | | — “Massachusetts to change how Asian, Black, and other populations are counted in ‘most expansive’ effort in country’,” by Matt Stout, Boston Globe: “In what may be the most sweeping effort of its kind in the nation, Massachusetts will begin collecting more-detailed data on dozens of Asian, Pacific Islander, Black, Latino, and white ethnic groups, a change that proponents say can help sharpen policy makers’ understanding of the needs and challenges of a diversifying population. With little fanfare, legislators tucked the so-called data equity provision into the state budget that Governor Maura Healey signed this month.” — “Healey admin seeks over $2 billion from federal grant programs,” by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald: “The Healey Administration has applied for more than $2 billion in federal grant funds aimed at four large scale infrastructure projects which could substantially improve traffic and ease travel in the impacted regions.” — “Cranberries, cod and turkeys: Massachusetts officials want you to help design the state's new seal,” by Hanna Ali, WBUR: “On Aug. 17, the Massachusetts Seal and Motto commission released a public survey where residents can 'have a voice in creating a seal and motto that represents the history and aspirations of Massachusetts.' The survey, made in partnership with UMass Boston, is available online in eight languages and asks participants to consider which Massachusetts flora or fauna they'd prefer on the seal. Some potential options include the shape of the state, cranberries, cod, a Mayflower or turkeys. The deadline is this November.” — “Beacon Hill weighs changes to improve dementia care,” Christian M. Wade, Newburyport Daily News: “More than 130,000 people in Massachusetts are living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, a number that’s expected to rise dramatically in coming years as the baby-boomer generation gets older. While the state government has taken steps in recent years to mandate training for medical professionals who work with dementia patients and diverted more money and resources into dementia care, advocates say more needs to be done to help families cope with the financial and emotional toll of the diseases.”
| | FROM THE HUB | | — “Lego will set up its new headquarters on Boylston Street,” by Catherine Carlock, Boston Globe: “The final piece for Lego’s move to Boston is now in place. The Denmark-based toymaker said on Monday that it selected 1001 Boylston St., the office and lab building under construction over the Massachusetts Turnpike along Mass. Ave., as its new Americas headquarters.”
| | THE RACE FOR CITY HALL | | — FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: State Sen. Jason Lewis is endorsing Jen Grigoraitis for mayor in Melrose, calling her “a proven leader with the experience and vision to keep Melrose thriving for all.” Grigoraitis is currently city council president in Melrose.
| | | ON THE STUMP | | | — CLIMATE CHANTS: A youth-led climate group known for its disruptive tactics interrupted Healey’s fundraising event on Nantucket Saturday with chants calling for an end to fossil fuels. The chorus broke out after activists from the group Climate Defiance were dissatisfied with the governor's response when a member asked if she would ban new fossil fuel infrastructure projects. After the disruption, members of the group appeared to be led away from the venue, per video posted by Climate Defiance on social media. Healey campaign spokesperson Corey Welford declined comment.
| | | DAY IN COURT | | | “Mass. police oversight panel releases public database of officer disciplinary records,” by Nick Stoico, Boston Globe: “A database containing disciplinary records for more than 2,100 Massachusetts police officers credibly accused of misconduct is now available to the public online, state officials said Tuesday. The Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, or POST commission, a statewide police oversight board established as part of a criminal justice reform law in 2020, has made the database available on its website. It includes more than 3,400 records for officers from 273 law enforcement agencies across the state, according to a statement.”
| | TRUMPACHUSETTS | | — “Former Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson to serve as Trump’s Massachusetts campaign chair,” by Emma Platoff, Boston Globe: “Former Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson will again serve as Donald Trump’s Massachusetts campaign chairman, the campaign said last week, elevating a controversial Republican figure to lead Trump’s efforts in this blue state.”
| | | | Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of the first episodes in September – click here. | | | | | | | 2024 WATCH | | — “Thomas Hodgson leads Trump’s campaign in Massachusetts,” by the Boston Herald: “Former Sheriff Thomas Hodgson is heading up Donald Trump’s campaign in Massachusetts where he sees 'energy' building for an alternative to President Biden. ‘People have finally realized that the price of eggs and of gas, to name a few, isn’t working for their kids,’ Hodgson told the Herald. ‘That’s the driving force.’”
| | THE LOWELL CONNECTOR | | — “Mass. minority police officers' association accuses Lowell of discrimination in promotions,” by Walter Wuthmann, WBUR: “A Lowell sergeant says the city's police department discriminated against him when it passed him over for a promotion, according to an appeal filed with the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission. The Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers filed the appeal Friday on behalf of Sgt. Francisco Maldonado. In a separate letter to the city, the group said the decision is the latest in a pattern of discrimination in the department.”
| | THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — “Another 100 migrant families could be housed in Woburn soon, mayor says,” by Matthew Medsger, Boston Herald: “The mayor says the city of Woburn can expect about 100 migrant families to join the dozens already there as the state struggles to find shelter for tens of thousands of newly arriving people. According to Mayor Scott Galvin, the city of 41,000 has already seen 59 migrant families placed in area hotels under the state’s Right to Shelter law, but the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities has informed them that an additional 100 families could arrive very soon.” — “Worcester schools consider affinity groups for families of LGBTQ students,” by Jeff A. Chamer, Telegram & Gazette: “With Worcester Pride set to kick off in a couple of weeks, School Committee member Tracy O’Connell Novick said the timing could not be better to start getting families involved in supporting LGBTQ students. And one of the best ways to do that, she said, is through the creation of an affinity group that would allow parents and guardians to focus on helping the district administrators meet the students' particular needs.” — “College student leading revived Plainville Democratic Town Committee,” by Stephen Peterson, Sun Chronicle: “After being dormant for roughly three years, mainly due to the pandemic, the local Democratic Town Committee is being revived under the leadership of a college student. The committee is 'thrilled to announce its reorganization ... marking an exciting chapter in its history,' committee Chairman Andrew LaBerge said. 'Spearheaded by renewed leadership, the Democratic Town Committee is determined to reignite its mission and extend its impact across the town.’” — “More homeless refugees have been moved into Framingham hotels 'stretching' support,” by Jesse Collings, MetroWest Daily News: “The number of homeless refugees that have been moved into Framingham has been increasing rapidly, as two new waves of migrant families were recently brought in by the state to local hotels. During Wednesday's School Committee meeting, Mayor Charlie Sisitsky said 10 new families were moved into the city the previous day, and that eight more were moved in on Wednesday.”
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