New energy proposal sparks criticism while Senate mellows out on CCC reform

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The Massachusetts Senate decided to get into the weeds on cannabis policy this week, and House members of a joint energy committee may have put a torch to always-simmering interbranch tensions as they got behind a plan to revamp clean energy targets in the name of ratepayer affordability.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee unrolled its Cannabis Control Commission reform proposal Thursday, creating a budding bargaining chip for the House that passed its CCC bill in June. A highlight for some adults: Both branches seem ready to allow recreational users to possess up to two ounces of marijuana, which is double the existing limit.

Senate Democrats want to bump up the license cap for cannabis retailers from three to four, while the House bill allows owners to scale up to six licenses. Local mom and pop shops could be wiped out under the House's doubling act, small business owners warned at a recent forum organized by Sen. Liz Miranda.

"These expansion ideas are built for people with a lot of money. You know, it is not built for people who are in the Social Equity Program," said Kobie Evans, the founder of Boston's first recreational cannabis dispensary, as he referenced the CCC's assistance program for those disproportionately affected by marijuana prohibition.

The Senate also wants to shrink the CCC board and take away appointing authority from Treasurer Deb Goldberg. The treasurer set off a firestorm by suspending and then firing Chair Shannon O'Brien, who's now back at the agency after winning her court fight against Goldberg. Senate President Karen Spilka insisted to reporters the reboot is in response to the maturing industry, not to the CCC's headline-grabbing chaos.

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Feuding, if there was any this week among members of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, remained at least publicly restrained from the Senate side as House Chair Mark Cusack released a sprawling bill that relaxes near-term greenhouse emission targets. It also cuts the Mass Save budget and introduces an affordability and competitiveness standard to reorient clean energy goals.

Rather than House and Senate TUE members acting together on a redraft of Gov. Maura Healey's ratepayer relief package, Cusack appeared to bypass a procedural requirement by attaching 11 House bills onto his solar relief proposal. Last session, the TUE Committee effectively splintered, as procedural sparring led to former House Chair Jeff Roy and Senate Chair Michael Barrett to host separate hearings.

More fireworks are likely. Four representatives reserved their rights on Cusack's poll, including two Democrats. Advocates released searing statements accusing Massachusetts of abandoning its 2030 clean energy goals. Caitlin Peale Sloan of the Conservation Law Foundation called the proposal "nothing short of betrayal."

Larry Chretien of the Green Energy Consumer Alliance said the bill "attacks clean energy" when energy costs are being driven higher by infrastructure costs associated with electricity and natural gas. "This is not a bill that is going to save consumers a significant amount of money in the short or long term," Chretien said.

Democrats, however, appear mindful that success in elections earlier this month might have stemmed from their stand on affordability issues. The Cusack bill is forcing some serious reflection, as Democrats to decide whether to put some clean energy aspirations on hold in favor locking down possible wins for ratepayers.

The House backed away from its tentative plan to have a formal session Thursday. Some advocates had feared the branch was intending to fast-track the energy bill before next week's close on formal sessions for the year.

The Senate stayed busy during its formal session Thursday, passing legislation to address book bans at schools and public libraries, establish a commission to study the rising costs of digital collections for public libraries, strengthen assaults and battery protections for public transportation workers, and update terminology and membership at the Commission on LGBTQ Aging.

AARP thanks the Massachusetts House for passing H.4706, An Act to Improve Massachusetts Home Care, creating the state’s first Family Caregiver Commission. During National Family Caregivers Month, we urge the Senate to pass this vital bill and give the state’s 1.4 million caregivers the support they deserve. Learn more: aarp.org/ma

Left unfinished this week: the closeout supplemental budget.

While Spilka said Thursday negotiators are "very, very close" on a deal, Rep. Aaron Michlewitz and Sen. Mike Rodrigues may not actually be in close proximity while hashing out the fine points. In an Instagram post Wednesday, Michlewitz shared a photo of himself in Hollywood Hills with the caption, "La La Land."

Senate Republicans' recent push to cushion the spending package with state-funded food assistance benefits to cover a lapse in federal aid is now a moot point. Healey announced Monday that all eligible SNAP recipients had received their full benefits. At that point, the federal government shutdown was already beginning to end and it officially ended Wednesday, putting a pin in the dizzying stream of legal actions.

Attorney General Campbell, who co-led a multistate coalition in suing the Trump administration for suspending SNAP benefits, likened herself and Massachusetts to a legendary boxer.

"We are a small state, but we punch above our weight. We are Muhammad Ali," Campbell said at the Health Policy Commission's cost trends hearing Wednesday. "I feel like Muhammad Ali. We are punching above our weight every single day, and our leadership is what everyone is looking to."

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Health care industry leaders who came to their industry's annual "Super Bowl" absorbed a few gut punches. The rate of uninsurance is expected to double in Massachusetts, stemming from Medicaid work requirements and biannual eligibility checks under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation CEO Audrey Shelto.

Soaring premiums, fueled by the looming threat of expiring enhanced premium tax credits, are also stirring emotional distress for Massachusetts Health Connector members.

"We have seen an uptick in threats of self-harm," Health Connector Executive Director Audrey Morse Gasteier said. "The degree of duress that is out there as folks contemplate losses of subsidy and these really striking premium increases is profound."

U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren voted against a package of appropriation bills that paved the way to reopen the government, angered that health insurance relief wasn't part of the deal. But eight Senate Democrats — including three hailing from New England — agreed to the deal as Senate Majority Leader John Thune promised a vote on Affordable Care Act premiums by the second week in December.

The vote exposed division among Democrats, and Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire defended her vote in a Boston Globe op-ed.

"As someone who has been at many negotiating tables, it was clear to me that a deal on health care was not possible if the shutdown continued," Hassan wrote. "Now that the shutdown has ended, the American people will put Republicans to the test. I believe that we are closer today than we were last week to reaching an agreement on the extension of Affordable Care Act's tax cuts, but should Republicans fail to work constructively to get this done, people will know who stood between them and access to affordable health care."

In a tweet Wednesday, Warren vowed to keep fighting.

"Americans told us they need lower health care costs," Warren said. "So Republicans ripped away their health care, jacked up costs, and handed over giant tax cuts to billionaires. It's shameful."

Big Pharma has a new scheme that will make them even more money: undermining patients' bargaining power and blaming anyone who gets in their way. If we want to solve the Rx cost crisis, we need to hold Big Pharma accountable. To find out how, go to saveourbenefitsma.org.

THE SUNDAY SHOWS

KELLER AT LARGE: 8:30 a.m., WBZ-TV. The station is running an encore edition of the show hosted by political analyst Jon Keller, who was laid off in October. The guest is Jon Marcus, higher education editor for the Hechinger Report, a website covering educational issues. He discusses the shaky finances of higher ed, the potential impact of a drop in international students coming to the Boston area, and the future of online education.

@ ISSUE SIT DOWN: 9:30 a.m., NBC 10. Reporter Matt Prichard interviews Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in Nova Scotia, where she took a chainsaw to a tree that will be placed in Boston Common as a sign of the partnership between Boston and the province after a tragic explosion in 1917.

ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. The guest is Congressman Jim McGovern.

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