Out with MASSterList: Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro

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

The premise of “Out with MASSterList,” a semi-regular feature, is simple: I sit down for a meal, whether it’s breakfast or lunch, with a bold-faced name in the world of Massachusetts politics or policy. The feature kicked off with Massport CEO Rich Davey. Next up is Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro. If you have a suggestion for the next “Out with MASSterList,” let me know. 

Growing up in Needham, Jeffrey Shapiro remembers his father bringing home the late edition of the Boston Globe with its headlines about the UMass Boston corruption scandal that led to the conviction of two state senators and the creation of a state inspector general.

Decades later, Shapiro now holds the job, the fifth in the history of the inspector general’s office. He recently marked this third-year anniversary, and made some headlines of his own, from taking aim at Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, alleging that he took bonus payments and sought to hide them from the public, and the broken structure of the troubled Cannabis Control Commission that state lawmakers, after some prodding, are finally getting around to reforming. Shapiro also took a run at Phil Eng’s MBTA, arguing the transit agency must make fare collection more of a priority.

The throughline of all three is a review of logistics and noting what wasn’t working. “I always liked logistics,” Shapiro, 58, told me after sitting down for lunch inside Capitol Coffee, a Beacon Hill haunt. “How do things run? How do you work on it? So even in campaigns, when I did them, it was all about sort of understanding numbers. How many people really turn out? Where do they come from?”

He applied for the job when it opened up in 2022, when he was working for the state comptroller, Glenn Cunha, his predecessor as inspector general, hit his limit of two five-year terms. The governor, attorney general and auditor approved the appointment.

But Shapiro’s first job was in politics.

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8:30 | Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll will offer remarks at MassTech’s Quantum Massachusetts 2025 biennial conference. | Boston Harbor Hotel, 70 Rowes Wharf, Boston

6:00 | The Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance will celebrate its 10-year anniversary and reflect on its journey, while also focusing the group’s commitment to equity, justice and movement building. | Dorchester Brewing Company 1250 Massachusetts Ave., Boston

Sources tell me the MassGOP is looking to recruit a member of Belmont’s select board to run against Treasurer Deb Goldberg, a Democrat who plans to run for a fourth four-year term in 2026. GOP officials are eyeing Elizabeth Dionne to take on Goldberg. Dionne didn’t respond to a request for comment, but she recently announced she won’t be running for reelection to her select board post in the upcoming April town election. “It doesn’t end my commitment to public service,” she said, according to the Belmontonian. “I will be announcing future plans shortly”....

…Two business-backed 2026 ballot questions, if they get enough signatures and clear other administrative hurdles in the coming months, will be under one committee, “Taxpayers for an Affordable Massachusetts,” according to paperwork filed with campaign finances regulators. One ballot question seeks to reduce the state income tax and the other would change the law on the state’s tax collection cap, placing greater limits on the amount the state can collect, and increasing the likelihood of taxpayer rebates. The committee’s listed chair and treasurer is William Ribaudo, a financial executive who has worked for Deloitte and serves as the treasurer of the Massachusetts High Technology Council….

….Max Baker, who worked on Josh Kraft’s mayoral campaign, has joined Regan Communications as a senior account executive. He previously worked as a press secretary for Boston Public Schools and on Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s 2020 campaign for the White House.

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Findings from the multi-decade analysis show how $147 million in investments resulted in 3,225 units of housing, 756 early childcare slots, $6.95M in home equity for a group of homeowners at the brink of foreclosure — LEARN MORE

DINGED DIEHL: The campaign of failed candidate for governor Geoff Diehl and a super PAC illegally coordinated during the 2022 election, campaign finance regulators said in a letter released Thursday. The campaign and the super PAC, called Mass Freedom, hired the same media consultant, Needham-based MITTCOM, which admitted there was no firewall. – WBUR

AGENCY EMISSIONS: A 2017 rule to cut emissions from state vehicles wasn’t followed by Massachusetts agencies, according to legal filings in a case linked to a state lawsuit against Exxon, the oil giant. – CommonWealth Beacon

STOLBA TO FLAGSHIP: Ashley Stolba is following Yvonne Hao, Gov. Maura Healey’s former economic development chief, into the private sector. Stolba, a Baker administration holdover who served as undersecretary focused on regional business assistance and climate infrastructure needs for Healey, is joining Hao at venture firm Flagship Pioneering. – Boston Business Journal

HEATING ASSISTANCE: Gov. Maura Healey said President Trump should “do his damn job” and get heating assistance funds out the door now that the federal government has reopened. The Trump administration has said it won’t provide the heating assistance until the end of the month. – MassLive

GOP BACKS DEATON: Hoping to avoid a competitive primary, the MassGOP’s state committee voted to back John Deaton’s second bid for a U.S. Senate seat. Geoff Diehl, who has unsuccessfully run for Senate and governor, claimed Deaton has the support of the Trump White House, though Deaton told reporters he was unaware of a Trump endorsement. – Boston Globe

SOUTH COAST RAIL: Commuter rail ridership in southeast Massachusetts is climbing after South Coast rail finally arrived in March. The Middleborough/Lakeville line, now the Fall River/New Bedford line, has seen a 33% spike in ridership while the commuter rail network saw a 6% decrease. – New Bedford Light

FORMER SUFFOLK DA DIES: Newman Flanagan, who served for nearly 14 years as the Suffolk County district attorney, has died at 95. He was involved in two historic cases: the Carol DiMaiti Stuart murder and the conviction of a doctor who performed an abortion, later reversed by the state’s highest court. – Boston Globe

READ ATTORNEY VS. BPD: A state police disciplinary board says it won’t be reviewing allegations against Boston Police commissioner Michael Cox because he is not a sworn law enforcement officer. One of Karen Read’s attorneys went after the commissioner because of an interaction with a witness in his client’s murder trial. – Boston Herald

Body cam footage of arrest should be made public, fired Boston City Hall staffer says

Four-day Worcester at-large recount gets underway

Repairs to MassDevelopment-owned pier in New Bedford will take four years

More than 12 percent of Mass. residents have medical debt

Out of 500 cities, Cambridge ranks last on ease of project permitting

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. The guest is WBZ Security Analyst Ed Davis, the former Boston police commissioner. They discuss the possible deployment of National Guard troops to cities, the expansion of ICE, the crime rate in Boston and the proliferation of bike/scooter mobs.

@ ISSUE SIT DOWN: 9:30 a.m., NBC 10. Reporter Matt Prichard interviews John Deaton, who recently launched a second attempt at a U.S. Senate seat.

ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. The guest is Senate President Karen Spilka.

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