The fight between Boston City Hall and Senate displays different degrees of urgency

Gov. Healey is considering removing obesity medication coverage from the state employee health plan in her upcoming budget. Cutting treatment would jeopardize progress for thousands and harm workforce health. Urge the Governor to protect access to GLP-1s and treat obesity like any other chronic disease. Use our quick tool to send your message today.

The late writer Douglas Adams once admitted, “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”

Going by how many state budgets they’ve delivered on time over the years, Beacon Hill lawmakers feel the same. They make and break their own rules. They give themselves flexibility on what is due when. Mayors, not so much.

That was apparent Monday evening as Boston City Hall and the Legislature’s upper chamber traded tart remarks over Mayor Michelle Wu’s property tax shift proposal. It’s now on its third trip to the State House, but in a holding pattern again due to the Senate.

Tax bills are set to go out Jan. 1, and Wu has pointed to data showing residential tax bills, if the burden isn’t temporarily shifted to commercial properties, will jump 13%. After receiving senatorial blowback over projections last year, she waited until she had close-to-final numbers this year.

“The City should have engaged with the Senate on these options well before now,” Senate President Karen Spilka’s spokesman said, likely meaning before Nov. 19, when lawmakers went on their holiday break and a deadline for big bills to get done. He also pointed to existing tax relief proposals from Sens. William Brownsberger and Nick Collins, who helped kill the mayor’s proposal last year.

Wu fired back with her own statement: “We’ve been waiting for nearly two years for the State Senate to take a vote on our bill. If they have additional proposals, we’re not the ones stopping them.”

The aforementioned Brownsberger/Collins proposals – involving rebates and “tax shock prevention” credits – are suddenly seeing movement this week. (They make and break their own rules and deadlines, remember?) Formal sessions are over for the year, but bills can move through informal sessions, with the caveat that a single lawmaker can throw a wrench in the works to stall legislation they don’t like. Lawmakers could also hold a formal session if they wanted to do so.

Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, a top House lawmaker and Wu ally, told MASSterList last month that his House colleagues had preferred ending formal sessions in December, essentially saying the longer holiday break was the Senate’s idea. “I still think that that's a long-term discussion that we want to have,” he said. “Some of this taking off between November 19 and January 1 is a little bit archaic.”

Regardless of what happens in the coming weeks, 2026 is an election year for Beacon Hill lawmakers. There are already rumblings of challengers who could take on Collins and Brownsberger and hammer them on the residential taxes going up. Wu has privately expressed interest in supporting challengers who could emerge. And if her candidates run and lose next year, while ruining the senators’ summer, there's another state election in two years, when Wu will still be in her second term as mayor. 

On that front, outside of the State House, time is on her side.

Thanks to everyone who came out to our transportation event at MCLE yesterday, and I appreciated the shoutout from MassDOT/MBTA chief Phil Eng. On to trivia: I asked about a Massachusetts high school producing two future House speakers and an acting mayor of Boston. It was Boston Latin, and they were Tom Finneran, Bob DeLeo, and Larry DiCara in the class of 1967. My inbox is always open for political trivia. Send it along here: [email protected].

Jobs continue below the fold — post a job

9:00 | The Public Health Council meets. Agenda includes an update from Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Robbie Goldstein. The council plans to vote on a Determination of Need request from UMass Memorial Health Care, Inc. for a substantial change in service. The council will also vote on promulgating regulations tied to licensing radiologic technologists and certified medication aides in long-term care facilities. | Agenda and Access

10:00 | Several organizations are holding a CORI sealing clinic. The organizations include Greater Boston Legal Services, Father Bill’s Place, Harvard Legal Services Center Safety Net Project and Quincy Community Action Program. | Thomas Crane Library, North Quincy Branch, 381 Hancock St., Quincy

10:45 | Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Housing Secretary Ed Augustus tour an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) before announcing new initiatives to make it easier to build them. | 33 Woodpark Circle, Lexington

11:00 | The Department of Revenue holds a public hearing on proposed regulations dealing with tax credits included in the Offshore Wind Industry Investment Program and that will be administered by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. | More Info and Access

11:00. | The Office of the Child Advocate holds press conference in connection with the release of a report with findings and recommendations following its investigation into the death of A’zella Ortiz on Oct. 15, 2024. A’zella’s father, Francisco Ortiz, has been charged with her murder and is currently in jail awaiting trial, according to the office. | John W. McCormack Building, One Ashburton Place, 2nd Floor, Room C, Boston

TRANSIT SUMMIT: At the State House News Service/MASSterList event “Transit Next,” former state transportation chief Stephanie Pollack raised questions about what the MBTA should look like in the coming decades, as its pre-pandemic business model has evaporated, with fewer people making enough round trips to regularly buy passes. Meanwhile, the Legislature’s transportation chairs are in sync on eyeing new laws on scooters and e-bikes. – State House News Service and MassLive 

ACA TAX CREDITS: Congress should sign off on an extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, Gov. Maura Healey said, warning of health care costs going up and people losing access to treatment if the extension doesn’t happen. – MassLive

GOP TREASURER: Elizabeth Dionne, a Belmont select board member launched a GOP campaign for state treasurer, aiming to challenge Democrat Deb Goldberg, who is running for reelection. MASSterList reported last month that Republican Party officials were seeking to recruit Dionne for the race. – WBUR

JEHLEN RETIRES: After 20 years in the Senate, Pat Jehlen says she won’t run for reelection in 2026, setting off a scramble for her seat, which covers Cambridge, Somerville, Medford and Winchester.  – State House News Service

NORFOLK DA RACE: Put the race for Norfolk County DA on the list of campaigns to watch in 2026. Incumbent Michael Morrissey has drawn several rivals after overseeing the cases of Karen Read and Sandra Birchmore. – WBUR

HANOVER GETS ABOARD: The town of Hanover approved zoning rules to bring itself into compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. The move makes it the last South Shore community to climb aboard the law that seeks zoning for multifamily housing in 177 municipalities close to public transit. – Patriot Ledger

NORTHWESTERN DA: A Suffolk Superior Court judge is weighing a case against Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan’s office. Writer Andrew Quemere requested information under the state public records law, asking for the names and case numbers of police officers charged with crimes such as the possession of child pornography, assault and battery, and driving under the influence. Prosecutors are withholding the names. – Mass Dump

ALLSTON WORKERS: Employees of an Allston car wash, now that they’ve been released after a raid, detail how they were kidnapped by immigration enforcement agents more than a month ago. – GBH News

‘INTENTIONAL CHAOS’: Federal housing and urban development officials temporarily rescinded a policy shift aimed at keeping thousands of people off the streets, in a decision that a federal judge called “intentional chaos. – MassLive

OFFSHORE WIND: A federal judge overturned President Trump’s moratorium on wind energy, scoring a win for a coalition of attorneys general. – Vineyard Gazette

CITY SIGN: Banking giant JP Morgan is seeking approval for a sign on the new South Station tower as it negotiates a lease inside the building. – Boston Business Journal

OUT OF PRISON: Tania Fernandes Anderson, out of federal prison, spoke at an event that drew her successor on the City Council, Miniard Culpepper, and former mayoral candidate Josh Kraft. – Boston Globe

A test for Healey’s energy affordability push

Boston city councilor seeks updated costs for White Stadium project

Treasurer Goldberg voices opposition to internet gambling

Marketing firm Informa TechTarget renews HQ lease in Newton

Do you have an open job you'd like to feature here? Click here to place a job board order, or email Dylan Rossiter at [email protected].

Water System Technician, Town of Easton

Jury Commissioner, MA Supreme Judicial Court

Senior Accountant, Massachusetts Service Alliance

Chief Program Officer, Massachusetts Service Alliance

CEO & President, Civic Action Project

Director of Speechwriting, City of Boston

Deputy Director of Speechwriting, City of Boston

Chief of Communications, City of Boston

Executive Director, Thrive Downtown Attleboro

Chief Development Officer, Institute for Nonprofit Practice

Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance

Vice President for Massachusetts, Conservation Law Foundation

Senior Planner, Public Engagement, Boston Region MPO

Mechanic or Senior Mechanic, Town of Easton

VIEW ALL JOBS