Recap and analysis of the week in state government
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State House News Service Weekly Roundup
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2016 and Beyond
By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, OCT. 21, 2016.....In three days, Massachusetts voters will begin casting their ballots for president - and a whole host of other contests - in the state's first foray into early voting.
Recap and analysis of the week in state government.
And in a little over two weeks, the circus that has been the 2016 election will come to an end, and with it the daily possibility that Gov. Charlie Baker will be asked about the latest words to cross Donald Trump's lips.

That, of course, counts on the big assumption that current national polling trends hold between now and Nov. 8. The latest WBUR/MassINC poll had Democrat Hillary Clinton leading the GOP's Trump by 25 points in Massachusetts. And that was before the final debate during which Trump refused to say he would accept the results of the Nov. 8 election, a position a Baker spokeswoman said the governor finds "irresponsible."

Rep. Geoff Diehl, one of Trump's most vocal Bay State surrogates, fanned the nominee's "rigged election" rhetoric by invoking former Everett Rep. Stephen "Stat" Smith, who went to jail for absentee voter fraud, but not for anything close to the type of widespread irregularities that could swing a national, or even statewide, election.

But like the King Tides that flooded piers this week when the ocean bowl could no longer hold the water, a post-election Trump void is bound to be filled, and in Massachusetts that could look something like a retired Red Sox star who appears bent on making sure he's famous for more than a bloody sock.

Curt Schilling, a bombastic conservative dubbed this week by Attorney General Maura Healey as TrumpLite, stoked the 2018 fires this week in a Rhode Island radio interview where he said he has decided to challenge for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren's Senate seat in two years, assuming his wife Shonda says it's OK.

Given Schilling's penchant for the provocative, Warren-versus-Schilling could be a microcosm of Clinton-versus-Trump all over again, but some Bay State Democrats seem to be relishing the thought of it. "Bring it on," Healey posted to Twitter.
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For Baker, he might have an easier time avoiding talking about Schilling because he will be focused on his own re-election campaign. Still, a Schilling run would only add to the outside forces, including likely ballot questions on a "millionaire's tax" and to repeal a transgender protection law, driving turnout in two years for better or worse for the governor.

Polls were everywhere this week, including one showing Baker still enjoys a strong 68 percent job approval rating. The governor's top electoral priorities did not fare as well.

As pro and anti-marijuana legalization forces took the airwaves, the WBUR/MassINC poll showed Question 4 legalizing recreational marijuana gaining momentum with a 15-point lead, while Question 2 proposing to expand access to charter schools has some ground to make up in two weeks as it trails 41 percent to 52 percent.

"First of all we're going to win," Baker told a radio host this week when asked if he would honor a loss at the polls over charter schools, or continue to back legislation to lift the cap. "Not even going to go there," he added, when pressed on the proposition that he does lose.

The charter movement won a significant, though not entirely surprising voice of support for its ballot question this week when House Speaker Robert DeLeo put himself out there in support of Question 2.

In fact, it seems to be the week to take a position, as Senate President Stanley Rosenberg put to rest any lingering doubts with his support for legalized marijuana and Boston Mayor Walsh joined the choir of MBTA union workers railing against the administration's T privatization efforts in what figures to be one line of attack for Democrats against the Republican governor in his re-elect.

The Health Policy Commission convened Monday and Tuesday for its 4th annual health care cost trends hearing, a two-day affair that the commission has previously referred to as the "Super Bowl of health policy." Total health care spending in Massachusetts in 2015 was $57.4 billion, a 4.1 percent increase over 2014 that surpassed the state's official benchmark of 3.6 percent, according to the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA).

The good they do for public health notwithstanding, pharmaceutical companies played the heel this year as commission members and lawmakers took turns laying blame for the cost growth at the feet of the prescription drug companies. Prescription drug spending of about $8.1 billion last year was one of the factors driving up health care costs, accounting for about 36 percent of the overall growth last year, CHIA reported.
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Baker lashed out against drug prices, but directed his ire at the Food and Drug Administration for allegedly taking too long to approve new generic drugs and complaining of the agency's median of 47 months to approve generic drugs, which offer a cheaper alternative to better-known brands.

Rosenberg has also decided he has had enough with rising drug prices and growing health costs, and announced he's tasked a group of senators with traveling around the country to bring back cost containment strategies from other states. He said he hopes the trips will lead to legislation early next session.

The HPC's warning about the impact on health spending of a controversial Boston Children's Hospital expansion, however, went unheeded as the Public Health Council gave its blessing to the $1 billion expansion with conditions it hopes will blunt the impact of spending increases that could arise from the market expansion of a high-priced pediatric care provider.

Another effort on track to lead to legislation early next year is a comprehensive review of the state criminal justice system being conducted by the Council of State Governments Justice Center.

Researchers on Monday huddled with the governor, legislative leaders and Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants to go over their progress before a public meeting Thursday where the efficacy of re-entry programs and the lag time between parole being granted and inmates released were discussed.

As it turns out, parolees spend on average about 300 days incarcerated between their earliest parole eligibility date and the day they are actually released. Public Safety Secretary Daniel Bennett said he would being looking at that issue immediately, while Sen. William Brownsberger said he expects the larger effort to produce legislation by January.

STORY OF THE WEEK: Third presidential debate, health care cost trends hearing and justice system review offer previews of what January could have to offer.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Attorney General Healey on Question 3 to prohibit extreme animal confinement: "Free the birds."

[Colin A. Young contributed reporting]
MBTA workers and supporters blanketed the State House steps and a portion of Beacon Street Thursday for a rally against efforts by the Baker administration to privatize some functions of the public transit system. [Photo: Antonio Caban/SHNS]
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10/21/2016
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