Republican U.S. Senate candidate John Deaton, who is challenging incumbent Democrat Ed Markey, is pushing for a federal probe into Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey's $2 billion Springfield courthouse contract.
He alleges the Healey administration picked their political allies to run the project. That 40 year lease for the new Regional Justice Center is already facing a court challenge from local developers over how the state awarded the contract.
Reporter Ella Adams of the State House News Service explains what the administration's official line on this deal is.
Ella Adams, SHNS: Well, the Healey administration has defended the deal and said that the public can trust the process that got to that deal in the first place, and that lawsuits after bids have been awarded are not necessarily an irregular thing.
Carrie Healy, NEPM: Springfield's longest serving mayor, Democrat Dom Sarno, isn't buying it. Where does he stand on the project?
Sarno has slammed the deal as another example of Boston powerbrokers dictating what's best for Springfield and for Western Mass at large. He has pointed out that there are a couple other local officials who work in the building every day who oppose the site, and in an official statement, he said that it's neither the cheapest option for taxpayers nor the transformational project that Springfield was promised.
So, what would it actually take for federal investigators to step in here?
I believe it would take some sort of clear evidence of specific crimes for federal law enforcement to step in. They wouldn't likely launch any sort of probe over local pushback alone.
Of course, Deaton, who is running for office, has reasons to make waves. Has incumbent Senator Ed Markey responded to the call for an audit?
No, I don't believe Ed Markey has addressed it.
An election season clash over gas tax relief is playing out on Beacon Hill. Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Minogue proposed a trigger-based tax pause when gas is $4 a gallon (which happened long ago) while Governor Maura Healey countered with her own two-month, $120 million proposal funded by surplus millionaires tax revenues. Ella, do insiders see Healey's move as a true policy push, or was it mostly about neutralizing that key Republican talking point?
I mean, Healey proposed her suspension of the gas tax just days after Minogue called for it. She blamed President Donald Trump for rising gas prices, citing the war in Iran.
And she said she's attempting to give relief to Baystaters. Her campaign this year is largely about affordability, so she could be staying in lane with that while also neutralizing Minogue's talking point.
With October right around the corner, is there any real chance that budget focused lawmakers and speaker of the House Ron Mariano move this Healy gas tax pause forward?
I mean, legislative approval is required for this to happen. And Mariano last week called suspending the gas tax "fiscally irresponsible" and that the move would constrain transportation funding and do little to reduce costs. He'd have to change that hard stance for the proposal to move forward in the House, at least.
We will wait and see what happens! Finally, Ella, a new MassINC poll shows that while most Bay staters love our schools and health care, skyrocketing costs for housing, taxes and daily life have many questioning if they can afford to stay. Now that we're in the homestretch to the election, will this affordability data force candidates to roll out detailed cost of living plans this week, or are they holding back for October's debates?
I think it's safe to say that affordability is already the central issue this election. So it's probably not likely that this specific data will impact the way candidates talk about cost of living and affordability issues. We might hear more about all of this when the ones who choose to debate actually do so. But I wouldn't say that this specific data will move the marker anywhere.
And we might not hear specifics from the candidates.
Yes, exactly.
