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| By Kelly Garrity |
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MONEY MATTERS — When New York’s City Council passed a measure that would shift the burden of broker fees off of tenants and onto landlords, it sparked the question in Boston: Could the city — likely now the last major city where renters cover the costs for brokers hired by landlords — be next? District 5 Councilor Enrique Pepén is getting the conversation started this afternoon. Pepén, a renter himself, is planning to file a hearing order at today’s council meeting calling for the city to consider the change. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu last week voiced support for following New York’s lead — or implementing other changes to avoid the massive up-front costs that come with moving into a new apartment in the city. "The stress of brokers' fees is that they come in one lump sum, right at the beginning. Usually, it's one month's rent, and if you don't have that, then you just can't move forward,” Wu told WCVB. “The idea that it could be either put on a different entity or even if it's on the landlord's side and then spaced out over a 12-month lease, that at least provides some more predictability for residents." There’s a long way to go before the council could take a vote on something similar to New York’s bill. It’s also not the first time the city — or the state — has floated the shift, before it was axed or fizzled out. And any change is likely to face stiff opposition from the powerful real estate lobby. The Senate included language in its version of the housing bond bill that passed earlier this year that would’ve required the person contracted with the broker (typically, the landlord) to pay any fee, but that provision was left on the cutting room floor during negotiations. Then-Mayor Marty Walsh launched a working group to study broker fees in early 2020, but that was upended by the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic weeks later. GOOD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. FWIW, Boston's status as the last city where landlords can pass off broker fees to their tenants isn’t official yet. New York City Mayor Eric Adams still needs to sign off on the legislation, which he’s been critical of – but even if he does veto, it could be overturned by a two-thirds vote from the council (the initial council vote was 42 to 8, so the odds of an override are good). TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey speaks at the Retailers Association of Massachusetts’ “ Awards of Excellence” luncheon at 12:30 p.m. in Waltham. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll speaks at Alpha Kappa Alpha day at 11 a.m. and chairs a Governors’ Council meeting at noon at the State House. Sen. Elizabeth Warren leads a Senate Banking subcommittee hearing on the implications of tax policy for the U.S. economy in 2025 at 2 p.m. in D.C. State Auditor Diana DiZoglio attends the UTEC 25th Anniversary Gala at 5:30 p.m. in Lowell. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu testifies in support of the city's property tax classification bill at 11 a.m. at the State House. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com.
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 | DATELINE BEACON HILL | |
— “Gov. Healey welcomes new owners at Saint Anne's Hospital; Steward gone 'once and for all',” by Dan Medeiros, The Herald News. — “‘Bursting at the seams’: Free community college straining resources,” by Juliet Schulman-Hall, MassLive. — “Farmers markets could add beer sales under economic development bill,” by Saraya Wintersmith, GBH News: “Shoppers could soon be able to purchase craft beer and craft spirits at farmers markets, along with the already offered wine and hard cider, as part of a provision in the $4 billion economic development bill recently approved by the Legislature. Gov. Maura Healey is currently reviewing the bill for final approval. Beer makers with the Massachusetts Brewers Guild had spent years pushing for the measure.” — “Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey advocates for more offshore wind despite Trump threat,” by Lane Reynolds, Boston Herald: “Southern New England labor unions and elected officials are going full speed ahead with trying to develop offshore wind energy despite the looming threat of a crackdown from the incoming Trump administration. Gov. Maura Healey is backing a union-led push for the Bay State, Rhode Island and Connecticut to merge forces and set a target of generating 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2040, more than triple the current goal of 9 gigawatts by 2030.” — “Mass. bill would make it harder for people to resell tickets to live events. Consumer groups are up in arms,” by Sean P. Murphy, The Boston Globe: “A coalition of consumer advocacy groups is taking issue with a provision in a state bill passed last week that would allow commercial ticket sellers such as Ticketmaster to restrict the transferability of the tickets they sell. In a letter to Governor Maura Healey sent Tuesday, the consumer groups call that provision of the bill ‘anti-consumer’ and say it would likely ‘further entrench’ Live Nation Entertainment, which owns Ticketmaster, as a ‘monopoly in the live event industry’ in Massachusetts.” — “Mass. emergency shelter commission wraps up work with report that offers few specifics,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “A commission tasked with studying changes to the Massachusetts emergency shelter system wrapped up its work Tuesday by approving a final report that offers few specifics but instead outlines broad themes to guide future reforms. As Massachusetts faces a $1 billion tab in each of the next few fiscal years to house thousands of migrant and local homeless families in state-run shelters, the group of lawmakers and shelter experts voted to issue a report that calls on officials to make family homeless rare, brief, and non-recurring.” — “Beacon Hill seeks to block trucker license revocations,” by Christian M. Wade, The Eagle-Tribune: “Gov. Maura Healey and state lawmakers are scrambling to ease restrictions for commercial drivers licenses to help prevent hundreds of truckers from losing their livelihoods. Legislation filed by Healey would prevent some motor vehicle offenses committed before Sept. 30, 2005 — including felony charges and drug and alcohol-related driving offenses — from counting toward commercial license ineligibility. Healey said the move, if approved, would put the state's regulations in line with federal license disqualification rules. She said truck drivers who meet the federal safety requirements ‘should not be disqualified from driving due solely to passenger vehicle offenses
that occurred 19 or more years ago.’”
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FROM THE HUB | | — “Wu looks to piggyback on state fund to build housing,” by Greg Ryan, Boston Business Journal: “Boston real estate developers with stalled residential projects may soon have a one-stop shop for both state and city funding. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on Tuesday unveiled more details about the city’s ‘accelerator fund,’ meant to provide low-cost financing to developers to help them start construction on approved multifamily projects. Private market-rate developments will be eligible for the fund, though at least 20% of their residences must be income-restricted, among other criteria.” — “Boston Mayor Wu’s top aide has ties to private company eyed as city public transit operator,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s top aide has a personal stake in the company the city could hire as a public transit operator, as part of a federal grant that seeks to advance its plans to reduce congestion by getting people out of their cars. Tiffany Chu, the mayor’s chief of staff, is the former CEO and co-founder of Remix, a past San Francisco transit planning platform that was acquired for $100 million in 2021 by Via Transportation, Inc. — a private operator that is poised to benefit from a roughly $14 million budget to operate five new fixed-route van shuttles and two ‘microtransit’ service areas to supplement and connect to MBTA service.”
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| SOCIAL DATA
| | SOCIAL SCENE — Who in the Massachusetts political realm is flocking to the Twitter alternative Bluesky? For the most part, progressives. That’s according to research from Legislata, a productivity software for politicians, and its founder and CEO Chris Oates. “Of those on the platform, progressives are the dominant faction and Boston and Somerville are the most represented,” Oates wrote in a blog post on the website yesterday. “This isn’t surprising, overall, since Bluesky is the alternative to the app owned by the man currently shadowing Donald Trump, and has attracted as its early adopters those on the left. But it is a bit startling to scan the list of electeds with accounts and realize how narrow a part of the political spectrum that they span.” As of Nov. 18, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was the most followed Bay State elected official on the app. Dive deeper here. — “The MBTA and the city of Boston unveil detailed draft of design plan for Blue Hill Avenue, to mixed reception,” by Niki Griswold, The Boston Globe: “The MBTA and the city of Boston are soliciting public feedback after unveiling the most detailed look yet at the changes coming to Blue Hill Avenue between Grove Hall and Mattapan Square. The latest draft design of the long-awaited transportation project includes just over three miles of designated center bus lanes, 2.25 miles of protected bike lanes, between nine and 11 new pairs of raised bus stops, and more than 14 new crosswalks, among other traffic and infrastructure adjustments, officials said.”
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YAHD SIGNS AND BUMPAH STICKAHS | | 2026 WATCH — Gov. Maura Healey hasn’t definitively said whether she’ll seek reelection in 2026, but during a call with supporters Tuesday, MassDems Chair Steve Kerrigan, a Healey ally, suggested she’s in. “We know we’ve got great friends in all of you, and we have a fantastic leader at the top of the ticket in 2026 in Governor Healey, who has been crisscrossing the commonwealth, working on behalf of all of us since long before she took the corner office and in her eight years as attorney general,” Kerrigan said during an election-debrief call Healey led Tuesday night. Kerrigan later downplayed the comment, telling the Boston Herald he wants to see Healey seek a second term “because I think she’s doing an incredible job.”
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| FROM THE DELEGATION | |
FOLLOW THE LEADERS — Rep. Katherine Clark was reelected to her post as the Democratic whip and Rep. Lori Trahan won a full term as co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee during House Democrats’ leadership elections Tuesday.
BATHROOM IMBROGLIO — House Republicans led by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-N.C.) are looking to bar transgender women from Capitol women’s bathrooms, a new rule that would target incoming Rep. Sarah McBride, who is set to become the first transgender member of Congress in January. Rep. Ayanna Pressley criticized Republicans for pulling “stunts” in a post on X. And Rep. Seth Moulton, who recently took heat for comments about transgender athletes, knocked the idea as “ridiculous.” “Are they going to station Capitol police outside of every bathroom in the Capitol?” Moulton said in a statement. “This is ridiculous and it’s cruel. And it goes exactly to my point: if the [Democrats] don't stake out a commonsense positions on these difficult issues, then extremists will be allowed to weaponize the agenda.”
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| TRANSITION TIME | |
— “Trump picks Dr. Oz to be CMS administrator,” by Ben Leonard and Robert King, POLITICO.
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TRUMPACHUSETTS | | — “Health care for low-income Mass. families could be target of Trump administration,” by Priyanka Dayal McCluskey, WBUR: “The incoming Trump administration is stirring uncertainty about the future of health care funding for Massachusetts’ most vulnerable residents. While health care costs and access were not a major focus of this year’s presidential race, as they were during previous campaign cycles, President-elect Donald Trump has indicated a willingness to shake up federal agencies and slash spending to make government more efficient.” — “LGBTQ organizations unite in wake of election,” by Erin-Leigh Hoffman, Greenfield Recorder.
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| FROM THE 413
| | — “Chicopee Fills School Committee Vacancy with Literacy Education Prof,” by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight.
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THE LOCAL ANGLE | | — “With more people living on the streets in Lowell, city bans camping on public property,” by Lynn Jolicoeur, WBUR: “Lowell has been overwhelmed by a growing population of people living outside on the streets since the pandemic faded. Tensions around the issue have dominated public conversations as the city has grappled with how to respond. … And now the city has what officials think is another tool to address the problem: a ban on camping on public property, which takes effect Wednesday. Police can fine and arrest people who violate the ban.” — “Worcester councilors frustrated by stalled plans for development around Polar Park,” by Marco Cartolano, Telegram & Gazette.
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HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH | | HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Rep. Jim McGovern, state Rep. Jack Patrick Lewis, Samuel M. Gebru of Black Lion Strategies and Tufts University; Rebecca Hart Holder, executive director of Reproductive Equity Now; Erika Scibelli and Valerie Frias.
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