McKinney Wednesday claimed that having People pay for the trip was a violation of the ethics laws. In short, McKinney claims the trip was entertainment despite the fact Malloy may have talked up the state with the rich and famous. Malloy’s office claims it was official business, part of an outreach with the governor representing the state.

In an interview with The Hanging Shad, McKinney added that “it’s not believable” that Malloy was approached with the invitation. “I don’t believe this story [that he was approached]. Somebody knew somebody and [Malloy] wanted to go. It’s a violation of the law plain and simple.”

In response to McKinney’s comments, Malloy spokesman Andrew Doba responded simply, “He’s wrong.”

McKinney’s objection to Malloy’s trip to the WHCD did shake up the governor’s office to the point of having legal counsel Luke Bronin seek a formal opinion from the state office on ethics.

McKinney says has not filed a formal complaint and doesn’t intend to. He is asking for all documents and information related to the trip.

The question remains why the governor’s office did not notify the media that Malloy would be attending such a high-profile event, out of state. If it was official business and the governor was there to promote the state, wouldn’t his office make a big deal out of it beforehand?

Malloy was dismissive when asked why there was no prior notice of his trip.

Republican state Rep. Sean Williams, a ranking member of the finance committee, says he can’t understand why the majority party would exclude the minority. “It’s amazing. We had [bipartisan consensus] on the jobs bill, the education bill, the gun bill and the deficit mitigation bill. Each time we brought something of value to the table. If we’re excluded this time, it’s a disgrace,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Marty Looney says the senate Democrats will caucus the budget issues tomorrow. The proposal that came out of the legislature’s fiscal committees (finance and appropriations) differs from the governor’s. “I’m confident we can work something out and come to a consensus.” On the issue of Republican input, Looney said as of now, it’s just Democratic leadership and the administration. “We’re not sure what kind of formal input the Republicans will have, if at all.”

On the budget itself, Looney says the key to both the governor’s and the legislature’s spending proposals as well as any subsequent agreement is redefining the constitutionally mandated spending cap. Democrats want to exempt from the cap any spending that will be fully reimbursed by the federal government as well as any expenditure for unfunded liabilities for state workers’ pensions and teachers’ retirement plans.

It takes a super majority (three-fifths) in both the Senate and House to change the spending cap. It’s unclear at this point whether the votes are there. “The spending cap is the key to the entire plan,” Looney said. “[Without the change] we’re looking at a couple hundred million dollars in cuts in this year and about $500 million in the second year.”

If in fact there needs to be hundreds of millions of dollars in additional cuts made, it’s very curious why the Democrats would exclude the Republicans, at least from a political stand point. The governor so far has stuck to his “no new taxes” pledge. So if big time fiscal pain needs to be inflicted, why not spread the blame? One would think “we’re all in this together” is preferable to giving the Republicans a golden opportunity to say, “The Dems did this, not us.”

Cafero hasn’t exactly been a friend to immigrants who don’t have legal status. For instance, he was a vocal opponent of the state’s “Dream Act” passed in 2011 that allowed undocumented students to take advantage of in-state tuition rates at state universities. He voted against it. Of course, he wasn’t running for governor in 2011 and didn’t see a need to ingratiate himself to any particular demographic.

Of course the “Dream Act” and the drivers license bill are different issues but they impact the same communities. Is Cafero playing to the audience or does he really have a new-found concern for illegal immigrants? And on what other issues might he soften his blather and his hardline positions? That remains to be seen.

The conference call came on the eve of a vote on a new energy bill. NU paid big bucks to Esty for speaking engagements before he was DEEP commissioner. In the end, Esty said he didn’t reveal any inside information on the call but admitted he shouldn’t have participated in it given the timing. Debate on the bill was postponed.

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests are now flying around the Capitol like baseballs at Fenway. All the usual suspects are lining up to get a look at all documents pertaining to Esty and his work on energy issues. They even want his work schedule. Could there be meetings that we should know about?

Even Esty’s wife US Rep. Elizabeth Esty has had to give back campaign donations from NU. Political opponents have tried to make hay out of energy interests’ support for the congresswoman. Not good.

The Shad rattled some cages back in October of 2011 when I wrote that Malloy should get rid of this major distraction. No doubt, Esty is a nationally renowned Yale professor, author, lecturer, consultant and top expert in his field. That doesn’t necessarily make him a good state DEEP commissioner. In fact, it’s those very accomplishments that have caused the problems and the appearance of a conflict of interest.

As I wrote back then, Malloy should have seen this unneeded problem coming when back in April of 2011, Esty co-authored an op-ed piece in the New York Times entitled, “Pain at the Pump? We Need More.” Whether one agreed with the argument in the article is irrelevant. The fact is, when a Malloy administration commissioner pens such a piece, one automatically assumes it reflects Malloy’s views. We don’t see any other commissioner going off the reservation, giving personal views in a major media outlet.

That was just the beginning of the Esty problem. He subsequently had to constantly explain away the appearance of conflicts of interest. And now this.

Dan Esty is brilliant. But at what point is that outweighed by the distractions and conflicts that don’t ever seem to go away?

A couple of recent get-out-the-vote emails from the Markey campaign show a sense of entitlement and conceit rarely seen even in political campaigns which are routinely rife with such attitudes.

Last Thursday, this gem went out the Markey folks:

With just 5 days left before the primary we have some exciting news: Ed Markey, the man himself, will be joining us for a rally at Powder House Circle on Saturday at 9:30 AM! RSVP Here

Now is the time when the campaign is kicking in to high gear. We’ll be making phone calls tonight and tomorrow out of our New Office at 490 Broadway Ave in Somerville (in Magoun Square). And come Saturday, GOTV is in full swing with canvassing, phone banking, doorhangers and much more going on every day through election day. This is when your efforts translate directly into votes in the ballot box, and this when we need your help the most. So sign up for some shifts and come hear Ed Markey on Saturday at 9:30 AM.

We’re still recruiting for all positions for Election Day, so if you’re willing to give us your time, we’ll find a way that you can make a difference.

It’s Now Or Never!

The man himself??? I’ve been around a lot of campaigns and have never quite seen something like this. I chalked it up to some adoring and enamored campaign workers. Then this one Saturday:

Friends,

4 days. We’ve got 4 days to close out this primary. 4 days to get Ed’s message to every corner of the commonwealth. 4 days to win.

So we’re making things interesting. I’m writing to tell you about the Walk with Ed sweepstakes. On Monday night Ed’s going to his last primary rally, in Malden, where it all began. And the top five canvassers are going to walk him from the train station to Malden High.
Sign up here to knock on doors this weekend.

As you read this, Ed’s crisscrossing the state, rallying the vote and standing up with supporters. He’s giving it all he’s got. Sign up here and join him.

Track and field runners sprint to the finish line then lean forward while they cross. Well we’re 4 days from the finish line and Ed’s sprinting. If you want to help him lean across, he needs you to sprint with him now.

Thanks,
Carl

P.S. Want to help out but can’t make it to Malden on Monday? Sign up here for a GOTV rally near you.

Thanks, Carl. I’ll be falling all over myself to win a chance to walk with Ed in the “Walk with Ed Sweepstakes.” One question: Do I genuflect first?

Maybe the Markey peeps can’t be blamed for their superciliousness. After all, when it became clear that John Kerry would be nominated for secretary of state, the Democratic establishment immediately anointed Markey. Kerry, folks like Caroline Kennedy, Victoria Reggie Kennedy (window of the late senator) and the entire party establishment added to the sense of entitlement for Markey.

Also troubling in this race is the rank hypocrisy of labor unions. Underdog Lynch is not just a reliable, staunch friend of labor, he is from their ranks. The son of a steel worker and postal clerk (both union members), he spent the first part of his working life high on the beams as a structural steel worker. He eventually because president of his union (the 2,000-strong local 7) before seeking public office. He is among labor’s biggest supporters.

Also an issue in this campaign is whether after 36 years in Congress Markey actually lives in his Massachusetts district.

But that doesn’t matter to unions like SEIU, RWDSU, APFA, other duplicitous alphabet soup labor groups and unbelievably, the United Steelworkers District 4 who all obeyed the party big wigs and endorsed Markey. I wonder if members get to kiss Markey’s ring.

The Markey-Lynch race may be little-noticed but it is Massachusetts. The Democratic primary will decide who the next US senator will be. It is also a case study in what is wrong with party politics.

Malloy made some political waves by announcing Friday that he supports an increase. He said he’d like to see the wage increase from the current $8.25 to $9 over two years. Sharkey agrees.

A bill that has come out of the legislature’s labor committee is more aggressive. It would raise the wage by $1.50 over two years (up to $9 in July and $9.75 in July 2014).

CBIA Vice President of Public Policy Joe Brennan tells The Hanging Shad his group, the largest, most representative business organization in the state, is against any increase in minimum wage, particularly now. “We opposed the bill when it was in [the labor] committee. Many of our members don’t pay minimum wage but some do. Those are usually restaurants and retail outlets. Those groups are leading the charge against an increase.” Brennan added now is not the time to further burden businesses given the still-struggling economy. He speculated that some senators won’t support an increase in the wage after passing the controversial paid sick leave legislation which businesses claim has hurt them.

Brennan added that while CBIA is opposed to any increase, the governor’s proposal is better than the labor committee bill. “One, it’s less of an increase than the committee bill; and two, it’s not tied to the consumer price index,” he said. Tying increases to the CPI would mean automatic increases in the wage going forward.

NOTE: I know this is inside legislative baseball but politically speaking, supporters of a higher minimum wage might not want it tied to the CPI. They’d be better off having a debate every year—it’s smart politics.

Where the Senate comes down on this one is the key question. Last year, when then-Speaker Chris Donovan was pushing an increase, there simply weren’t the votes in the Senate Democrats caucus to pass the bill. Therefore, it was never brought out for a vote.

Senate President Don Williams (my former boss) told me during last year’s debate that the caucus has supported increases in the minimum wage in the past but only when economic times were good.

When I asked for comment on the possibility of supporting the current effort, Williams spokesman Adam Joseph said, “Senator Williams has supported increases in the minimum wage in past and will take the current bill to the caucus.” When I pressed for the senator’s personal position (not the caucus position), Joseph said, “Senator Williams has supported an increase in the minimum wage in the past and will when it makes sense to do it.”[Shad emphasis] Mark that down as, “I’m on the fence and it hurts.”

The truth is, while Williams didn’t actively oppose Donovan’s bill last year, he didn’t support it either, nor did many a good number of other Democratic senators, enough to kill the bill. That leaves the state Senate holding the keys to the minimum wage vault. Stay tuned.