New England Public Radio

Baker Shifts State Policy On Federal Immigration Cooperation

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker’s administration is revising policies for when and how state police can hold individuals wanted by federal immigration authorities.

The new guidelines replace more restrictive ones put in place by former governor Deval Patrick. Baker’s directive also follows a shift in federal rules. State troopers will now be able to hold certain individuals who are in the country illegally, including those suspected of posing a danger to national security, at the request of federal authorities. Eva Millona of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition says getting the state involved isn’t necessary.

“We have seen 400,000 people being deported every year, so the federal programs are working,” Millona says. “It’s redundant to have state police be deputized or make them honor detainers or enforce immigration law.”

The head of the Massachusetts Police Association says the group fully supports Baker’s new policy.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Where’s Charlie? Baker’s Appearances In Western Mass. Have Been Few Since Taking Office

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has made only a handful of appearances in the four western counties of the state since he took office in January. And it’s going to be a bit longer before the governor comes back to western Mass.

On May 28th, Baker paid a visit to the AAA office in Hadley, gave the commencement address at Springfield Technical Community College and sniffed around an iconic business in South Deerfield.

“I had no idea you were selling in 67 countries,” Baker said to representatives from Yankee Candle. “It’s a global brand.”

He said his visit to Yankee Candle was to highlight what he called interesting organizations in the Bay State.

“If I have a chance, once in a while, to highlight or shine a light on one that’s doing some interesting and great things, I’ll try and do that,” Baker said. “That’s part of why I’m here.”

But he hasn’t personally highlighted anything in western Massachusetts in nearly three months. Baker was in Springfield last month for Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Sullivan’s funeral services, but made no public appearances or statements.

Asked to comment on Baker’s absence from the western part of the state, the governor’s office pointed to his Lieutenant Governor Karen Polito and her more than two dozen appearances in the area since January. That includes four on Wednesday. Polito says the administration works as a team, to cover the entire state.

“Obliviously I’m from central Massachusetts in a community named Shrewsbury right outside of Worcester,” Polito says. “[It] takes me really a very little bit of time to get here to western Mass. In fact, for the Baker-Polito administration, I’ve adopted western Mass. as an area of the state that’s very important to me, personally.”

Governor Baker’s predecessor, Deval Patrick, often spoke about the importance of getting to the western part of the state during his time as governor. In fact, Patrick made more than 30 public appearances in the region through the first eight months of last year, although many were around weekends, when he would travel to and from his residence in the Berkshires.

As for Baker, a spokesperson says he’s next due in the area in early September.

The Short List: Western Mass Griping, Drug Lab Jaw-Dropping And Cosby’s Free Falling

NEPR'S WEEK IN REVIEW

What made The Short List this week?

  • A MassBenchmarks report released this week found the state’s economy is as strong as it’s been since the late 1990s. But the uptick in western Mass? Less impressive.
  • A chemist at a state drug lab on Amherst may have tainted thousands of criminal cases, instead of just a few dozen. That’s the news this week as Sonja Farak’s statements to a correctional center nurse became public.
  • Another awful week for comedian and Shelburne Falls resident Bill Cosby, as a judge unsealed court documents showing Cosby admitted to getting quaaludes to give women he wanted to have sex with.

To explore these stories, New England Public Radio’s Susan Kaplan sat down with Rick Hurst of the African American Point Of View and Larry Parnass of the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Hear their conversation by clicking the audio player above.

Mass. Lawmakers Question Regional School Busing Cuts

Did the Patrick Administration break the law when it cut funding for school transportation? That’s the question a group of lawmakers are asking Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

In November, then-Governor Deval Patrick cut nearly 19 million dollars in money for busing in regional school districts, to help close a budget gap. But Senate President Stan Rosenberg says a 2010 law bars the state from cutting transportation funding without also cutting general school aid.

“Governor Patrick did not cut the Chapter 70 money, therefore there should have been no cut in regional transportation,” says Rosenberg. “That was our intent. So now the lawyers apparently are going to have a debate whether the language as it appears in the law, matches our intent or not.”

The Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools says it’s prepared to sue the state, depending on the Attorney General’s response.

State House News Service and NEPR’s Jill Kaufman contributed to this report. 

Handshakes, Cheers And Hugs: Deval Patrick’s ‘Lone Walk’ Far From Lonely

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s final day in office was steeped in ceremony.  On Wednesday evening, Patrick took his traditional “lone walk” out of the state house.

After a ceremonial handoff of gifts to his successor, the governor left his office and spent more than a half hour greeting supporters. They’d lined up hours in advance on either side of a long red carpet, cordoned off with velvet rope.

Angela Thorpe of East Longmedow brought her mother and her daughter.

“Three generations,” Thorpe said. “Three generations.”

Thorpe said she shook Patrick’s hand.  Then left her spot, made her way farther down and shook his hand again.

“I almost asked him for a selfie,” she said. “But you know sometimes you’re so busy enjoying the moment you can’t capture it with a picture.”

Thorpe’s friend Lucretia Papasockus nodded in agreement.

“It was surreal,” she said. “It was kind of like watching a hero walk by.”

He certainly got a hero’s farewell. The governor followed the red carpet to the top of the stairs in front of the capitol, and stopped for the national anthem and 19-gun salute.

Patrick bit his lower lip, and put his hand on his heart.

His wife, Diane, met him at the bottom of the stairs. They hugged and got into the state car.

Patrick gave one final wave.

Hundreds of supporters cheered from both sides of Beacon Street. They screamed, “We love you.”

And so ends the tenure of the 71st governor of the commonwealth.

Number 72, Charlie Baker, will be sworn in at noon Thursday.

Charlie Baker Takes Office Today After Eight Years Of Deval Patrick

It’s inauguration day in Massachusetts. Republican Charlie Baker will be sworn in as the state’s next governor at noon today. He succeeds Democrat Deval Patrick, who’s held the office for the last eight years. Our Statehouse reporter Sarah Birnbaum is covering the transition of power at the state’s corner office. She walks us through the schedule for baker’s inauguration.

To hear the conversation with Sarah Birnbaum, click on the audio player above.