Of course, the big news — historic news — this week is the ransacking of the Nation’s Capital by an angry mob of Trump followers. Prior to the incident, the malignant mass of protesters-turned-rioters was assured by Trump that the 2020 election was a sham and the win was stolen. They were then encouraged to march to the Capitol Building where the electoral college votes were being counted and told essentially to demand justice.

This is all despite the fact that there’s zero evidence that the election was stolen and dozens of losses in state and federal court cases attempting to overturn results in swing states.

It’s not at all clear what the congregation expected to accomplish. Ironically, their actions could very likely get their beloved leader impeached and removed from office, and possibly even blocked from running for any federal office in the future. Having floated the idea of running again in 2024, it now seems highly improbably that Trump will ever see a second term. In fact, he might not even make it to the end of this first term as the bipartisan call for his removal from office grows in volume.

In addition to doing Trump no favors, many of those involved in the kerfuffle have potentially earned themselves some pretty stiff prison sentences. (For example, the man in the iconic photo sitting at Nancy Pelosi’s ransacked office with his feet up on her desk has been apprehended by the FBI.) Why these thugs weren’t rounded up and arrested on the spot by Capital Police is still a mystery. Now it’s up to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies to hunt them all down and hold them accountable.

All the hubbub, however, overshadowed a pivotal moment in Massachusetts politics as POTUS-elect Joe Biden announced that Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is his pick for U.S. Labor Secretary. The announcement opens up an exciting race for Mayor in 2021.

Let’s look into this and other Massachusetts political news stories for this first week of 2021.

Politics

Biden Names Boston Mayor Walsh U.S. Labor Secretary

In what will amount to a seismic shift in Boston politics POTUS-elect Joe Biden has named Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as his pick for labor secretary. Walsh’s departure leaves City Councilors Michelle Wu and Andrea Campbell in the race for Mayor. If either Campbell or Wu is elected, they will be the first female mayor of Boston.

However, there is still plenty of time for more challengers to enter the ring. Among those rumored to be eyeing the Mayor’s seat is City Council President Kim Janey, who will be sworn in as mayor if Walsh goes to Washington at which point she will be Boston’s first Black Mayor.

Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo will also presumably be heading to Washington as Biden’s commerce secretary.

New 2021-2022 Legislative Session Underway

Meanwhile, a new legislative session is underway in Massachusetts. In one of their first official acts of the new session, House members elected Democratic Rep. Ron Mariano as the new House speaker. Mariano replaces former Democratic Speaker Robert DeLeo who resigned last month. Democratic Sen. Karen Spilka was reelected Senate president.

Priorities for the new session listed by Mariano include monitoring vaccine distribution, supporting small businesses, bolstering remote learning, and addressing housing troubles brought on by emergency measures.

More Politics

Business

Statewide Restrictions Extended, Relief Increased for Small Businesses

Statewide restrictions have been extended by Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker until at least January 24 as Mass. hit a record-high for single-day Covid-19 cases last Thursday. The capacity limit for outdoor gatherings remains at 25 people,

“Cases are growing, and hospitalizations continue to climb,” said Baker. “We know that extending those restrictions for any businesses, especially small businesses, is a lot to ask, but we need to stay in this game a little longer.”

While most small businesses in Mass. are suffering as a result of emergency restrictions, restaurant owners are finding it particularly challenging to accommodate comfortable outdoor dining in the face of freezing winter temperatures.

However, as we mentioned last week, businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic might breathe a small sigh of relief in light of Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker’s $668 million financial assistance program. The new program offers grants up to $75,000 to be used for employee wages and benefits, operational costs, and debt payments.

The online application portal for the new program will close on Friday, Jan. 15 and the state could start releasing millions in new funding to restaurants and other small businesses in the state as soon as next week.

Details on the program including how to apply are available at www.empoweringsmallbusiness.org.

More Business

Energy

Mass. Lawmakers Sign Sweeping Climate Bill

After months of negotiations, Massachusetts lawmakers have signed off on “An Act Creating a Next-generation Roadmap For Massachusetts Climate Policy.” The sweeping legislation is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create renewable energy jobs, and protect poorer communities that can be at higher risk from pollution. Passage of the bill was near-unanimous in both the House and Senate.

The centerpiece of the legislation is the state’s goal of hitting net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The measure also increases requirements for offshore wind energy, improves gas pipeline safety, and increase support for renewable energy workforce development programs.

The law stipulates: that the state must reduce emissions by 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and by 75 percent below 1990 levels by 2040. The legislation also ups the state’s renewable portfolio standard to 40 percent by 2030 and increases its offshore wind targets from 3.2 gigawatts to 5.6 gigawatts.

Last week by Gov. Charlie Baker pushed the Massachusetts 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap Report and an interim 2030 Clean Energy and Climate Plan. The proposal would require all new cars sold in the state to be electric by 2035 and also calls for converting 1 million homes from fossil fuel to electric heating.

The climate bill approved by lawmakers on Monday prioritizes access to the state’s solar programs by low-income communities and creates a pathway into the clean energy industry for minority-owned and women-owned businesses.

In addition to the above points, Bill, S. 2995 also calls for:

Setting new energy efficiency standards for 17 common appliances
Adopting measures to improve gas pipeline safety, including increased fines for safety violations;
Increasing the state's RPS by 3% annually from 2025 to 2029
Establishing $12 million in annual funding for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, earmarked for assisting minority-owned and women-owned businesses in the clean energy industry
Setting benchmarks for the adoption of electric vehicles, charging stations, solar technology, energy storage, and heat pumps
Providing solar incentives for businesses by exempting them from the state's net metering cap.

The bill now awaits the governor’s signature which is all but guaranteed.

More Energy News

Transportation

Massachusetts May Require All New Cars To Be Electric by 2035

In support of the net-zero carbon footprint goals outlined in the new climate legislation mentioned above, a new proposal calls for the sale of gas-powered vehicles in the state to end by 2035. It also seeks to have 30 percent of all trucks and busses purchased in the Bay State to be electric by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050.

Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides released the plan last week. The report reads in part:

"For the Commonwealth to achieve Net Zero, fossil fuel use must be all but completely eliminated in on-road vehicles by 2050. Given the cost and scarcity of low- or zero-carbon drop-in replacement fuels and the current market and growing availability of high-efficiency battery-electric and other zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) alternatives, this likely means reaching near complete electrification of the light-duty fleet."

The move follows California’s lead as Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed an executive order outlining very similar goals.

More Transportation News

Real Estate

Massachusetts Makes Top 10 List of Out-of-State Moves

Moving enterprise United Van Lines says Massachusetts is one of the top 10 states in the country losing residents since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mass. ranked 8th with New Jersey, New York, Illinois, Connecticut, and California at the top of the list.

United tracked 3,355 moves in and out of Massachusetts in 2020. According to the company’s report, 56.6 percent of those moves were customers leaving the state. Of those, a little over one-third said it was because of work. About one-quarter said they were leaving to retire or for family. And about one-fifth said they left for a change in lifestyle.

In a statement released by the company, Michael Stoll, an economist and University of California, Los Angeles professor had this to say:

“United Van Lines’ data makes it clear that migration to western and southern states, a prevalent pattern for the past several years, persisted in 2020. However, we’re seeing that the COVID-19 pandemic has without a doubt accelerated broader moving trends, including retirement driving top inbound regions as the Baby Boomer generation continues to reach that next phase of life.”

Elsewhere in New England, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire all saw more people moving into the state than out. Topping the survey for inbound moves was Idaho, followed by South Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, and Arizona. However, the survey only represents United’s clientele and doesn’t necessarily reflect overall trends.

More Real Estate

Cannabis

Curaleaf Announces $216 Million Stock Offering

In a bid to raise more than $216 million dollars, Multistate cannabis operator Curaleaf Holdings announced a new stock offering after the closing of markets on Wednesday. The company is offering 16.5 million subordinate voting shares priced at CA$16.70 per share. Curaleaf management says the funds will be used “for working capital and general corporate purposes.”

In a news release, Curaleaf Executive Chair Boris Jordan said the company anticipates “the acceleration of legalization at the federal level.” Jordan is referring to the U.S. Senate runoff elections in Georgia in which Democrats won control of the Senate.

Jordan goes on to say:

“With the recent adult-use cannabis deregulation initiatives in New Jersey and Arizona, and New York announcing its proposal to legalize and create a comprehensive system to oversee and regulate cannabis as part of the 2021 State of the State, now is a pivotal time to raise additional capital to support our growth initiatives as we continue to build out our capabilities in these new markets.”

Curaleaf trades on the Canadian stock exchange under the ticker symbol CURA and on the U.S. over-the-counter markets as CURLF. The company reported record revenues of $182.4 million for its quarter ended September 30., with a net loss of $9.3 million.

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