Keller @ Large: Beacon Hill, Mayor Wu and the GOP debate with Politico's Lisa Kashinsky
BOSTON - In this week's Keller @ Large, WBZ TV Political Analyst Jon Keller was joined by Politico's Lisa Kashinsky to talk all things Massachusetts and Boston politics.
Gov. Maura Healey and Senate President Karen Spilka say they "hope" the long-awaited tax cut package is on its way soon. Keller believes the sticking points are the estate tax and the capital gains tax cut, which has been very controversial. Kashinsky said this is important for Healey.
"The stakes for the governor are high," said Kashinsky. "This is something that she pitched throughout her campaign that she was going to provide tax relief and, effectively, carry on what Republican Gov. Charlie Baker had pitched before he left office and that died at the end of last session with the advent of Chapter 62F. So there's a lot riding on this for the governor."
Keller also asked about the situation at Mass and Cass, saying Mayor Michelle Wu has been taking political heat as things have deteriorated over the summer. A new ordinance she proposed, which needs to go before the City Council, would ban tents in the area, as Wu said the tents usually hide criminal activity.
"Every mayor has faced their own set of challenges at Mass and Cass and every mayor has struggled how to deal with it. I mean, you see now that Mayor Michelle Wu is trying to really move forward with reopening services at Long Island and rebuilding that bridge, that is something that Marty Walsh tried to do and wasn't able to get done," said Kashinsky. "The mayor had come into office, Mayor Wu, with a big push to kind of clean up Mass and Cass and we're seeing that that hasn't worked."
Keller @ Large: Part 2
Keller and Kashinsky also discussed the first GOP debate and its fallout, especially for voters in New Hampshire.