Hidden Link

May 24, 2024

By Gintautas dumcius and bruce Mohl

PR magnate George Regan used to fight the press corps inside Boston City Hall on behalf of Mayor Kevin White. Decades later, he’s spending time fighting Mayor Michelle Wu for clients on the outside.

Regan notably worked with super PACs, primarily funded by businessmen, in an effort to knock out Wu as a mayoral contender in 2021, and then block her City Council candidates two years later. The unsuccessful attempts ended up causing heartburn for the campaigns Regan meant to help.

Regan has now moved into the policy arena, signing on with people who are clashing with Wu, such as the North End restaurateurs angry over a ban on outdoor dining. He’s getting an assist from former Boston police commissioner Willie Gross, who worked with Regan on one of the anti-Wu super PACs from 2021.

Regan this week entered another fray on behalf of Ryan LLC, a global tax consultancy firm, which opposes Wu’s proposal to shift more of the property tax burden to commercial owners in order to protect residential property owners from potential spikes that could come from a decline in commercial values. Ryan principal Dan Swift is set to testify on the proposal before the City Council next week.

Add into the mix Regan’s comments last year that the city needs saving from “ultra-progressive” policies, and wags are wondering who might get Regan’s support in the 2025 mayoral cycle. The original print version of Boston Magazine’s list of 150 “Most Influential Bostonians,” which placed Wu at No. 2 and Regan at No. 42, noted there’s speculation that he’s “looking to back a challenger” against Wu. The reference was cut from online after Regan personally called up the magazine, which is among his clients.

A Regan spokesman insists that while the PR company has done some work for Josh Kraft – the head of the New England Patriots Foundation who is weighing a run for mayor -- Regan has not signed on with any potential mayoral candidates. After inquiries from CommonWealth Beacon late Thursday, references to the firm’s work for Kraft were removed from Regan’s website.

A Kraft spokesperson said there was a short-term contract with Regan to boost his social media presence, but it ended in September 2023: “Josh and Regan Communications currently have no working relationship.”

As for the line cut from the magazine, the Regan spokesperson said the original was removed because it was inaccurate. The online version now reads: “Regan excels at keeping people out of the news when trouble brews.” Apparently, that includes himself.

Campbell seeks CommonWealth Beacon correction

It’s apparently not easy for progressive Democrats in Massachusetts to support fossil fuel projects, which may explain why Attorney General Andrea Campbell is seeking a correction to a recent CommonWealth Beacon story.

The article reported how the Department of Public Utilities gave its blessing to three utility contracts with Constellation Energy that will allow the Everett LNG marine terminal to remain open through at least 2030. The story said Campbell supported approval of the contracts but with strong reservations about aspects of them.

Max German, Campbell’s deputy press secretary, on Wednesday asked for a correction. “We did not actually recommend approval and were careful not to do so,” he wrote.

He acknowledged Campbell’s brief in the case said “the attorney general’s office does not recommend that the department reject this agreement.” The double-negative sentence could be interpreted as support, but German said that’s not the case. “Although this may seem nuanced, we do believe that it is important that it be accurately reported that the Attorney General’s Office did not recommend approval,” he said.

The windfall that wasn’t?

Beacon Hill seemed to rejoice this week when state revenue officials reported that the millionaires tax approved by voters in 2022 has brought in $1.8 billion, money marked for education and transportation. The Boston Globe’s headline on its story stated the take is “blowing past projections.”

But those projections came from an estimate agreed upon by Beacon Hill leaders, and Senate budget chief Michael Rodrigues acknowledged it was a “very conservative one.” That estimate was announced after a hearing where budget writers took expert testimony. One of those experts was Evan Horowitz, the executive director of Tufts University’s Center for State Policy Analysis, who said at the time the millionaires tax would generate “roughly $1.9 billion.”

Reached this week, Horowitz said it’s still possible the state ends the fiscal year with more money, but the millionaires tax is functioning as expected. (He also said there are indications some taxpayers are changing their behaviors, and broader tax collections are coming in weaker.) 

“There isn’t some windfall that we didn’t anticipate,” he said. “If all people are hearing is we got more than we expected, that’s the wrong message.”