🤑 The Senate's budget proposal just dropped

It's Wednesday, Boston.

🥟 Here’s a fun challenge: To celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, Mei Mei is doing a “Dumpling Disloyalty” campaign where, if you prove that you’ve purchased dumplings from eight Asian-owned restaurants in Mass., you’ll get free dumplings served in a Boston Runs on Dumplin’ mug. You can see the full list of rules here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• District map re-do

• Summer travel scaries

• Somerville Barbie Dream House

Up first...

POLITICS

State budget on the brain

The state Senate's budget proposal just dropped. The $55.85 billion spending plan is similar to what the House and Gov. Healey have already proposed. But there are some key additions (and omissions) that’ll likely create some back-and-forth before the final version makes its way to Healey’s desk.

Here are some notable items:

🎓 High schoolers without legal immigration status can qualify for in-state tuition. The only requirement is that students have to attend high school in-state for at least three years or have their GED. The thinking behind this policy is it’ll increase college attendance and address workforce shortages across the state. If passed, Mass. would be the 23rd state to offer this kind of policy.

💸 The millionaire’s tax would pay for free community college for eligible residents. $55 million of the projected $1 billion in revenue generated from the tax would go toward making in-state community college free for those over 25. That chunk of change would also cover the cost of students attending community college nursing programs as a way to support a staff-hungry healthcare field.

🧠 The mental health field gets a boost. The Senate’s plan would invest over $1.3 billion to support an array of mental health services and prevention programs for adults and children. This would manifest in ways like creating a loan repayment program for mental healthcare providers and funding to support unpaid work, like clinical hours required for internships.

👀 But some things didn’t make the cut. Like making free school lunch permanent, funding the East-West rail, and making state Lottery games available online. All of which have support from House lawmakers (the online lottery also has backing from Healey). Senators can still file amendments to the proposal by Friday, so there’s still time for tweaks.

🤑 The Senate’s tax relief proposal is also coming, but it’s unclear when. Senate President Karen Spilka has been keeping her cards close to her chest and hasn’t divulged too many details other than they’ll pursue “permanent, progressive tax relief." But it’s worth noting that the Senate leans a little more liberal on money issues, so it’s possible their tax relief plan would target poorer residents compared with the House’s and Healey’s plans, which cover residents across the spectrum.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

✈️ High demand + fewer flights + worker shortages = messy summer travel. At least that’s what travel experts are predicting will happen at Logan. After three COVID summers, the pent-up desire to hit the skies is about to be unleashed (Logan is already seeing a big uptick in passengers). Which will be inconveniently paired with airlines running fewer flights, thanks to older planes coming off the market and not being replaced fast enough. Throw persistent labor shortages across both airline and airport crews, and you’ve got the recipe for a summer of discontent. Prepare accordingly.

🧑‍⚖️ Boston needs to re-do their voting map. A federal judge effectively scrapped the City of Boston’s new district map on Monday, saying that a legal challenge to the map would likely be successful in proving that race played too big a role in the redistricting process. And with the map (which was supposed to be used in this year’s City Council elections) in limbo, some potential candidates may not know which district they live in and would thus represent. The current deadline to submit nomination papers is less than two weeks away.

🤔 Apparently, you’re not supposed to eat or drink on the T. The MBTA put out a tweet reminding riders to "please avoid eating or drinking while on vehicles & in stations” as a way to keep the T clean. This rule is, in fact, on the T’s website, and it quickly became clear that nobody actually reads said website. Long-time Boston resident and reporter Mike Deehan was surprised, confessing that he has eaten entire roast chickens on the Red Line. Boston Globe editor Tim Logan also responded with the solid point that food is sold in some MBTA stations. “Are we not supposed to eat it?” he wondered.

🌲 Two beloved loved Christmas Tree Shops will close. After filing for bankruptcy last week, the company announced that the Sagamore and Falmouth stores will be shutting their doors. The Massachusetts-based retailer, which sells discount holiday decor and home goods (and always smells like potpourri), got its start on the Cape. Christmas Tree Shops is closing 10 stores across the country, but said in a statement that these moves are part of financial restructuring and that the company is still strong.

QUICK QUESTION!

🤔 Be honest, did you know you couldn’t eat on the T?

ONE LAST THING

Come on, Barbie, let’s go to Somerville

Good news: You can own a real-life Barbie Dream House in Somerville.

42 Spring Street in Somerville is a color explosion. The exterior of the house is painted in multiple shades of pink, and the inside is a bright dreamland, with high-gloss pink ceilings, a lime-green kitchen, a checkered tile sitting room, and a cheetah-print staircase. We learned about the bold home from Rachel Person, a realtor on TikTok who posts real estate tips and unique listings in Massachusetts.

We polled our Instagram followers to see if they’d live in this colorful home or if neutrals are the way to go. Respondents were split 50-50. And in true Mass. real estate form, it’s currently listed for $1.47 million.

🙄 Thanks for reading! Of course it’s $1.47 million.

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👂 Here's the answer from yesterday's pop quiz! Aside from English, Mayor Wu is fluent in Mandarin and Spanish. 60% of you got it right!