TARIFF TALK ON TRACK — Wary of fraying relations between the federal government and one of Massachusetts’ largest trading partners. Gov. Maura Healey and other northeastern governors began looking for a way to bolster their economic ties with Canada, inviting leaders from a handful of Canadian provinces to Boston to talk at a time TBD. Now we have a date: Canadian premiers and New England governors will huddle in Boston June 16 to talk about tariffs The group of governors , including five of the six New England governors plus Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, “are committed to preserving cross border travel, encouraging tourism in our respective jurisdictions, and promoting each other’s advantages and amenities,” they wrote in their invitation to their northern neighbors. The invite was extended to leaders from six provinces: Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The threat of a trade war is cause for concern among New England leaders, whose states rely heavily on Canadian trade. Healey’s office has estimated that the threatened tariffs on Canadian petroleum and gas could cost Massachusetts $370 million a year. But it’s not just tariffs that have Massachusetts politicians nervous about what a sour relationship between the U.S. and Canada means for the Bay State’s economy. Tourism from Canada to the U.S. is already lagging , and businesses are bracing for an even steeper drop — analytics firm Tourism Economics projects travel from Canada to drop by 20 percent this year. The state Senate earlier this week took an early step to address the issue, passing a budget amendment Tuesday that calls on the state’s tourism office to weigh the “feasibility of initiatives” that would promote Massachusetts “as a destination to residents of countries showing declines in travel to the commonwealth since January 1, 2025." The dip in travel to the U.S. from Canada is “no surprise,” state Sen. John Keenan, who sponsored the amendment, said during Tuesday’s debate — pointing to President Donald Trump’s call to make Canada “the 51st state.” It’s not just Massachusetts that’s fretting over a drop in visits from Canada: Leaders in New Orleans, Louisiana , have been looking for ways to keep the stream of Canadian travelers flowing into their state. And Florida could also take a hit if the downward travel trend continues. GOOD THURSDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . After it looked like they might not quite make their self-imposed Memorial Day deadline, House Republican just narrowly passed their much-debate megabill . The “big, beautiful bill” as Republicans and President Donald Trump have dubbed the sweeping domestic policy package now heads to the Senate. excerpts: The 215-214 vote is a major victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, who largely kept his conference together after days of around-the-clock negotiations with holdouts. He kept his promise of passing the measure before next week’s Memorial Day recess. The bill includes a fresh round of tax cuts sought by Trump, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars in new funding for the military and border security. The vote went almost entirely along party lines. Two Republicans joined Democrats in voting no: Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio. The chair of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, voted present. In a rare all-nighter for the House, GOP leaders gaveled the chamber back into session just after 11 p.m. Wednesday evening, forcing lawmakers to work through debate and procedural votes until the bill passed just before 7 a.m. Thursday morning. “And after a long week and a long night, and countless hours of work over the past year — a lot of prayer and a lot of teamwork — my friends, it quite literally is again ‘morning in America,’” Johnson said in his final floor speech before the passage vote, in a nod to former President Ronald Reagan’s signature 1984 campaign ad. The speaker called the bill “historic,” “nation-shaping” and “life-changing,” while claiming that it is the “most consequential legislation that any party has ever passed, certainly under a majority this thin.” Now heading to the Senate, the bill is titled the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” at Trump’s suggestion. “This is arguably the most significant piece of Legislation that will ever be signed in the History of our Country!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday morning. “Great job by Speaker Mike Johnson, and the House Leadership, and thank you to every Republican who voted YES on this Historic Bill! Now, it’s time for our friends in the United States Senate to get to work, and send this Bill to my desk AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!” Democrats have their own names for the measure, including “the GOP tax scam” and “one big, ugly bill.” Minority party leaders are deriding the bill by pointing to nonpartisan forecasts that it would increase the federal deficit by trillions of dollars and cause more than 10 million people to lose health care coverage, while shifting resources away from the lowest-income households and to the wealthiest. In a lengthy closing speech ahead of the final vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Republicans of bankrolling tax cuts for the rich with cuts to safety-net programs like Medicaid and SNAP food assistance. “And people will die. That’s not hype. That’s not hyperbole. That’s not a hypothetical,” Jeffries said. The bill’s path to passage was smoothed by a 42-page amendment that the House Rules Committee approved after spending more than 21 hours on a markup. The package of changes was loaded with hand-tailored provisions to woo Republican holdouts. Revisions include moving up the start date of Medicaid work requirements from Jan. 1, 2029, to Dec. 31, 2026, and expanding the criteria for states that could lose a portion of their federal payments if they offer coverage to undocumented people. The eleventh-hour changes would also weaken the clean electricity investment and production tax credits created by the Democrats’ 2022 climate law, a change that clean energy developers warn would make them largely unusable. Republicans from blue states won a bigger boost to the cap on state and local tax deductions to $40,000 per household, with an income limit set at $500,000. Fiscal hawks hated the so-called SALT increase but swallowed it in exchange for the Medicaid changes. The bill now heads to the Senate, where Republicans are expected to tear up many of the policy provisions sought by House GOP hard-liners. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Drop me a line: kgarrity@politico.com . TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey and First Lady Joanna Lydgate attend the 2025 Memorial Day Name Reading at 10 a.m. at the State House. Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll host a Military Appreciation Day at 1 p.m. and Healey signs a proclamation declaring May AAPI Heritage Month at 4 p.m. at the State House. Driscoll gives the commencement address to Bunker Hill Community College students at 9:45 a.m. in Boston and speaks at the grand opening of Munters New North American Headquarters at 2 p.m. in Amesbury. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks at the opening celebration of Boston Public Art Triennial 2025 at 11:30 a.m. in Fenway.
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