With only two years before Gov. Charlie Baker is up for re-election, Democrats on Beacon Hill are trying to sort out how they may want to challenge the popular moderate Republican, and left-wing activists on Beacon Hill are gunning to put a few key legislative goals in play before Election Day 2018.
Massachusetts is known as a bastion of liberal politics, so it stands to reason that the Democrat-controlled Legislature could continue a steady stream of progressive lawmaking into the statewide election season in 2018, when the legislation Baker decides to sign or veto will come under more scrutiny than that of his first two years in office.
At or near the top of most progressives' wish lists is the proposed constitutional amendment to create a surtax on incomes over $1 million to help fund transportation and education. Baker is against raising taxes.
"There will be a question of how active the governor chooses to be against it, if he's against it, so that will be an issue around that coming forward," said Lew Finfer, an activist who's had a hand in many of the progressive movements that have gained traction on Beacon Hill.
Labor advocates want to see the Legislature move a bill to provide paid family medical leave to workers who wish to take time off to care for loved ones, a measure that cleared the Senate last session but stalled in the House.
"It's pretty shameful that the U.S. is so far behind paid leave," employment lawyer Rebecca Pontikes told WGBH News. "I know it encounters a lot of resistance from employers. I expect it will continue to do so, but it ultimately does not have a detrimental effect on the workforce."
The Senate has become known as the go-to chamber to pass progressive legislation, but passing there doesn't guarantee the more business-minded House will even take it up.
"The House of Representatives is made up of a lot more moderate Democrats as opposed to people who have a progressive agenda," former state Democratic Party spokesman Kevin Franck told WGBH News. "The Senate certainly has more progressives."
House Progressive Caucus chair Tricia Farley-Bouvier says her group concentrates on getting a few priorities through the House by working with House leadership and members.
"We work in a way where we bring everybody's ideas together and then make our priorities at the beginning of the session. And were able to get ... three major pieces of legislation passed that were on our original agenda," Farley-Bouvier said, listing transgender accommodations, wage equity and an energy procurement law as progressive victories.
Expect Baker to be on board with Democrats' effort to reform criminal justice and sentencing laws. Several bills to address mandatory minimum sentences, prisons, recidivism and racial discrepancies in the justice system have been put on hold in favor of a comprehensive bill from task force put together by Baker, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Senate President Stan Rosenberg and Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants.
"If what we call the 'big four' leaders are going to file this bill together it creates at least an expectation and hope that something significant will pass on criminal justice reform," Finfer said.
Another victory from this past session many progressives mentioned was pay equity, a bill that popped up in the House late in the session that aimed to level the playing field for women's wages. The bill bars companies from punishing employees for talking openly about their pay, in order to prompt more awareness of peers' wages.
Farley-Bouvier said the caucus tends to work to inform leadership of their priorities behind closed doors while legislation is being drafted.
"We find that to be more effective strategy at this point than working on bills after they come out," she said. "This information can be pretty dense sometimes and being able to give that information to leadership has proven to show leadership that we're really good partners in our legislative work we're reliable and it just helps us to grow that relationship."
Farley-Bouvier's strategy of working to inform leadership on a small number of priorities behind closed doors while legislation is being drafted in order to woo more moderate members and interest groups may not be enough for some liberals.
"The progressive activist base is really, really frustrated with the status quo of the Democratic party and leadership in the Legislature," Progressive Massachusetts board member Harmony Wu told WGBH News. "And honestly, the House does seem to be the bigger problem."
"The Senate does seem to move more on stuff, but as a whole, the party does not feel like it is responsive to the progressive interest, which is I think is the animating base of the party," Wu added.
The Progressive Caucus' methods may sync well with that of DeLeo. DeLeo's strategy as speaker has been to craft legislation that can easily pass his chamber with the maximum number of votes, often appeasing his largest blocks of members, appealing to various interests involved in the issue and delivering bills a moderate Republican like Baker can accept.
Other issues progressives want in play on Beacon Hill come next year: more clean energy purchases and another increase to the minimum wage.
