Hidden Link

February 27, 2024

By Bruce Mohl

Gov. Maura Healey’s first year in office was a breeze. There were loads of problems at the MBTA, but the governor blamed most of them on her predecessor. Otherwise, the state’s coffers were full and Healey was able to deliver on all sorts of promises, everything from child care funding to a downpayment on a half-off fare for low income riders of the MBTA. Her initial budget was so stress-free that she invited House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka to the ceremonial signing of the document.

Her second year is fast becoming a different story. Revenues are tightening and problems are multiplying. Healey’s style is also changing. In her first year in office, she was often reluctant to grab the microphone. Like many lawyers, she played her cards close to the vest until she had all the facts.

Now, with more and more things going wrong at the same time, Healey is more willing to mix it up, lofting verbal volleys at those she regards as troublemakers. Her chief targets have been former president Donald Trump and Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre, although in both cases she often refuses to call them out by name.

Here’s a quick guide to Healey’s crowded policy plate.

MIGRANTS – This is the problem that just won’t go away. The number of migrants coming to the state continues to rise. The latest report, released on Monday and containing data as of Thursday, shows the number of migrant families in the state’s emergency shelter system jumped 6.2 percent in the last month. Healey keeps adding overflow shelters and migrants keep coming. Her big hope had been that Congress would address inflows at the country’s southern border and provide aid to states like Massachusetts grappling with a rising tide of migrants. She blames Trump (usually without using his name) for the bill foundering. On Monday she continued to press Congress to act, but conceded that was probably unlikely. “I’m also not holding out hope. I’m a realist here,” she said, but offered no Plan B.

STEWARD – When she was first elected attorney general, Healey was charged with monitoring Steward Health Care, a struggling Massachusetts hospital system bankrolled by Cerberus Capital Management. At the time the attorney general’s five-year monitoring period expired in 2015, Steward had made good on most of the promises it had made. But six years later, the company sold its hospital properties to a real estate investment trust and used the $1.2 billion in proceeds to go on a hospital buying spree. The joy ride by Steward CEO de la Torre, complete with yachts and jets, appears to be coming to an end. Healey on Monday unleashed a tirade at de la Torre (without ever mentioning him by name), calling Steward a “house of cards and a charade.” The stakes with Steward are enormous – for the hospitals, the patients, and the communities – and Healey seems to be operating without a playbook.

MBTA – The T continues to disappoint on a regular basis, but it seems like new General Manager Phillip Eng is on the right track, fixing slow zones, hiring employees at a rapid pace, and creating a sense of stability. Healey is betting Eng can fix the T, but much will depend on the governor’s ability to come up with new revenues for the transit authority and the rest of the state’s transportation establishment. She’s pinning her hopes on a task force that meets for the first time this Thursday, with plans to unveil a revenue plan by the end of the year. Her likely push for new taxes and fees could be the ultimate high-wire act on Beacon Hill.

HOUSING – Building more housing is the governor’s top priority. There is no quick fix, but she is facing an initial test with Milton, where voters rejected a zoning plan that would have brought the community into compliance with the MBTA Communities Act. To bring Milton into the pro-housing fold, Healey has already moved to cut off various forms of state funding to the municipality and Attorney General Andrea Campbell is considering a lawsuit. But the governor needs to tread carefully. She doesn’t want to turn Milton into a martyr.

ENERGY – Massachusetts desperately needs electricity from offshore wind and Quebec hydro to start reducing the state’s reliance on fossil fuels. But the transition to clean energy has been far from smooth. Maine voters blocked a transmission line designed to carry Quebec hydroelectricity, but the vote was set aside by the Maine Supreme Court and the project is now getting back on track. The state’s recent offshore wind procurements were erased by rising interest rates, inflation, and a war in Ukraine that upended supply chains. The state hopes to start over with a procurement scheduled to start in late March, but a lot of uncertainty remains about how much the electricity will cost.

LEGISLATURE – Healey seems to be stuck in the middle of an on-again, off-again tug of war between House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka. Their inability to get on the same page has slowed legislative deliberations to a snail’s pace, causing bills to back up. The emergency shelter system could be a big test for Mariano, Spilka, and Healey. Will lawmakers go along with Healey’s plan to drain a surplus funds account to help cover – temporarily -- the rising cost of the emergency shelter system? Or will they push for a more permanent solution?