In her second State of the Commonwealth address last night, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey laid out her reflection on how far the state has come, and where she intends to head next.
Gov. Healey touched upon a range of topics, from health care, to education, to the Boston Celtics’ 18th banner, and of course, transportation.
“I don’t know the last time a governor talked about the T so early in a State of the State,” she joked.
"In Phil we trust!"
In setting the stage for her reflections on transportation policy in the Commonwealth, the Governor described trains as “barely moving” when she took office.
She then boasted about hiring General Manager Phillip Eng, and could not get to the next part of her sentence as the entire chamber went up into a standing ovation.
Eng, sat in the front row, rose to wave to the crowd.
Healey praised Eng and the MBTA in transportation improvements in hiring new workers, and beating the original deadline to fix the subway system’s tracks in the Track Improvement Program.
“For the first time in over 20 years, the T is full speed, with no more slow zones, giving you time back in your life,” Healey cheered.
The Governor additionally mentioned projects like making regional bus systems from the Berkshires to Cape Ann fare-free, and the upcoming South Coast Rail Commuter Rail service, which will connect Taunton, Fall River, and New Bedford.
Federal Dollars for Infrastructure Projects
In addition to public transportation, the State of the Commonwealth included mention of modernizing infrastructure. Governor Healey bragged about receivingover $9 billion dollars in federal funding to develop roads and bridges like the Cape Cod Bridges repair project, and will allow for progress on East-West Rail. She claimed that during her first two years in office, Massachusetts jumped from 34th to 7th place in transportation dollars nationwide.
After speaking on the controversial emergency shelter system, the HERO Act, and the pardoning of hundreds of thousands of people for misdemeanor marijuana convictions, Healey laid the groundwork for her proposed 2025 budget that she will be submitting next week, prioritizing efficiency, action and impact.
“What we can say now – to drivers, riders, and taxpayers – is that the money you invest will get you results.”
$8 billion for transportation
She started off with her vision for transportation, to repair bridges in rough shape, to fix potholes and cracked sidewalks, to mend broken dams and culverts.
To promote a transit system for a modern economy that is competitive with other states and countries where people can get where they need to go to live their lives, Governor Healey is proposing an $8 billion investment in public transportation over the next decade from the state’s new Fair Share tax on millionaires.
This will fill the MBTA’s funding gap and put the entire system on financially secure footing after a history of funding instability, a history that Executive Director of the MBTA Advisory Board Brian Kane recently presented on at the Transportation for Massachusetts People’s Caravan Module 2 event last month.
The Governor also teased station updates at Ruggles on the Orange Line and Commuter Rail platforms “from Beverly Depot to West Medford to Franklin and beyond.”
This money will also accomplish various transportation and infrastructure goals, from the I-391 viaduct in Chicopee to everyday municipal road maintenance.
The bottom line: “You’ll wait less, and you’ll move faster. And we’ll be a state where everybody gets where they need to go safely, affordably, sustainably and on time,” said Healey.
Additional policy pledges include the abolishing of real estate broker’s fees for renters, the development of a Statewide Graduation Requirement Council in lieu of the MCAS test being voted out as a high school graduation standard, legislation to make classes in American Sign Language eligible for course credit, directing the economic team to review and cut red tape in all business and licensing regulations, speeding up permitting to build infrastructure more quickly to get clean energy into homes and businesses, and restricting insulin and inhaler prices to no more than $25 dollars a month.
