In face of challenges, Mass. has ‘momentum,’ Healey tells biz leaders in Boston
By John L. Micek, MassLive
As the home to burgeoning life science, artificial intelligence, and green energy sectors, Massachusetts is uniquely positioned to emerge, and solidify its position, as a national leader.
But it also has some big problems, a housing shortage, among them, to solve. And to get there, Gov. Maura Healey appealed Tuesday to some of the Bay State’s best and brightest to lend a hand.
“You guys are all leaders,” the Democratic governor said during an appearance before the New England Council at the Harbor Hotel in Boston. “They listen to all of you in your communities … Talk about your experiences … and help us make the case together for what we need to do.”
That appeal to the council, which bills itself as the oldest regional business group in the nation, comes as Healey seeks to juggle an ambitious policy agenda that includes a sweeping economic development package crammed with workforce development initiatives and investments in such key sectors as life sciences.
Healey also is looking to the Legislature to approve a $4 billion housing bond bill aimed at easing an ongoing housing supply and affordability crisis that’s keeping some people away from the Bay State, and prompting those who live here — especially young people — to leave for less expensive climes.
Housing is “the number one issue hindering our economic competitiveness,” Healey told her audience. “And as your governor, I want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to take that off the table.”
But Healey also has found herself doing battle with municipalities that have resisted a state law requiring them to expand housing opportunities near MBTA lines.
“Not one of our 351 cities and towns can solve the housing crisis alone. Everybody’s got to do their bit,” Healey said. “Everybody’s got to do their bit. So if you want your grandparents, your kids … to be in the state of Massachusetts, we’ve got to build more housing.”
It also comes as Healey pursues legislative authorization of its $58 billion budget for the new fiscal year that starts July 1 that proposes new spending for schools and mass transportation — the kind of assets that could serve to encourage people to relocate to, or remain, in the Bay State.
In the face of all those challenges, and the exploding cost of the state’s emergency shelter system, which is expected to soar past $900 million a year over the next two years, Healey said she remained optimistic.
“I am optimistic about our state, particularly in this moment, where we are in the country, where we are in the world,” Healey told her audience. ” … We’re the state where ideas and innovations enter the economy and shape the future.”
Healey acknowledged the rising cost of the shelter system. But she remained steadfast in her longstanding insistence that it was up to Congress to fix the nation’s immigration laws.
Healey also touted her office’s efforts, in concert with the Biden administration, to help new arrivals to the state, many of whom are fleeing violence in their native countries, to obtain work authorizations.
She also pushed back, subtly, at critics who have said she hasn’t done enough to contain the flood of newcomers, pointing out that more than half the people in the system are permanent Massachusetts residents.
“They’re our neighbors. They’re our brothers and sisters. They are our colleagues at work, who for one reason or another … needed this resource,” she said.
Last week, state lawmakers sent Healey a short-term funding bill pumping hundreds of millions of dollars more in taxpayer money into the system, even as it imposes limits on how long people can stay in emergency housing.
Speaking to reporters after her speech, Healey said she expected to sign the supplemental funding bill. But she did not say whether she planned to sign it in full or in part.
“It’s on my desk now, and I’ll be taking a look at it,” she said. ” … I expect to be able to sign it very soon.”