Governor Maura Healey Delivers State of the Commonwealth Address

Governor Maura Healey Delivers State of the Commonwealth Address

Press Release from Governor's Office

Sources: Rasky Partners, State House News Service, Politico

On the evening of January 17, 2024, Governor Maura Healey highlighted milestones from her first year in office and outline features of her economic development bill that her team is developing.

Throughout the speech, Governor Healey highlighted many of the state's accomplishments during her administration's first year, including the creation of the MassReconnect program offering free community college for residents 25 years or older, a $1 billion tax relief package, and legislation making universal free school meals permanently available for K-12 students in Massachusetts.

Looking forward to the year ahead, the Governor outlined several priorities that she plans to address, including housing affordability, childcare access and affordability, education, and transportation infrastructure. She called on the legislature to work with her in passing her $4.1B housing bond bill and previewed several initiatives she plans to include in her Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) budget proposal, This includes previously announced investments in early education and childcare totaling over $500M, a "Literacy Launch" campaign designed to address disparities in language arts education, record funding for local roads and bridges, and increased funding for MBTA operations and deferred maintenance. At the same time, she underscored that her FY25 budget will be fiscally responsible in light of slowing revenues and less pandemic-era funding available to the state.

Finally, she emphasized her commitment to enhancing competitiveness through the administration's Economic Development Plan, specifically highlighting her goal of fostering the growth of Climate Tech companies and creating jobs in the state.

The State of the Commonwealth Address kicks off a period of significant activity in the legislature, which will include consideration of the Governor's FY25 budget proposal expected next week, the housing bond bill, and upcoming economic development legislation, among other initiatives. ACEC/MA will continue to monitor these issues and update you as developments take place.

Many of those investments will be rolled into long-term borrowing bills expected to win approval by summertime, while others will placed into the fiscal 2025 state operating budget proposal that the governor will file next week. She also talked about affordability, a central concern for many people in Massachusetts..

The governor reflected on the new tax relief approved last year, the state's commitment to make school meals free, and a new initiative that allows students ages 25 and older to attend community college for free. 

Last week, Healey made $375M in emergency budget cuts and her team offered new revenue forecasts that call for only a 2 percent, or $1.1B, increase in fiscal 2025 tax collections.

On Tuesday, January 16, the governor outlined plans for fiscal 2025 budget investments in child care.  Additional fiscal 2025 investments will have to fit within that revenue outlook.