Commonwealth Magazine, January 2023
With Gov. Healey now in office, it is time for Massachusetts to embrace a transformative policy agenda. Rather than continuing to tinker around the edges and address individual policy areas in a piecemeal fashion, Massachusetts is uniquely positioned to lead the nation – and the world – in demonstrating the transformative power of making large integrated public investments that link housing, education, transportation, environment, and health.
In her inaugural speech, Gov. Healey announced multiple specific actions to achieve the ambitious goals she has for the Commonwealth. She plans to establish a new state-level housing secretary, to hire 1,000 additional workers at the MBTA, to create a new interagency task force to win federal funds, and to conduct an equity audit in every agency. She announced the establishment of Massachusetts’s first cabinet-level climate chief. She committed to leading with empathy and equity.
We applaud these commitments and support her vision and ambition. But to be effective in leveraging state policy to reverse the intersecting crises that are currently worsening vulnerabilities and expanding disparities and inequities in the Commonwealth, the governor, the Legislature, and the people of Massachusetts need to commit to transformative, integrated policies.
