Gov. Maura Healey scheduled her annual State of the Commonwealth speech for Jan. 16, her workplace mentioned Wednesday, placing on the books an occasion that would supply extra perception into the governor’s third-year priorities and monetary 12 months 2026 finances proposal.
The speech will come after Healey confronted a number of crises throughout her second 12 months in workplace just like the meltdown of Steward Health Care and as Massachusetts is making ready to react to President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White Home.
Massachusetts Taxpayers Basis President Doug Howgate mentioned governors usually use the speech to supply a top level view or spotlight particular coverage proposals of their forthcoming yearly finances.
However Howgate mentioned Healey additionally has a chance subsequent 12 months to supply perception into how she may use new surplus {dollars} generated by a surtax on incomes over $1 million also referred to as the “Fair Share Amendment” or “Millionaires Tax.”
“Hopefully, we’ll hear some of the governor’s vision in terms of not just how to use these resources in 2025 and 2026 but kind of how they fit into the long-term plan for our capital needs, other innovative pilots in transportation and education,” Howgate informed the Herald.
Healey is scheduled to talk at 7 p.m. Jan. 16 contained in the Home Chamber. A livestream will probably be out there on the state’s web site.
In her first State of the Commonwealth earlier this 12 months, Healey mentioned she would use her fiscal 12 months 2025 finances to suggest a serious improve in operations funding on the MBTA and pitch residents on multi-million greenback psychological well being and schooling initiatives.
She slammed former Gov. Charlie Baker’s dealing with of the transit company as “underfunded, poorly managed, and badly staffed.”
And as she has finished within the months since, Healey additionally used her remarks to push Congress to “fix the border” amid an inflow of migrants to Massachusetts that strained native emergency shelters.
The deal with was adopted by a rebuttal from Sen Peter Durant, a Spencer Republican who painted a bleak image of a state spending billions on shelters, tax revenues in decline, and residents fleeing for different states that had been extra inexpensive.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Republican Occasion mentioned the celebration is planning an analogous occasion for subsequent 12 months however had not but determined who would supply the rebuttal.
