Gov. Maura Healey’s workplace stayed at 4 and five-star lodges internationally a number of occasions final fiscal 12 months, racking up 1000’s on taxpayer-funded bank cards for swanky digs, in response to information offered to the Herald via a public information request.
The primary-term Democrat has persistently jetted throughout the nation, and a number of other occasions the Atlantic, utilizing public funds throughout her first two years in workplace. Procurement card information maintained by the Workplace of the Comptroller exhibits Healey’s workplace tends to remain at high-end lodges throughout these journeys.
A number of expenditures in fiscal 12 months 2024 affirm the governor or her workers stayed in four-star lodging and in a single occasion, booked rooms at a historic five-star lodge in Quebec Metropolis with a commanding view of the Saint Lawrence River.
Jillian Fennimore, Healey’s director of communications, stated lots of the journeys the governor or her workers took have provided alternatives to construct political or financial ties with different elected officers or enterprise communities.
Within the case of the journey to Canada, Healey’s workplace charged just below $2,500 in September 2023 to a procurement card for lodging on the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, a luxurious lodge that payments itself as a “heritage urban resort” that tops the checklist of Quebec Metropolis lodges.
“From the European-style charm of our guest rooms to restorative treatments in the spa, our landmark luxury hotel promises an unforgettable stay,” the lodge’s web site stated.
Fennimore stated Healey traveled to Quebec Metropolis for a press convention as a part of the forty fourth annual New England Governors and Jap Canadian Premiers Convention. Healey was the 2023 co-chair of the convention.
It was the primary time in 5 years that the convention met in-person and Healey stayed on the Le Chateau Frontenac with Chief of Workers Kate Cook dinner and an govt assistant as a result of that was the place “the conference was held,” Fennimore stated.
“Next month, Gov. Healey will host the 45th annual NEG-ECP Conference in Massachusetts. The conference will focus on energy and the clean energy transition and will present an opportunity to discuss goals and seek alignment on the offshore wind supply chain and hard-to-decarbonize sectors,” Fennimore stated.
Lots of the lodges Healey’s workplace used have been additionally booked by the Massachusetts State Police utilizing separate procurement playing cards, in response to state information. The legislation enforcement company supplies a private safety element for the governor, who sometimes travels together with her.
The State Police put $1,181 on a procurement card in two separate funds for stays on the Le Chateau Frontenac, in response to the info. The fees have been made on the identical dates because the funds in Healey’s workplace, information present.
A spokesperson for the State Police stated members of the governor’s safety element “devote themselves to their mission, which requires long hours, time away from their loved ones, and a very fluid work environment with complex demands.”
“Although we do not disclose information about any specific details for the protection of the individual, we can say that the unit takes great care to economize its missions whenever possible,” the spokesperson stated in an announcement.
That features “selecting the least expensive lodging option available that is conducive to the protection mission,” touring at off-peak occasions, and lowering extra time prices, the spokesperson stated.
Not everybody approves of Healey’s lodge decisions.
Massachusetts Republican Occasion spokesperson Logan Trupiano slammed the cash spent on lodge stays and stated native taxpayers have been being “exploited to serve” Healey by “funding her opulent lifestyle with their hard-earned money.”
“Imagine entrusting someone with your finances, expecting them to improve your life, only to discover they’re indulging themselves in lavish accommodations around the world. That’s exactly what Gov. Healey is doing with your tax dollars. Her arrogance and blatant disregard for the people she’s supposed to serve is shocking,” Trupiano stated in an announcement to the Herald.
Government companies or departments are suggested to make use of procurement playing cards solely as a “payment of last resort,” although guidelines do enable state officers to pay for in a single day lodging at lodges, in response to tips issued by the state’s budget-writing workplace.
The procurement card information additionally gives extra perception into Healey’s journey to Italy earlier this 12 months.
Healey and her workers stayed on the Marriott Le Meridien Visconti, a four-star lodge that its possession describes as a “luxury escape” in Rome. 4 totally different funds have been charged to procurement playing cards in Could that rank amongst a number of the most costly for the workplace in fiscal 12 months 2024, in response to state information.
The information present that the governor’s workplace spent simply over $14,000 on the lodge throughout a visit that officers stated totaled simply over $30,000.
The journey was paid for via the Massachusetts Tourism Belief Fund, a multi-million greenback account used to advertise tourism within the state and assist regional tourism councils, Healey’s workplace stated. It’s partly funded by the tax on gross gaming revenues generated by native casinos.
A spokesperson for Healey beforehand defended the journey to Italy, wherein Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu had an viewers with Pope Francis, as a “valuable opportunity” to showcase the “state’s climate leadership on the world stage.”
In three separate procurement card prices, the State Police spent one other $9,750 on stays on the Marriott Le Meridien Visconti. The expenditures have been among the many company’s most costly for fiscal 12 months 2024, in response to state information.
Past journeys to Italy and Quebec Metropolis, Healey’s workplace additionally spent 1000’s within the final fiscal 12 months on four-star lodges in america, together with $1,554 on a Westin in downtown Washington, D.C., and over $1,120 on a Marriott in Myrtle Seaside, South Carolina, the procurement card information exhibits.
State Police procurement card information present the company spent $1,079 on a Marriott in Myrtle Seaside, South Carolina. The only buy was made the day after Healey’s workplace booked stays on the identical lodge, in response to the info.
Procurement card purchases within the governor’s workplace stretch past travel-related prices.
The most costly procurement card buy made by the governor’s workplace in fiscal 12 months 2024 was a single $3,952 fee to The Boston Herald, in response to state information.
“This payment is for a 52-week Boston Herald subscription so our administration can be informed of your newspaper’s daily coverage,” Fennimore stated in an announcement.
The governor or workers in her workplace additionally spent $1,176 between Could and June at Shreve, Crump & Low, a family-owned Newbury Road jeweler that describes itself as one of many oldest in america.
Fennimore stated Healey purchases “pitchers” from the jeweler as items for visiting ambassadors and different overseas dignitaries such because the Lativian president or Taiwanese ambassador, amongst others.
The purchases on the jeweler have been lined with different public {dollars} from the Massachusetts Tourism Belief Fund, Fennimore stated.
Nancy Lane/Boston Herald
Gov. Maura Healey (Herald file)
