Governor-elect Maura Healey talks to reporters after meeting with Gov. Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito.
Activists see opportunities for change
At the Fairmont Copley Plaza election night party where the Democratic victors at the top of the ticket gathered, the mood was high. For the first time in Massachusetts history, women will occupy five of the six constitutional offices. Former City Council President Andrea Campbell became the first Black woman elected to statewide office. And for the first time in eight years, a Democrat will sit in the governor’s office.
Between speeches from Governor-elect Maura Healey, Lieutenant Governor-elect Kim Driscoll and Attorney General-elect Andrea Campbell, 12th Baptist Church Pastor Willie Broderick paused to take stock of the victories.
“It’s exciting to see the shifting landscape of Massachusetts politics,” Broderick said. “It’s very promising for the future of the commonwealth.”
A few blocks away, at the Colonnade Hotel, activists with labor and community-based organizations were celebrating the passage of Ballot Questions 1 and 4. Question 1, the Fair Share Amendment, promises to raise more than $1 billion a year for public education and state transportation projects.
With
a new gubernatorial administration comes the promise of new priorities
for state government, and with the passage of the so-called millionaires
tax, the promise of funding to make things happen.
“We
hope this creates more opportunity, particularly for communities of
color,” Broderick said. “We really hope to see access open up for so
many people.”
On the
campaign trail and in the days after her victory, Healey has been light
on details of policies she would implement as governor. Asked by
reporters following a meeting with outgoing Governor Charlie Baker how
her administration would differ from his, the 5’4” attorney general
said, “The microphones are going to be a little lower. There you go. And
the rest, we’ll see.”
But activists, elected officials and others with a stake in state government have high hopes for the next four years.
“It’s
going to be very different having a starting lineup with all women,”
said 2nd Suffolk District Senator-elect Liz Miranda. “I’m excited about
working with them on Beacon Hill.”
Miranda
said she is hoping the Legislature will prioritize policies that help
close the racial wealth gap and continue the work of criminal justice
reform that has advanced over the last three years. Without the threat
of a veto from a Republican governor, Miranda says, the Legislature may
be empowered to make bold progressive changes.
“I think in this legislative session that’s coming up, we’re going to hit the ground running,” she said.
Education
activists are looking to the revenue from the Fair Share Amendment tax
to fully fund the Student Opportunity Act, which Healey pledged to do on
her campaign website. The Student Opportunity Act would channel
hundreds of millions of dollars into districts serving low-income
students. Boston Teachers Union President Jessica Tang says she’s hoping
some of that funding finds its way to Boston, where the Boston Public
Schools have increased spending on school psychologists, special
education programming, reading specialists and other much-needed
positions.
“We need to
sustain the changes that came with ESSER funds,” she said, referring to
the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding
that Boston and other districts received during the pandemic. “We were
going to potentially lose these needed positions if there wasn’t a new
funding sourced to sustain them.”
Tang
and other BTU members have been advocating for more special education
teachers to help the district create more inclusion classrooms, where
students with special needs are educated alongside regular education
students.
Such
classrooms require additional staff — specialists who can help special
needs students while the classroom teacher delivers instruction.
“It will require more positions in order for students to get everything they need,” Tang said.
NAACP
Boston Branch President Tanisha Sullivan said activists may have to
keep pressure on the Legislature to ensure that funding from the Fair
Share Amendment actually makes it to the two areas written into the
ballot question: public education and transportation.
“The
Legislature doesn’t have to do anything,” she said, noting that
lawmakers signed the Student Opportunity Act into law in 2019 but have
yet to fully fund the measure.
State
Rep. Russell Holmes, whose district includes Mattapan and sections of
Dorchester and Roxbury, said he’s hoping the funding from the Fair Share
Amendment will give Healey and the Legislature the funds necessary to
support the MBTA, which has seen service delays and interruptions over
the last seven years.
Holmes
also is hoping Boston’s schools fare better under Healey than they did
under the Baker administration. Noting the sometimes rocky relationship
between Mayor Michelle Wu and Baker and officials in his administration,
Holmes says Healey may bring a welcome change.
“They’re
two women who are the first in their positions,” he said. “You would
expect that Michelle will have a much better relationship with Healey.”
Ultimately,
Healey’s success as governor may depend on her working relationship
with lawmakers. The last Democratic governor, Deval Patrick, often had
friction with House and Senate leadership, undermining many of his
policy initiatives, which he sought to advance without the support of
those with the power to fund them.
“The
Baker administration built an effective, bipartisan relationship with
the Legislature,” Sullivan said. “Expectations will be high for the
Healey administration to have an even more effective relationship with
the Legislature to help improve the quality of life for Massachusetts
residents.”