Governor-elect focused on affordability issues, retaining talent

Photo | Courtesy State House News Service Now Governor Maura Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll wave to the crowd during an Election Night party at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel.

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By Colin A. Young | State House News Service

Reiterating that affordability and tax reform are among her chief concerns as she prepares to become governor, Maura Healey said Tuesday that she does not see those priorities as being "a wash" when combined with her support for the new income surtax.

The governor-elect told GBH Radio that aside from building out her administration her "top priorities are affordability and making sure that Massachusetts is a place where if you live here, you can stay here; if you come here to study or to work, you can stay here; if you're an employer here or a business here, you can stay here and grow here."

Healey supported the recently-approved 4 percent surtax on household income above $1 million, a change to the Massachusetts Constitution that opponents have warned could lead high-income earners to flee the Bay State for lower-tax states like Florida, particularly as remote work blurs the lines between home and work.

The surtax is estimated to bring in roughly $1.3 billion a year in new revenue intended for education and transportation spending. But Healey also has picked up the tax reform torch from outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker and has called on the Legislature to finish the work it started on a package of reforms tax and rebates worth approximately $1 billion.

Co-host Jim Braude asked Healey on Tuesday whether those two ideas would essentially cancel each other out as "roughly a wash" in the state budget, a suggestion she dismissed.

"I don't view it as a wash, I think these are different things. On the one hand, we're talking about tax reform, and we're talking about something I support, which is to lower taxes for seniors, for renters, for low income, middle income folks, to do something that I promised to do around tax credits, $600 per child per family in the state, also raising the threshold of the estate tax. ... It will, I believe, get us in the direction we need to go in terms of providing the right relief, progressive tax reform, to people who need it the most while also creating more growth opportunities" she said.

Referring to the surtax, Healey added, "Question one, we're gonna look at that right now. We're gonna have the Department of Revenue obviously go through and look at the revenues that will be coming in through that. And that will take some time. I have been very clear that I respect the will of the voters and the voters voted to allocate that money to make sure that money was to be directed -- ultimately, it's up to the Legislature -- but to have that money directed towards important investments in transportation, education and infrastructure. And as governor, I will continue to insist on that and ask for that. And I look forward to conversations with legislative colleagues about that as we move forward."