Healey set to make first State of the Commonwealth address Wednesday night
Photo | Flickr | Ajay Suresh
The Massachusetts State House
Facing a budget squeeze and billion-dollar-a-year shelter crisis, Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday night plans to highlight milestones from her first year in office and outline features of her economic development bill that her team is developing.
According to her spokeswoman, Healey plans to discuss investments she hopes to see advance this year for housing, transportation and infrastructure, education, child care and economic development, including the life science and climate technology.
Many of those investments will be rolled into long-term borrowing bills expected to win approval by summertime, while others will placed into the fiscal 2025 state operating budget proposal that the governor will file next week.
When Healey delivers her first State of the Commonwealth address in the House Chamber at 7 p.m., she will also talk about affordability, a central concern for many people in high-cost Massachusetts.
The governor plans to reflect on the new tax relief approved last year, the state's commitment to make school meals free, and a new initiative that allows students ages 25 and older to attend community college for free.
Last week, Healey made $375 million in emergency budget cuts and her team offered new revenue forecasts that call for only a 2 percent, or $1.1 billion, increase in fiscal 2025 tax collections.
The governor Tuesday outlined plans for fiscal 2025 budget investments in child care. Barring any tax or revenue-raising proposals from the governor, additional fiscal 2025 investments will have to fit within that revenue outlook and compete with inflation increases that can quickly consume newly available dollars.
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