Healey took her Transforming Transportation Roadshow to Lenox town hall on a swing through Western Massachusetts, appearing alongside state and local officials to discuss funding for rural roads, bridges, and culverts.
“This is a really big deal, what we've done," said the governor. "Our proposed transportation funding, it's going to be really transformative- $8.5 billion over 10 years, $1.5 billion for the bridge program alone. We're going to go through a process of prioritizing needed bridge repairs or replacements. For far too long in this state, we haven't replaced bridges. We haven't done the maintenance work that has needed to happen. Now, things are more expensive than ever. My view as governor, and we got right after this, we were like, this isn't fair what's happening in Berkshire County. We need to make some changes here. It's not fair what's happening in Western Mass. Let's make some changes. We changed the funding formula, so now it's per mile, not population, and importantly, it's going to free up all this capital that we're going to use now to get into communities so that they can fix roads, fix bridges, repair culverts, and the like.”
Like other Northeast governors, Healey is walking a fine line with the federal government as she looks to complete such infrastructure projects. While her administration’s new plan will be funded through state channels, she praised attorneys general nationwide for suing to protect broader federal funding. The Democrat has advocated for her party to present a more aggressive opposition to President Trump’s agenda. It was reported that Healey privately called on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to offer stronger resistance to the administration.
And that was before last week, when Schumer reversed himself and agreed to a continuing resolution approved by House Republicans to keep the government funded for six months.
“I mean, that to me is really concerning when there's so much on the line," she told WAMC. "I mean, I don't know how you're going to pay for $4.5 trillion in tax cuts for Donald Trump's billionaire friends without cutting into Social Security, Medicaid, and really, really important things that people rely on. And we've already seen really distressing cuts to veterans’ services, food for our kids in schools, different health care programs that people rely on. And so, I'm really concerned about the cuts, the indiscriminate cuts to federal funding and the impact that they're going to have on the lives of people here in Massachusetts and around the country. So, I continue to speak up about that, and I continue to speak up on — I wish politicians would focus on everyday Americans and their needs. Right now, people are struggling with high costs. They can't afford housing, they can't afford groceries, they can't afford gas. By the way, all this stuff has gotten more expensive since Donald Trump became president. But my job as governor is to focus on how do I lower costs, how do I make life easier for people in Massachusetts. That's what I'm going to continue to focus on, that's what I'm going to continue to talk about, and that's what I think electeds around this country need to focus on- Meeting people where they are and addressing what their real needs are. We can do so much better as a country.”
Since Trump returned to office in January, the Republican has delivered on campaign promises to attack the civil rights, protections, and recognition of the country’s miniscule transgender and gender diverse community. In response, municipalities across Massachusetts – Pittsfield, Worcester, and Cambridge – have declared themselves sanctuary cities for those populations. Healey, the nation’s first openly lesbian governor, says the state will continue to stand with all of its residents.
“What I think is important is that we have state anti-discrimination law that prohibits people from discriminating against transgender people in school, on the job, in housing, and when they're out and about in public places," she said. "That's very important for people to know. It's very clear what our state law is here. I know the attorney general will enforce that, and I certainly continue to support that.”
The governor also responded to criticism from Massachusetts conservatives that has framed her as opposed to the use of natural gas as an energy source — a claim she described as baloney.
“My position has always been I support gas," said Healey. "I support all sources of energy, and we need to take advantage of all sources of energy here in New England. I'm glad that hydro is coming down from Quebec shortly, it's why we've supported wind as an important energy source. By the way, one that will make us more independent because it's homegrown. I continue to support the efforts around solar and energy storage through batteries and the like, small nuclear, all of the above, all the above including gas. The reality is right now, this country and the mid-Atlantic region up through New England, we can be really hard hit because it's colder here, and winter means that there's a lot more- There's a lot of increase in the costs. And what that really ties back to is the volatility of the gas, oil, and gas markets, international, which are beyond our control, which is why I'm for all of the above in terms of energy sources, and whatever you do, don't take away things that will give us energy independence in the region.”
Healey followed up her appearance in Lenox with a stop in Becket to inspect a culvert.
