BOSTON — Governor Maura Healey touted her legislative accomplishments and sketched a sweeping agenda for the coming year during her second State of the Commonwealth address.
Healey called it a ‘time to build our future’ and portrayed a dedicated effort to keep Massachusetts growing.
During Thursday night’s speech, Healey addressed the stream of migrants that have arrived in Massachusetts and the costly burden to the state’s emergency shelter system.
Her comments came one day after announcing efforts to change how the state houses migrants by requiring that families in emergency shelters be U.S. citizens or in the country legally with few exceptions.
“Massachusetts taxpayers cannot and should not foot the cost. The federal government needs to fix this at the source, by passing a border security bill,” said Healey.
The Governor also laid out the state’s plan to create more housing with thousands of new units in the pipeline.
She did not mince words about her priority to eliminate renter-paid broker fees.
“The average renter in Massachusetts is paying 10 grand just to get a foot in the door,” she said. “If you rent, you should not be forced to pay a broker’s fee.”
She also talked about a multiyear $8-billion-dollar plan to fund the state’s roads, bridges, MBTA, and regional transit systems.
Governor Healey said, last year, Massachusetts saw the biggest population increase that the state has seen since 1964.
She did not mention President-elect Donald Trump by name.
Healey was the Attorney General during Trump’s first term and led approximately 100 lawsuits against his administration.
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