Advertisement

Healey promises tax relief package by March 1

Gov. Maura Healey speaking in WBUR's State House bureau. (Steve Brown/WBUR)
Gov. Maura Healey speaking in WBUR's State House bureau. (Steve Brown/WBUR)

Gov. Maura Healey will file a tax package with benefits aimed at making Massachusetts more affordable around the same time she plans to file her administration's budget on March 1.

Speaking on WBUR's Radio Boston Wednesday, Healey said she and her team are making the "final touches" on the proposal, which will likely include a child tax credit , and tax breaks for seniors, renters and lower-income families.

"Right now, with the cost of housing, the cost of child care, and then some of what we've seen in terms of inflationary pressures, it's tough," she said.

Healey alluded to these plans on the campaign trail and in her inaugural address . Though she didn't offer any more details on the proposal, her commitment to push through with progressive tax relief comes less than two weeks after state lawmakers expressed a lukewarm attitude on tax breaks .

Beyond tax breaks, Healey discussed several other issues, including efforts to speed up delivery of long-delayed MBTA subway cars.

She committed to having a "physical" and "constant presence" at the Springfield factory where a Chinese-based manufacturer is building hundreds of new train cars for the Red and Orange lines.

In early February, she assembled a team that included engineers charged with getting production and delivery done sooner than the announced one to three-year delay .

"It looks like the facility itself didn't actually have the capability to fabricate as quickly or in the way it needed to. So when I learned about this, my job was to get right on it," Healey said of CRRC Springfield's plant.

She also confirmed she will appoint an interim head of the Massachusetts State Police, after Col. Christopher Mason announced on Friday he would step down from the role.

She said the next chief of state police must have "integrity" and "managerial competence."

"It's a big organization and it's really important that, always, there's integrity. The public trust is so, so imperative," she said.

When asked if she would take advantage of a 2020 police reform law that allows the governor to pick someone from outside of the agency's ranks, given its history of overtime scandals and racism , she said "my responsibility is to get the best colonel in place. And that person may well come from outside of the state police; they may come from within the state police."

Related:

Tiziana Dearing Twitter Host, Radio Boston
Tiziana Dearing is the host of Radio Boston.

More…

Amanda Beland Twitter Producer/Director
Amanda Beland is a producer and director for Radio Boston. She also reports for the WBUR newsroom.

More…

Vanessa Ochavillo Twitter Associate Producer
Vanessa Ochavillo is an associate producer for WBUR focused on digital news.

More…

Advertisement

/ 00:00
Close