Gov. Maura Healey knew coming into workplace at the beginning of 2023 that Massachusetts’ emergency shelter system was already experiencing points as extra individuals sought refuge in state-funded momentary housing.
But an inflow of migrants fleeing unstable house situations and rising housing prices hurting susceptible residents already right here pushed the shelter community to the brink, producing a logistical headache for Beacon Hill and one of many prime political tales of the yr.
“I certainly knew that we had a migrant crisis when I took office,” Healey mentioned in an interview with the Herald earlier this month. “What I didn’t know is that it would grow exponentially worse.”
From the overburdened shelters to former U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins resigning in shame and continued woes on the MBTA to legislative motion (or inaction), 2023 formed up as a head-spinning yr for these in energy within the Bay State.
Shelters burst with newly-arrived households and people from proper right here at house
Democratic governors throughout the nation have skilled headwinds with a surge of migrants arriving of their non-border states, generally on the behest of Republican governors who ship them there in what they are saying is an effort to reveal the challenges southern leaders face on a day-to-day foundation.
Healey isn’t any exception. The shelter system has hovered across the 7,500-family-limit because it was put in place in November.
A political firestorm in what some think about a deep blue state — however one that usually acts extra purple than the rest — whipped up in 2023 over how one can pay for the shelter system transferring ahead.
The debate has run in parallel as to if the state ought to hold its right-to-shelter regulation, which requires state authorities to supply momentary shelter to homeless households with kids and pregnant individuals.
Healey mentioned state officers began to see an exponential rise within the variety of individuals coming to Massachusetts in March. It was not till August, after 1000’s extra households got here to the state, that Healey declared a state of emergency, which stays lively to today.
Those who’ve arrived in Massachusetts from one other nation have been lawfully let into the United States by the federal authorities, a degree that’s typically forgotten by critics.
It’s not raining cash anymore in Massachusetts
Beacon Hill’s potential to level to constant tax income development when approving main spending payments could also be on the road this fiscal yr.
Collections for the primary months of fiscal yr 2024 have are available beneath expectations, resulting in some concern within the halls of the State House that Massachusetts’ rose-tinted monetary image is in jeopardy.
Top price range writers within the Legislature acknowledged the dismal revenues in November, with Senate Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues describing the scenario as having “storm clouds on the horizon.”
“It’s not bright and sunny, it’s not raining money as it has been over the last few years, (but) we are still being responsible in addressing the long-term liabilities of the commonwealth,” he mentioned.
Alarm bells usually are not ringing for Healey as she appears to be like forward to fiscal yr 2025. She pointed to a “great” bond ranking, greater than $8 billion within the state’s wet day account, and a “really strong” basis in Massachusetts.
Don’t overlook — there may be nonetheless an ominous tab the state might need to pony up and pay to the federal authorities after officers right here realized former Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration mistakenly used $2.5 billion in federal pandemic-era aid funds to repay unemployment advantages.
New York arrives in Massachusetts
Who had slender tracks on a model new phase of the MBTA bringing trains to strolling speeds on their bingo card for the yr? Not us.
In what has felt like an unbreakable sample, the troubles on the MBTA continued in 2023 as federal oversight of the company remained and disruption to commuters continued.
While it’d really feel like there is no such thing as a hope for one of many oldest public transit methods on this planet, there may be one key distinction this yr the Healey administration likes to level to: New York’s personal Phillip Eng took over because the company’s normal supervisor.
He arrived in April with a promise to overtake the beleaguered transit system.
Much to his probably dismay, nevertheless, former transit officers left Eng, a veteran of the Long Island Rail Road and the MTA, an unwelcome shock — the $2.3 billion Green Line Extension that prolonged service into Medford and Somerville needed to decelerate as a result of tracks had been too slender.
The MBTA apparently knew in regards to the difficulty way back to April 2021, when former General Manager Steve Poftak and Baker had been nonetheless round. But Eng, who introduced in a cadre of officers from New York, made clear that the general public wouldn’t carry the burden of a slowed-down transit system for for much longer.
Rachael Rollins exits the political scene after making a scene
Former U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins had fairly a yr, to place it flippantly.
The once-Suffolk County DA resigned from her put up after a pair of federal reviews accused her of a number of ethics violations.
One report mentioned Rollins “committed an extraordinary abuse of her power” when she violated the Hatch Act, a regulation prohibiting federal staff from taking part in partisan political exercise. Another federal report accused Rollins of utilizing her place to attempt to sway final yr’s race for Suffolk County District Attorney between Ricardo Arroyo and Kevin Hayden.
The allegations landed like a bombshell in Massachusetts and uncovered the underbelly of native politics in a metropolis traditionally identified for corruption.
Dysfunction junction on the nook of Beacon and Bowdoin Streets
There had been notable legislative accomplishments on Beacon Hill this yr, primarily quite a lot of sweeping coverage adjustments that had been included within the fiscal 2024 state price range and a tax reform invoice that lastly made it throughout the end line.
But the story out of the Legislature in 2023, as highlighted by the opposite newspaper on the town, is perhaps the shortage of urgency to push ahead payments on a number of the most urgent points dealing with the state even because the halls of the State House haven’t been quiet.
Advocates and lobbyists have packed 24 Beacon St. to press lawmakers on all the things from housing to gun reform and schooling to renewable vitality, at one level even standing practically butt bare within the Senate Chamber over the summer season.
Still, Democratic supermajorities within the House and Senate haven’t handed standalone payments on these topics throughout the first yr of the two-year session. The majority social gathering even obtained caught in a spat with Republicans over funding for shelters.
Leftover political items from the yr that was
The Registry of Motor Vehicles went on a hiring spree after an immigrant driver’s license regulation took impact … Massachusetts’ statewide police regulatory physique launched 1000’s of disciplinary information … however not each division was joyful … Republicans picked up a seat within the Senate … That one time Massachusetts made Ron DeSantis’ X (Twitter?) feed … We realized State Auditor Diana DiZoglio might sing … Healey went on an $83,000 journey to Ireland … New Hampshire heated up …Baker’s son pleaded not responsible to an OUI … The state’s pot boss was suspended … The MassGOP tried to remake itself … Former Transportation Secretary Gina Fiandaca introduced her shock departure as rumors swirled
Source: www.bostonherald.com”