Mass. Gov. Healey announces hiring freeze for executive branch agencies

Yahoo

14-05-2025

For the second time in just about a year, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has hit state agencies with a hiring freeze.
The freeze announced Wednesday comes in response to what the Democratic administration has described as 'widespread economic uncertainty' at the national level, and a 'tightening budget outlook' at home.
The freeze, which is set to take effect May 27, will apply to all executive branch agencies and departments under the administration's control.
Those agencies, which range from the Department of Transportation and Correction to Health and Human Services, will be barred from hiring new employees. And there won't be a waiver process, Healey's office said in a statement.
There will be exemptions, however, for certain positions, including public safety officers and direct care providers, the administration said.
'The people of Massachusetts expect us to protect and maximize their tax dollars, and that's exactly what we're doing,' Healey said in a statement.
'Tariffs and funding cuts from Washington are causing so much economic damage and instability.' she continued. 'We are taking this step to prepare for more uncertain economic times, protect taxpayer dollars, and move our state forward while ensuring funding will be available for the vital services people need.'
Healey and her Democratic allies on Beacon Hill have repeatedly made it clear that the state won't be able to backfill the potential loss of billions of dollars in federal funding targeted by the Trump administration.
A more than $61 billion budget plan approved by the majority-Democrat state House, for instance, is premised on $16 billion in federal support.
The top Democrat in the state Senate has described the messages coming from Washington as a form of 'whiplash.'
'I think if this keeps up, we'll be all walking around with neck braces,' Senate President Karen E. Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, told MassLive earlier this year.
The Ashland Democrat, like Healey and other lawmakers, has since intensified her criticism of the Republican White House amid attacks on Harvard University and its on-again, off-again trade war.
A hiring freeze across the executive branch will give the state 'added flexibility in the budget to respond and react to unforeseen program needs and other deficiencies that may arise,' state Administration and Finance Secretary Matthew J. Gorzkowicz said.
Massachusetts collected $6.8 billion in taxes in April, which was 8.1% more than it collected in April 2024, and $1.1 billion, or 19.5% ahead of its benchmarks, according to state Revenue Department data.
Year-to-date collections totaled $36.5 billion, which is $2.6 billion or 7.8% more than actual collections in the same period at this time last year, and nearly $1.9 billion, or 5.5% ahead of projections, that same data show.
Still, the state's 'uncertain economic future in the [fiscal 2026 budget year] has been made less predictable by the threat of federal funding cuts and recent market upheaval,' Gorzkowicz continued. 'While we hope for the best, it is both prudent and responsible to be prepared and take control of what we can now.'
Healey's office said it would review the hiring freeze once lawmakers pass, and the Democratic signs, a new budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
The Senate's top budget-writer said earlier this month that he's hopeful the Legislature will pass a budget by the June 30 deadline.
It has been more than a decade since lawmakers have met that obligation.
In April 2024, the administration implemented what officials at the time called 'hiring controls' -- not a 'freeze' -- that required Executive Office for Administration and Finance approval of new employees.
Those measures expired Nov. 1. Officials said the policies saved about $21 million, according to State House News Service.
Read the original article on MassLive.