Latest news with #MauraHealey
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The piece of the Mass. budget that passes all understanding
If there's one thing that's true about politics, it's that voters rarely care about how legislation gets done as long as it gets done in a relatively timely fashion, doesn't cost the Earth and manages to make their little corner of creation a tiny bit better. That's particularly true during budget season on Beacon Hill, which has now officially entered that precarious stage where, if things are going to go wrong, they are going to go wrong in the most gloriously spectacular way possible. Here's why: The competing $61 billion-ish budget plans approved by the majority-Democrat state House and state Senate, respectively, along with the $62 billion iteration offered by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, all increase state spending from the year before. The $61.5 billion budget the Senate approved last week, for instance, comes in $70.3 million less than the budget approved by the House, and $568.1 million less than the spending plan that Healey sent to lawmakers earlier this year. Senate lawmakers nonetheless ladled on $81.1 million in new spending before they took their vote, according to an analysis by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. Senate lawmakers also set up difficult policy fights with the House on liquor license and vocational school reform and health care matters, Axios Boston noted. Thus, there is a high likelihood that things could go screaming off the rails. Then there's this. The Senate plunged forward with its version of the fiscal blueprint for the new fiscal year that starts July 1 by assuming that the $16 billion in federal funding that provides the undercarriage for their budget plan is still going to be there for them. Ditto for the House and Healey. That's despite some deeply ominous sabre-rattling from Washington. Though Senate Ways and Means Committee Chairperson Michael Rodriques, D-1st Bristol/Plymouth, has warned 'all bets are off' if Congress moves ahead, as expected, with deep cuts to Medicaid. At first glance, this is kind of like splashing out for that lease on the Rolls-Royce, expecting you'll have the cash to cover it, and then hoping for the best if you don't. The pro-business Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance was decidedly not amused by that tactic, also noting that senators added tens of millions of new spending, even as they sounded the alarm about 'uncertainty' from Washington, D.C. And spending will likely grow even more once the House and Senate cut a deal on the final budget sometime later next month or early July, the think-tank observed. 'There's simply no credibility left for lawmakers who talk about fiscal uncertainty while voting for the largest budget in state history,' Paul D. Craney, the group's spokesperson, said in a statement. If lawmakers were 'serious about economic uncertainty, they would have tightened the belt, not let it out,' Craney continued. He's not wrong. Just this week, Healey and Democratic U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey were in Revere sounding the alarm about looming GOP cuts to Medicaid on Capitol Hill. Read More: A 'historic battle': Mass pols protest Medicaid cuts in 'Big Beautiful Bill' | John L. Micek Michael Curry, the president & CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, has warned that MassHealth, as Medicaid is known in the Bay State, bluntly said the program would be 'unsustainable without the federal partnership, the federal funds.' That's about as clear a warning shot as lawmakers are going to get. MassHealth is among the biggest fixed costs in the state budget. And federal cuts will mean higher costs and a strain on the state's health care system, Curry told Commonwealth Beacon last week. Still, the Legislature — as a public institution — has a flexibility that private employers and families balancing their checkbooks don't have, Jerold Duquette, a Central Connecticut State University political science professor who tracks Bay State politics, said. And that's the ability to pass supplemental budgets and access the state's multi-billion dollar Rainy Day Fund — even if top budget writers have said the latter option is currently off the table. So while planning a budget where a large chunk of funding may disappear seems irrational, 'what they are doing is rational,' Duquette said 'The reason we think it's irrational is because they're politicians,' Duquette said. 'Why would you make the assumption that you're going to lose an effort to keep the money? This is not kicking the can. It's the exactly rational thing to do.' Lawmakers have until midnight on June 30 to get a deal on a new budget. They haven't hit that deadline in years, though Rodriques repeatedly has told reporters that he's optimistic that they will this year. It requires the same kind of suspension of disbelief that Duquette's analysis demands. But if Beacon Hill is anything, it's stubbornly rational in its irrationality. So who knows? A 'historic battle': Mass pols protest Medicaid cuts in 'Big Beautiful Bill' | John L. Micek Mass. Rep. Trahan's 'Les Miz' moment on Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' | Bay State Briefing Mass. budget debate points to a subtle but seismic shift on Beacon Hill | John L. Micek Read the original article on MassLive.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
ICE storms nation's wealthiest island retreat to arrest dozens of illegal migrants…but governor is appalled
ICE agents stormed the islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard and arrested 40 illegal immigrants - but a blue state governor slammed the effort as 'disturbing.' Immigration agents successfully apprehended at least one MS-13 gang member and one child sex offender during the bust, according Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde. 'ICE and our federal partners made a strong stand for prioritizing public safety by arresting and removing illegal aliens from our New England neighborhoods,' she said. 'Operations like this highlight the strong alliances that ICE shares with our fellow law enforcement partners.' Even White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted 'Bye bye!' on X along with a waving hand emoji as a response to an image of migrants being shackled and transported via boat. But Massachusetts ' Democratic Governor Maura Healey demanded 'answers' and 'clarification' from ICE about the covert operation. Healey told the Boston Herald it was 'very disturbing, needless to say, to wake up to news about that activity on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.' Healey questioned whether ICE officials genuinely targeted criminals like they said, noting: 'It's one thing to go after and target those who have committed crimes, who are here unlawfully. 'It's concerning when we see people, moms and dads, being ripped away from families. Neighbors, coworkers taken away, literally it looks like, on the way to job sites in Nantucket and on the Vineyard.' 'Local police chiefs have zero information about what's happening in their communities. We at the state level have zero information about what's happening in communities. 'And that needs to change. We need to get answers. We need to get clarification from ICE.' Healey's comments sparked immediate and furious backlash from Trump administration DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. She told Fox News that local authorities were notified about the operation. 'Before the Governor criticizes our brave law enforcement, she should get her facts straight—apparently, she is the one with "zero information,"' McLaughlin said. 'What we find "disturbing" and "concerning" is politicians like Massachusetts Gov. Healey fighting to protect criminal illegal aliens. 'Our ICE officers will continue putting their lives and safety on the line to arrest murderers, kidnappers, and pedophiles that were let into our country by the Biden administration's open border policies.' Trump returned to the White House after campaigning with a pledge to conduct the largest mass deportation scheme in American history. The affluent and tight-knit pro-Democrat area of Martha's Vineyard was inundated with 50 migrants in 2022 after Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis sent two planeloads of immigrants to the island. In response, authorities activated the National Guard in response, declaring the situation a 'humanitarian crisis.' Then in April 2024, it emerged that some of those migrants who cooperated with the sheriff were able to apply for U-nonimmigrant status and three of them have since received 'bona fide determinations.' That meant that the trio of Venezuelan migrants were given permission to work legally in the country and be protected from deportation. The U-nonimmigrant status, known as U-visa, is set aside for victims of certain crimes who have suffered mental or physical abuse and are helpful to law enforcement or government officials in the investigation or prosecution of criminal activity, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Migrants granted a U-visa are eligible to work in the United States, then can apply for a Green Card after having a U-visa for three years. There is a 10,000 limit on the number of U-visas issued each year and there are thousands of applicants on a waiting list.
CBS News
3 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Keller: Healey cutting some red tape for businesses but people on both sides want more
The opinions expressed below are Jon Keller's, not those of WBZ, CBS News or Paramount Global. Gov. Maura Healey is cutting red tape for businesses in Massachusetts, saying it will keep the state competitive but people from across the political spectrum want her to do more. The time and expense of dealing with bureaucratic red tape is a nightmare for many businesses. Eliminates old business regulations And on Wednesday, Healey fed a batch of state regulations to a paper shredder, saying it will help keep the state competitive. "Who doesn't love the striped pole outside a barbershop?" she said. "State law required a barbershop to actually hang a frickin' pole right outside the thing." No longer. Just one of scores of archaic business regulations being discarded by the Healey administration. The message: "These changes are going to save businesses time, they're going to save businesses money, and you know who's gonna benefit? Customers," said the governor. The shredding drew praise from some business leaders. "Your two predecessors - one Democrat [Deval Patrick], one Republican [Charlie Baker] - also announced regulatory reform efforts at the beginning of their terms. Sixteen years later nothing had occurred," recounted Jon Hurst, head of the Massachusetts Retailers Association. Groups want Healey to do more But to Chris Anderson, CEO of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, Healey's shredding party is "a good news story, however it's really marginal at best." He says it's far more important that Healey ease unemployment insurance costs and the burden on taxpayers of rising state spending. "What the governor should be leading right now with the support of many of those who care a lot about Massachusetts is to rein in the rate of growth on state spending to a rate that is more equivalent to what taxpayers are seeing their paychecks do from year to year," said Anderson. By contrast, Viviana Abreu-Hernandez, head of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, wants Healey, who backed the so-called Millionaire's Tax, to support economic growth with a new tax on foreign corporations doing business here. "If we have seen progressive taxation to bring enough revenue to the state to make significant investments in transportation and education, why are we not promoting more progressive taxation at the corporate level?" she asked. As she did when she ran the first time, Healey wants to find the middle ground that made Baker so popular, supporting some tax cuts and cutting red tape while also backing other tax hikes and expanding the budget. She hasn't said yet if she supports that new corporate tax, but with all sorts of red lights flashing on the state's fiscal dashboard, that will likely be an election-year moment of truth.
Fox News
3 days ago
- General
- Fox News
Blue state governor sounds off about ‘disturbing' ICE operations on affluent liberal islands
Massachusetts Democratic Governor Maura Healey is sounding off about her frustrations with ICE's latest operations in her state, saying she found it "disturbing" to hear about the arrests of some 40 illegal immigrants in Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard. ICE, working with several other federal law enforcement agencies, conducted a series of immigration enforcement operations in Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard on Tuesday. An ICE statement said "around 40" individuals were arrested as a result of the operations, including an MS-13 gang member and at least one child sex offender. ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde said that "ICE and our federal partners made a strong stand for prioritizing public safety by arresting and removing illegal aliens from our New England neighborhoods" and that "operations like this highlight the strong alliances that ICE shares with our fellow law enforcement partners." Healey, however, took a very different tone about the operations. The governor said that "it was very disturbing, needless to say, to wake up to that news about that activity on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket," according to the Boston Herald. "Local police chiefs have zero information about what's happening in their communities. We at the state level have zero information about what's happening in communities. And that needs to change. We need to get answers. We need to get clarification from ICE," said Healey. The outlet also reported Healey saying the arrests raised "real questions" about whether federal immigration authorities are complying with due process. "It's one thing to go after and target those who have committed crimes, who are here unlawfully," said Healey. "It's concerning when we see people, moms and dads, being ripped away from families. Neighbors, coworkers taken away, literally it looks like, on the way to job sites in Nantucket and on the Vineyard." Trump DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, however, told Fox News Digital that "ICE did notify local authorities about the enforcement operations." "Before the Governor criticizes our brave law enforcement, she should get her facts straight—apparently, she is the one with 'zero information,'" continued McLaughlin. "What we find 'disturbing' and 'concerning' is politicians like Massachusetts Gov. Healey fighting to protect criminal illegal aliens," she continued, adding, "Our ICE officers will continue putting their lives and safety on the line to arrest murderers, kidnappers, and pedophiles that were let into our country by the Biden administration's open border policies." Martha's Vineyard, which is a heavily affluent and deeply blue area, made headlines in 2022 when residents promptly removed the migrants being sent to the island from southern states like Florida and Texas. After Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent two planes with 50 migrants to Martha's Vineyard in September 2022, the island activated the National Guard in response and released a statement calling the situation a "humanitarian crisis." The 50 migrants were ultimately loaded onto buses two days after arriving and transported off Martha's Vineyard to military housing on the Cape Cod mainland. On Wednesday, Jon Fetherston, a former Massachusetts migrant-shelter director, told Fox News Digital that "it's deeply troubling that Governor Healey finds the arrests of nearly 40 undocumented individuals on Cape Cod 'disturbing,' yet continues to refuse cooperation with federal agencies like ICE and ERO Boston—even when those agencies are targeting individuals with known criminal records." He continued, saying, "law enforcement was doing its job — removing people who pose a danger to public safety" and asserted that "the majority of the public— including right here in Massachusetts — supports the work of Tom Homan, ICE, and ERO because they understand that public safety must come first, regardless of political affiliation." "Even in one of the bluest states in the country, people expect their leaders to prioritize their safety over partisan agendas," said Fetherston. "The real concern here should be the safety of our communities, not political optics." Healey's office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Mass. Gov. Healey slams ICE over migrant arrests on Nantucket, Vineyard
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said Wednesday she was just as surprised as anyone else to learn that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers had arrested 40 people on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard in a series of traffic stops. 'It was very disturbing, needless to say, to wake up to that news about that activity on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket,' the Democratic governor said during an unrelated news conference at the State House. But, she added, that's part of a larger and more disturbing pattern by ICE and President Donald Trump's White House, as agents have arrested and detained scores of people, some of whom ended up being legal U.S. residents. 'This is part of the problem that we're seeing with ICE across the country. And certainly here in Massachusetts, people are being picked up. We have no information about their circumstances,' Healey said. 'There have been real questions raised about due process and whether or not ICE and immigration officials are ... complying with due process here and in other states. And we need answers.' Healey, a former two-term state attorney general, said the state is 'happy to cooperate with federal and local and state law enforcement when it comes to going out and chasing bad guys and putting them away.' But a state court ruling forbids local police from making an arrest based on someone's immigration status. Local laws, such as one in Boston, also limit law enforcement cooperation. And Healey, who has said Massachusetts is 'not a sanctuary state,' has also said the Massachusetts State Police cannot cooperate with ICE on civil immigration matters. 'What we're seeing, you know, are too many instances where real questions about due process are raised,' she said Wednesday. 'And more than anything, we have zero information. Local police chiefs have zero information about what's happening in their communities.' It's one thing for officials to 'go after and target those who have committed crimes, who are here unlawfully,' she said, adding that it's still 'concerning when we see people, moms and dads being ripped away from families, um, neighbors, you know, coworkers taken away. The 'fear and the uncertainty, the anxiety that is created in these communities, I think is totally unnecessary,' she concluded. 'I don't think that this was what we thought that ICE was supposed to be doing.' Two of the Republicans vying for the 2026 gubernatorial nomination have called on state and local police to be more active in their cooperation with federal immigration authorities. 'If I was governor, on day one, the state police would be cooperating with ICE,' former MBTA Chief Administrator Brian Shortsleeve said, according to WBUR. 'I believe that all state, local, municipal police should be cooperating with ICE to make this state safer.' Republican hopeful Mike Kennealy, who served as former Gov. Charlie Baker's housing czar, has been sharply critical of Healey's management of the state's migrant crisis. We should be working with federal officials — not against them — to get violent criminals off our streets,' he said in a statement, according to WBUR. Healey announced earlier this year that she intends to seek reelection to a second, four-year term in the Corner Office. Federal judge orders Harvard researcher to be released from ICE custody Confirmation hearings next week for WMass AG's regional chief nominated for judgeship No more 'fricking barber poles': Gov. Healey says as Mass. looks to shred regs SCOTUS rejects Mass. student's challenge to school's 'two genders' T-shirt ban Latest Donald Trump approval ratings: New poll finds changes Read the original article on MassLive.
