State House

State House in fact-finding mode on migrant shelter

January 25, 2023 by pkzadmin

Former Gov. Charlie Baker’s warnings that the state’s emergency assistance shelter system is overfilling with migrants and will not be able to guarantee spots for eligible families come March featured an “artificial deadline,” one top lawmaker said Monday.

Top Baker administration deputies formally warned lawmakers in late December that within 90 days the state’s 3,500 shelter units would hit capacity, due to an influx of migrant families into the state. Baker also filed legislation asking lawmakers to put $130 million toward building more than 1,300 emergency shelter units, offering provider rate increases, funding a central intake center for newly arrived families, and helping place students in local schools.

Though the legislation died at the turn of a new session earlier this month, new Gov. Maura Healey said she also plans to file legislation for expanded shelter housing.

Asked by reporters about Baker’s March deadline, House Speaker Ron Mariano said, “we hear artificial deadlines all the time.”

At the time the Baker administration made its 90-day warning, House Ways and Means Chairman Aaron Michlewitz said it seemed like an “arbitrary number.”

“The reason why we call the 90 days an arbitrary number is because if you went back 90 days previously, this wasn’t a crisis, you know, but now within a short period of time, this has become a crisis,” Michlewitz said Monday. “So who knows what the next 90 days are going to entail? I think we need to get a little more, our hands wrapped around the actual facts of this before we start moving stuff forward.”

Michlewitz and Mariano said they had unanswered questions about the administration’s capacity limit claims.

“There’s still a lot of unknowns in this conversation,” Michlewitz said. “The process of how people end up in certain communities, how they end up in those certain school districts, I think we need to continue to gather more information on that to be able to make sure whenever we did allocate this funding that it was done at an appropriate number, and not just something that we have to keep coming back to.”

Mariano said when his office received Baker’s supplemental budget bill in November, that they had questions for the administration.

“The first thing we did when we got those numbers, is how many people does this involve and how many lives is this going to entail? We never got hard numbers,” the speaker said.

Michlewitz said they “have to go forward with what information we can gather.” He also said he had been in conversation with Senate Ways and Means Chairman Michael Rodrigues about the issue.

“Nothing concrete though,” he added.

Healey told reporters on Friday that she plans to file a bill to address the shelter capacity shortage, as well as supplemental funding for schools accepting migrant students.

“We recognize that folks are coming into communities, and communities … will need support and need the resources to make sure that they are supported in this time. Whether it’s with housing needs or the effect on our school districts,” she said on Friday.

The Massachusetts Office of Refugees and Immigrants registered about 1,000 individuals in 2021 who entered the state as refugees, migrants and asylum seekers — compared to over 2,000 who arrived just in the Boston area between May and August 2022, the state’s Congressional delegation said in October in a plea to the federal government for more resources to help local organizations deal with growing influx of people.House In Fact-Finding Mode On Migrant Shelter

Sunday Notebook: Heavy on the pomp, light on the substance

January 22, 2023 by pkzadmin

The heavy freight train that is the Massachusetts Legislature continued its slow, plodding departure this week, with leaders spending far more time celebrating the inaugurations of constitutional officers than getting down to the business they attached urgency to in their own inauguration speeches two weeks ago.

The Senate was in session for about six and a half minutes across two days this week — just enough time to place a few mundane reports on file, memorialize a late staffer, congratulate a new Eagle Scout, and break for the weekend. The House met for almost twice as long, a whopping 12 minutes of activity between both Tuesday and Thursday.

The House also spent more than eight hours in recess Tuesday with something up its sleeve: though the speaker’s office said the hold-up was simply related to an order about swearing in reps who had missed the oath on Jan. 4, there must have been some indication that a 462-page report from special committee examining two close elections was ready to pop. That report cleared the way for state Rep. Margaret Scarsdale of Pepperell, who won a contested race by seven votes, to be sworn in first-thing Wednesday morning.

Around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night, the House stirred to life with just a few reps present, announced that the report had been filed, whisked it through another committee, suspended its rules, and voted to adopt its findings. By 7:33 p.m., the work was done and reps in the chamber had secured themselves spots on the silly “committee” formed to stand in the background and grin while the new members took the oath in the governor’s office.

Appointments to that kind of committee — ones that fulfill solemn duties like “escorting” the governor down the hall, or walking across the building to tell the other branch who was elected speaker or Senate president, or pretending to inspect the returns of the November election — far outnumber appointments to actual legislative committees so far this session. Too bad those back-slapping phony committee posts don’t come with extra pay stipends.

Reps. feeling left out without a spot on one of the “fauxmmitties” might be in luck; there is likely to be at least one more chance to walk behind a guy in a top hat and act important whenever the House’s special election results committee decides how to handle the other contested recount. In that one, Democrat Kristin Kassner of Hamilton eked out a one-vote win over incumbent Republican state Rep. Lenny Mirra of Georgetown. Mirra is serving in a hold-over capacity until the three-person committee finishes its work.

But while House and Senate leadership was tied up with more pomp and circumstance this week, representatives and senators were busy writing and submitting legislation ahead of Friday’s bill-filing deadline.

Though the 2nd Essex District doesn’t have a permanent representative at the moment, it hasn’t been missing out on bill-filing season. Mirra had already submitted 15 bills (plus one by-request petition) as of early Friday afternoon.

Gov. Maura Healey even got in on the bill-filing action, submitting her first two pieces of legislation as governor. One is a $987 million “immediate needs” bond bill for housing and economic development programs and the other would authorize the state to borrow an additional $400 million to fund local road and bridge projects for the next two years.

Of course, even after coming off of five months of light-duty informal sessions, legislators still have not set up committees to review those proposals so those “immediate needs” might not be met quite so immediately.

But as of this week, there are two new constitutional officers and two more who officially started new four-year terms.

Constitutional officers take office

Secretary of State William Galvin privately took the oath for a record eighth term in that office Wednesday, putting him ahead of former Secretary Frederic Cook’s 28 years in the post.

“And some thought Jayson Tatum had the big record this week,” Healey said Wednesday of Galvin’s historic tenure, referring to the 51-point game the Celtic posted the night before to pass Larry Bird’s franchise record for 50+ point games.

Yes, the basketball theme was back for Inauguration Week Pt. 2.

In her inaugural address at Methuen High School on Wednesday night, Auditor Diana DiZoglio said being at her high school brought back a lot of memories for her, especially since it is the place where she “helped to make basketball history.”

“Yeah, that’s right, governor. I’m bringing some basketball street cred to the table too in state government,” she said. “You see, in 1999, our girls basketball team was so phenomenal … that the team went on to win the state championship that year.”

The auditor expertly held for applause before adding, “And friends, that never would have happened had I not gotten cut from the team that year during tryouts!”

DiZoglio also brings a different perspective to the table in state government and something of a rebellious streak to Beacon Hill. The former state rep and senator has never been one to sugarcoat things and seldom shied away from raising subjects that leadership probably preferred to remain unspoken, whether it was the House’s use of non-disclosure agreements or the Senate’s slow-walking of pandemic assistance to small businesses.

“I know that this is going to come as quite a shock to everyone here, but I was pretty curious, active and outspoken, and started questioning authority at a very young age. And, friends, let me tell you, it was just as appreciated by folks in positions of authority back then as it is now,” she said Wednesday night. “I remember being a young child and debating my aunt on the issue, the important issue, of being forced to ride in a car seat beyond the state’s required age at that time.”

After demanding “liberation from the tyranny and for equal access to the adult seats like everyone else my age” and being told that age was only part of what determined when a child could ride in the regular seats, DiZoglio said she felt “discouraged and rejected” that she didn’t have access to all the information she needed to understand her situation.

“Yes, even back then I was passionate and had a desire to learn more to understand why I was impacted and others weren’t so that I could work for meaningful change,” DiZoglio said.

Andrea Campbell makes history

Attorney General Andrea Campbell also added a new perspective to Beacon Hill this week as the first Black woman elected to be the state’s top law enforcement official. And like DiZoglio, she pledged to hold the powerful to account.

“We can take on corruption, we can hold those who misuse positions of power, or frankly, your money,” she said at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in her first speech as attorney general.

The second round of inauguration festivities also shed light on the relationship between Healey and third-term Treasurer Deborah Goldberg. Healey said she thinks of Goldberg as a mentor and said the Brookline Democrat took her under her wing in 2013 when both were running for office and helped to make her more comfortable on the campaign trail.

“Time after time I recall Treasurer Goldberg, either by text or phone call, reaching out to me when she knew I was going through a hard time or challenging situation, inviting me out to dinner — we’ve had many dinners together where we just come together and talk,” Healey said. “I’m so grateful for that friendship.”

The governor added, “Deb is also, as some of you may know, great to have at a party. She loves to sing, she loves — loves — to dance, and the only person who outdid me with her ensemble and her kicks, her sneakers, last week when I had my little party was Deb, of course, because she loves her fashion.”

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “When they tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds,” Auditor Diana DiZoglio said in her inaugural remarks after recounting her personal story of harassment during her time as a legislative aide and efforts to keep her quiet, contrasting it with the path she has taken since to become one of six constitutional officers elected statewide.

SONG OF THE WEEK: The powers that be have ordered all freak flags to fly at half-mast in memory of The Croz. Haircuts scheduled for this weekend should be canceled.

As energy bills soar through the roof, Massachusetts legislators push state to reverse rate hikes

January 18, 2023 by pkzadmin

As “outrageous” energy bills crush residents’ wallets this winter, State House legislators are urging the Department of Public Utilities to “take immediate action” about the skyrocketing utility costs and reverse the rate hikes.

Some Bay Staters’ electric bills have spiked by several hundred dollars since the winter started. State officials had warned about this significant jump months ago, predicting that the cost of heating would surge by a whopping 54.6% for electric customers and 28.6% for natural gas.

Now that the winter energy bills have landed on residents’ kitchen tables, Massachusetts lawmakers are again pleading with the Department of Public Utilities to do something about it. In a letter to DPU Chair Matthew Nelson about the energy rate increases, the legislators noted that fuel prices have dropped since DPU approved the rate increases.

“We are requesting that the DPU take immediate action to reassess the recently granted rate increases,” the State House lawmakers recently wrote to Nelson, later adding, “It is the DPU’s duty to protect our citizens from unfair and deeply damaging prices.

“Several winter months remain, and it is untenable for our residents and businesses to continue to pay these outrageous and unfair prices,” the legislators wrote.

Utility providers have largely blamed global factors such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, supply chain disruptions, and inflation for the increased energy costs.

A DPU spokesperson said the state agency is reviewing the legislators’ letter and will follow up with the representatives.

“While natural gas supply rates can change over the course of the winter period because the cost of gas is established by market prices, electricity supply rates are established by contract based on a competitive solicitation, and these prices remain fixed over the term of the contract,” the DPU spokesperson said in a statement.

Those contracts are in place for six months.

In preparation for the winter season, DPU met with utility companies and told them to promote and allow residential customers to enroll in budget billing programs, guide customers who have difficulty paying their bills toward appropriate assistance programs, along with other steps.

Since September, some 60,000 National Grid customers have enrolled in its discount program, allowing eligible customers to save 25% to 32% on their utility bills. An additional 12,000 customers have signed up for bill management programs.

“We’re working with our customers to help them reduce their energy use and save money, sign up for payment plans and various billing options and discount rates, and secure all available energy assistance,” a National Grid spokesperson said.

Eversource also has assistance programs for customers.

“We know how challenging increased energy costs are for our customers who are already frustrated with rising prices for other basic, daily needs,” an Eversource spokesperson said. “While we have no control over the cost of energy, we’re here to work with our customers one-on-one on ways to reduce their energy usage and connect them with assistance programs, flexible payment plans or other resources to help them manage their monthly bill.”

Maura Healey holds first meeting with Beacon Hill leadership

January 11, 2023 by pkzadmin

After meeting for the first time as the triumvirate that controls the levers of Beacon Hill power, the so-called Big Three on Monday downplayed questions about policy disagreements among them and said they are looking forward to working through any differences they might have.

In addition to their party affiliation, Gov. Maura Healey, Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ronald Mariano share many of the same broad priorities — but they predictably don’t completely see eye-to-eye-to-eye on the fine details that could turn those priorities into policies.

One glaring example was highlighted Sunday when WBZ-TV aired an interview that Spilka did with Jon Keller. The Senate president, who called on Wednesday for free community college (tuition and fees) for all, told Keller she did not know why Healey’s proposal is to make community college free for students over 25 without a college degree.

“I look forward to working with her on this issue to iron it out,” Spilka said. “So we both have the same values, same priorities, in this area, which is very exciting and makes it more likely that it’s doable. I look forward to hearing why it’s over 25 on her plan.”

Asked about the differing community college proposals after Monday afternoon’s roughly 90-minute meeting, Healey said she and legislative leaders “talked about a number of things: our general approach, we talked about some of the priorities that we share in terms of the work for people in this state, residents, and businesses, and the health and well-being of the state.”

“We did touch on issues of education and, you know, I expect that there’s an area — we’ve all articulated support for education and I know we’ve talked about community colleges, and we’ll we’ll find a way to work through that. And that’s all good,” she said.

To get any kind of free community college policy onto Healey’s desk for her to sign it into law will require both the House and Senate to be on board, but Mariano was non-committal Monday and borrowed one of former Gov. Charlie Baker’s favorite lines when asked where he stands on the issue.

“Well they’re two separate proposals, and so now the devil is in the details as we begin the discussion,” the Quincy Democrat said. “You know, there’s a cost involved, we have to ascertain what the costs are. There’s a whole lot of questions that haven’t been answered about it.”

At another point, when asked where he is on the free community college idea, Mariano said, “I haven’t thought about it. I just found out from the governor and the Senate president.”

Activists have been publicly clamoring for years about making college free, or at least more accessible to people, and the community college plans from Spilka and Healey are beginning to show what may be possible.

Spilka said on WBZ this weekend that she estimates her plan would cost about $50 million, but Mariano said any bills on the idea would go to the Education Committee.

“The House will have a hearing, we’ll try and assemble some information about it and go from there,” he said.

But first, the House and Senate will need to organize themselves into committees to begin holding hearings and processing legislation. Asked Monday what his timeline is for making committee and leadership assignments in the House, Mariano said, “quick.”

There’s also the issue of tax reform and relief.

Spilka and Mariano last summer agreed to a $1 billion package of tax code changes and immediate relief, but later tabled those plans after a state law triggered $3 billion in tax relief. Healey and Spilka each said last week that they are interested in resurrecting at least parts of that plan in the new session, but Mariano suggested last week that he had not “thought about any of that stuff” and said the House would have to “look at where we are economically” before making any commitments.

On Monday, the speaker said the consensus revenue hearing this month would influence his feelings on tax relief and reform.

Healey said Monday that she would be “back to you more about that” and said the idea of permanent tax relief is “certainly something that we’ve talked about.” But she also deferred to the consensus revenue hearing.

Mariano did tell reporters one thing that is likely to be on the House’s radar this session: changes to the 1980s voter law known as Chapter 62F that required the state to send nearly $3 billion back to taxpayers after collections exceeded a cap.

“I’m sure it’s going to be something that we discuss. When I have a leadership team and we have an opportunity to talk about that agenda for this session, obviously 62F is going to be something that we talk about,” Mariano said.

The governor deflected when asked if she had any plans to make or go along with changes to 62F, which upended plans at the end of formal sessions last year and led to record tax refunds.

“I think today, again, it’s day four. I am grateful to everybody who’s welcomed us into the building — who’s literally, quite literally, had to show us around — because there’s a lot new to figure out here,” Healey said. “And so, you know that’s where we are. In addition to sitting down with some of our teams, I think the work on the budget is incredibly important, obviously, and we’re looking to get after that. As well as beginning to flesh out some of the things that we’ve talked about over the course of this campaign and just really grateful to be in this position.”

Sunday Notebook: The other side of the bridge

January 8, 2023 by pkzadmin

We’ve had Climate Week and Infrastructure Week. Let’s belatedly call this one “Bridge Week.”

When Beacon Hill stirred back into action from a quiet holiday weekend, it was still in the realm of the Baker administration. Now, after a couple of days of symbolic artifact exchanges and oaths of office and a basketball-themed gala funded by groups with state government interests, we’re officially in Healey territory.

The transition did not end when Gov. Charlie Baker exited the building in the ceremonial “lone walk” back into civilian life — Baker continued to work signing bills from his Swampscott home afterward — nor when Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll stood before a packed House chamber to deliver their first remarks as the new executive team.

In her time as attorney general and on notably on the campaign trail as well, Healey often praised Baker and his work over the past eight years. Healey returned to that well in her inaugural speech, saying he “governed with integrity and care,” hinting that she intends to take a roughly similar approach to the top job despite their partisan differences on paper.

Indeed, state government will retain a Baker strain for the foreseeable future with many Baker holdovers keeping offices running at least in the early days of the Healey administration, and perhaps longer.

Healey kicked off her first full day in the corner office Friday by convening her first Cabinet meeting, bringing together a still-incomplete group of top deputies who will oversee the vast network of executive agencies. That list includes Baker appointee Terrence Reidy, who will remain in the position of public safety and security secretary for Healey, and Jennifer Maddox, Baker’s housing undersecretary who will serve as acting housing and economic development secretary until Healey pick Yvonne Hao takes the oath of office as a standalone economic development secretary. Healey plans to file legislation to create a separate housing secretary position, and she has not yet said who she will pick for that important new role.

Even in departments where Healey has named her own secretary, Baker appointees remain in charge of day-to-day tasks. Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver, who stepped into that role during Baker’s first term in 2017, appeared live on WBZ Friday morning to talk about road conditions amid ongoing winter weather, and Baker-era Department of Transportation Communications Director Jacque Goddard tweeted a plug for the segment.

On Baker’s final full day in office Wednesday, his administration named Audrey Morse Gasteier as acting executive director of the Massachusetts Health Connector, putting in place another official who will stick around at least partly into the Healey administration.

It’s an open question how long some Baker veterans will stay in their roles under Healey. They might be happy to hand the reins over once the new administration is ready, or see valuable opportunities outside the halls of state government as employers clamor for talent. Or they might simply enjoy the work enough to stay on board if Healey will have them.

The Healey policy agenda became clearer this week, too.

An ongoing theme during the campaign was a lack of specificity from Healey, who published lengthy plans online but also drew criticism for regularly stopping short in her public comments of outlining exactly how she would tackle a given issue or problem. Her inaugural speech was far more granular and detailed, and she even circled a few specific dates on the calendar.

That gives the press and the public a few early milestones to watch. The first annual state budget Healey needs to file by March 1 will “include funding to hire 1,000 additional workers focused on the operation of the MBTA.” By March 6 (“in the next 60 days”), Healey expects to appoint a new MBTA safety chief; by April 15 (“in my first 100 days”), she plans to file legislation to create a standalone secretary of housing separate from the combined housing and economic development secretary under Baker; and by the time Healey hits the one-year mark on Jan. 5, 2024, she said those 1,000 T workers would be on board and her team will have finished its work to identify unused state land and facilities that can be converted to rental housing.

Problems are already piling up for the Democrat to address, beyond the near-omnipresent issues she’s targeted like high costs of living, child care access and clean energy.

The National Transportation Safety Board appears to have broken news about a two-year delay to an MBTA safety project that is already overdue. In a report published Thursday about a July 2021 Green Line crash, the federal agency said anti-collision technology it first recommended more than a decade ago is slated to come online by June 2025 — roughly two years after the most recent target the T mentioned publicly.

MBTA officials refused to explain the June 2025 timeline. On Friday, a day after the NTSB revealed the development, T spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said only that agency staff would provide an update about the anti-collision technology at a board meeting “this month.”

Meanwhile, adding to our Bridge Week theme, the federal government dealt a major blow to the Cape Cod region by rejecting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ latest application for nearly $2 billion in grant funds for replacement of the Bourne and Sagamore bridges connecting mainland Massachusetts to the Cape.

It was the second time in the past four months that an effort to secure federal dollars for the project stumbled, and while there will be other grant rounds and options available, questions about how to pay for a project whose price tag has soared to almost $4 billion remain unanswered.

Massachusetts has an all-Democrat delegation in both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate who ostensibly have good relationships with President Joe Biden, a fellow Democrat, but so far that has not delivered much-needed money for the effort to replace the decades-old spans that shuttle millions of visitors every year.

Based on the way the U.S. House has been functioning this week — a dozen rounds of voting for speaker across four days, and Republican Kevin McCarthy still unable to wrangle enough support to win the gavel — serious questions are forming about how much Congress can accomplish during at least the first two years of Healey’s tenure. That could make a big difference for every state.

STORY OF THE WEEK: New lawmakers and a new executive team took their places atop Beacon Hill, but the celebrations won’t last long as looming issues and tough questions are already piling up.

SPEECHES OF THE WEEK: On a hill where decision-making is centralized — claims to the contrary notwithstanding — a person can learn a lot about the year ahead by listening to the inaugural speeches from incoming Gov. Healey and Lt. Gov. Driscoll, returning House Speaker Ronald Mariano, and reelected Senate President Karen Spilka.

SONG OF THE WEEK: For those who missed the inaugural bash at TD Garden, where Grammy-winner Brandi Carlile helped write the opening chapter of the Healey-Driscoll story.

Climate change ‘first order of business’ for Maura Healey

January 6, 2023 by pkzadmin

Gov. Maura Healey got to work quickly on her first full day in office, signing an executive order that established an Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience overseen by a newly appointed climate chief, Melissa Hoffer.

Healey announced her “first order of business” Friday afternoon during her first official press conference, which was held immediately after she met with her Cabinet secretaries at the State House, for the first time as governor.

“It was important to the lieutenant governor and me that we take this action immediately because we have no time to delay,” Healey said, as Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and members of her Cabinet stood behind her.

“The climate crisis threatens every aspect of Massachusetts, like our environment, economy, businesses, health, transportation, housing, infrastructure. It is our greatest challenge, but it is also our greatest opportunity. Massachusetts can and will be a global leader in the fight against climate change.”

Healey said the new climate office would be charged with “harnessing all of the resources and authority” available to her and the executive department to advance the state’s climate goals.

Hoffer is the “first-ever” climate chief in Massachusetts, which is the first state in the nation to establish such a position at the cabinet level.

Per the executive order, Hoffer is tasked with beginning a comprehensive review of current staffing, policy-making and resources of all cabinet secretaries “to support a whole of government approach to addressing climate change.” She must present her initial findings to Healey and Driscoll within 180 days.

Each cabinet secretary is required, per the order, to appoint a climate officer, who will be “responsible for implementing climate-related efforts” within their relevant executive department, in consultation with Hoffer.

Hoffer previously worked as acting general counsel at the EPA during the early days of the Biden administration, and was chief of Healey’s Environmental Protection Division and Energy and Environmental Bureau while the governor was attorney general.

Healey also announced she had reappointed former Gov. Charlie Baker’s October 2021 pick for secretary of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, Terrence Reidy, saying that he has a “proven track record of keeping our communities safe.”

Healey appointed Mike Doheny, who most recently worked as general counsel and undersecretary of labor, as acting labor and workforce secretary; and Jennifer Maddox, undersecretary at the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, as acting housing and economic development secretary.

Healey tapped Mary Beckman, who previously worked as chief of the state Attorney General’s Health Care and Fair Competition Bureau, for acting health and human services secretary.

The search for labor and workforce and health and human services secretaries is active and ongoing, Healey’s office said. Press secretary Karissa Hand said Maddox will serve until permanent appointee Yvonne Hao is sworn in.

Hao, who has 25 years of business executive experience, will be Healey’s housing and economic development secretary until the two executive offices are split, Hand said.

“Once the housing secretary legislation is finalized, her position will become secretary of economic development,” Hand said of Hao. “We will appoint a secretary of housing.”

Healey also needs to appoint a veterans’ services secretary by March. When asked, Healey said her administration is “working as diligently and expeditiously as possible” to fill all of the vacant cabinet secretary positions.

Aside from Hao and two others, Healey’s new Cabinet secretaries were sworn in prior to their first Cabinet meeting on Friday morning.

In attendance were Hoffer, Maddox, Doheny, Reidy, Beckman, Secretary of Administration and Finance Matt Gorzkowicz, Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, Secretary of Transportation Gina Fiandaca, Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rebecca Tepper, and Secretary of Technology Services and Security Jason Snyder.

“While Gina Fiandaca and Jason Snyder attended today’s cabinet meeting, they will not be sworn in until later in the month so that they can transition out of their current roles,” Hand said. “Secretary Tesler will continue in his role during this interim period and Matthew Moran, who is currently an assistant secretary at EOTSS, will be acting technology services and security secretary.”

Healey and Driscoll were scarce on details about what was discussed at the cabinet meeting, with Driscoll only offering that it was “incredibly productive,” and gave those in attendance “a chance to get to know each other.”

State House

Constitutional officers take office

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