Maura Healey in 2022 MA Governor's race
On Abortion:
I'm always going to stand up for abortion access
Healey led a coalition of 24 attorneys general to file an amicus brief to challenge the 15-week abortion ban that sprung up in Mississippi. Healey also took to Twitter after the Mississippi abortion case was heard in court, calling the hearing
a "dangerous day at SCOTUS.""Roe is the law of the land and must remain that way," Healey wrote. "No matter what the Court rules, I'm always going to stand up for abortion access."
Source: Boston Globe on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Dec 2, 2021
On Abortion:
Ensure access to abortion, contraception, STI testing
- Ensuring every Massachusetts resident can access quality affordable health care, including abortion care, contraception, STI testing and treatment, and gender-affirming care.
- Supporting comprehensive, LGBTQ-inclusive, consent-focused, and
medically accurate sex education.
- Fulfilling the recommendations of the Massachusetts Racial Inequities in Maternal Health Commission and advancing legislation to address racial disparities in maternal health outcomes.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Budget & Economy:
Encourage entrepreneurism with Office of Economic Assistance
- Promote and expand Early College efforts, providing more young people with post-secondary success.
- Encourage entrepreneurism, especially for women and people of color by creating an Office of Economic Assistance to advise and assist in
developing business plans, facilitate regulatory compliance, and help people access needed capital and borrowing.
- Partner with labor and industry to create pathways to meaningful opportunities and steady careers in important sectors.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Civil Rights:
We put an equity lens on everything that we do
One thing I'm most proud of as attorney general is we put an equity lens on everything that we do.
Everything that runs through the office--whether it's consumer work, financial services or the environment, health care--everything is looked at through an equity lens.
Source: WBUR (NPR Radio) on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Feb 3, 2022
On Civil Rights:
Was lead counsel challenging Defense of Marriage Act
Healey served as the lead counsel in Massachusetts v. U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. In that case, the commonwealth challenged the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which limited marriage to one man and one woman and
was signed into law in 1996. Healey argued that by denying benefits like Social Security to same-sex couples who'd been legally marrying in Massachusetts since 2004, the federal government was encroaching on state authority.
Source: WGBH (NPR Radio) on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Feb 3, 2022
On Civil Rights:
The first openly gay state attorney general in U.S. history
Back in 2014, when she first ran, her primary opponent, Warren Tolman, was a former state legislator and one-time gubernatorial candidate who enjoyed strong support from the Democratic establishment. Healey crushed Tolman, 62% to
38%, buoyed by aggressive retail campaigning [and] enthusiastic support from LGBTQ voters. In the general election, Healey routed Republican John Miller by the exact same margin, becoming the first openly gay state attorney general in U.S. history.
Source: WGBH (NPR Radio) on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Feb 3, 2022
On Civil Rights:
Include health equity as part of Health Care Cost Trends
Maura is focused on addressing the affordability crisis and promoting health equity, while maintaining the highest quality of care. Last year, her office released a robust report on racial inequity in health
with recommendations in key areas to move toward racial justice in health care. As Governor, Maura will build on that vision to ensure we have a system that serves every community. This includes:-
Requiring health care providers and insurance carriers to improve the collection and reporting of patient race, ethnicity, and other demographic characteristics.
- Including health equity as part of the state's Annual Health Care
Cost Trends Hearing to measure the state's progress towards identified equity benchmarks.
- Ensuring that anti-racist, cultural humility, and implicit bias training is required of all licensed providers.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Civil Rights:
End the ban on LGBTQ+ blood donations
- Banning the LGBTQ+ panic defense, which is a legal strategy that allows a defendant to claim a victim's sexual orientation or gender identity/expression is to blame for their crime.
- Streamlining the process of co-parent adoption.
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Supporting comprehensive, LGBTQ-inclusive, consent-focused, and medically accurate sex education.
- Ending the ban on LGBTQ+ blood donations.
- Advocating for passage of the Equality Act at the federal level.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Corporations:
Allow communities to enact local rent stabilization policies
- Expanding and preserving housing supply through increasing state resources, addressing local zoning barriers, and protecting 40B.
- Increasing first-time homeownership and helping close the racial wealth gap through expansion of down payment
assistance and housing counseling.
- Combating homelessness through expansion of permanent, supportive housing.
- Empowering communities to enact local rent stabilization policies.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Crime:
Increase penalties for hate crimes, revamp current law
"A white supremacist who targets and attacks a Black person because of their race is treated the same as a person who punches somebody in a bar fight. That's not right," Healey said. "And if the penalties are the same for a simple battery and a hate
crime battery, which they are under current law, here's what happens: as a prosecutor, you charge the battery. You don't charge the hate crime, because you have to prove the additional element of intent, and that's hard to do."
Source: WBUR and SHNS on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Nov 23, 2021
On Crime:
Supported 2020 reform bill repealing mandatory minimums
She's supported criminal justice reforms--the 2020 police reform bill in Massachusetts, repealing mandatory minimums, bail reform, adopting uniform policies on eyewitness identification, increasing the property crime thresholds
amounts and thereby downgrading many of these offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, releasing terminally ill incarcerated individuals, ending mandatory drivers license revocations for non-driving offenses.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Drugs:
Regular pot users likely to try more dangerous drugs
Leading elected officials such as Gov. Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, and Attorney General Maura Healey insist the scourge of addiction starts with the first puff. "Decades of research have now debunked the myth that marijuana is harmless,"
the trio wrote in an OpEd in the Boston Globe. "The science also shows that regular marijuana users--especially those who start at a young age--are more likely to try more dangerous drugs."
Source: CommonWealth Magazine on 2022 Massachusetts Governor race
May 16, 2016
On Education:
Pandemic requires additional support for public schools
The right to a public education is constitutionally protected in Massachusetts, and Healey said in order to honor that right, the current system needs additional money from the federal government--with protections for public schools over private
schools. "I don't know why we don't recognize that fundamentally as a society, not only it's the right thing to do, it's just bedrock to building the kind of community, economy and state that we aspire to by supporting education."
Source: WGBH (NPR Radio) on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Jun 23, 2022
On Education:
Opposed ballot measure expanding number of charter schools
Maura is a longtime advocate for equitable funding for our public schools and improved behavioral health services for our students. She supported the Student Opportunity Act, which provides more equitable funding for our school districts.
She opposed the 2016 ballot measure that would have drained millions from our public schools by expanding the number of charter schools in the state.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Energy & Oil:
Will harness all the levers in combating the climate crisis
We have never seen so much coming into the state in terms of funding as we do right now. I think there is an incredible opportunity to deploy that and think about it, particularly when it comes to climate--and I have said that
I will be the most aggressive and insightful and innovative governor harnessing all the levers when it comes to combating the climate crisis right now. I've also talked about the economic imperative and opportunity that that provides--not just for jobs.
Source: WBUR (NPR Radio) on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Feb 3, 2022
On Energy & Oil:
Create a cabinet-level Climate Chief & electrify everything
Maura will create a cabinet-level Climate Chief who will be responsible for driving climate policy across every Massachusetts agency & ensuring that climate change is considered in all relevant decision-making. The state will lead by example by achieving
net-zero emissions by 2030 across state operations and rapidly transitioning the state fleet to electric vehicles.Maura will reinvigorate the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (CEC) to spur clean tech job growth. With its strong relationships in the
private sector and with our world-class academic institutions, the CEC has helped boost the clean energy sector in Massachusetts, which has grown 68% since 2010, with over 100,000 people employed as of 2021.
In the next two decades, we need to
electrify everything--including our buildings and transportation system. We can do this. Our state is home to industrious & innovative workers who can lead this swift transition. Doing so will create jobs, improve public health, & strengthen our economy.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Environment:
Expects nuclear power plan to obey rules on reactor water
Healey's office issued a statement saying that Pilgrim's permits prohibit the discharge of spent fuel pool water and wastewater into Cape Cod Bay, and the attorney general expected [Pilgrim's owner] Holtec to "abide by those rules." The office cited
the water discharge permit for the plant, issued by the Dept. of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency as the basis for its conclusion that release of contaminated water into the bay during decommissioning was not allowed.
Source: Provincetown Independent on 2022 Massachusetts Governor race
Feb 9, 2022
On Families & Children:
Common Start: free child care for lowest-income families
As Governor, she will continue to advocate for federal funding for early education and care, as well as explore state solutions to the child care crisis. Maura supports the Common Start proposal, which would make child care free for the lowest-income
families, limit child care costs for most families to no more than 7 percent of their income, and significantly increase pay for early educators to address the workforce crisis in the early education field.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Government Reform:
Pass VOTES Act; same day voter registration
- Protecting the integrity of our democracy and expanding access to it have been top priorities for Maura. As Governor, she will focus on:
- Passing the VOTES Act in Massachusetts, including same day voter registration and election day voting,
and making voting more accessible to people who are incarcerated.
- At the federal level, passing the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Gun Control:
Hold gun dealers & manufacturers accountable for marketing
Healey and 14 other attorney generals have filed a brief stating that federal law does not shield gun manufacturers. "It is unacceptable for gun manufacturers and distributors to knowingly market their products in a way that facilitates the illegal
trafficking of weapons into the hands of dangerous individuals," said Healey. "We urge the court to recognize that gun dealers, manufacturers, and distributors may be held accountable under state laws for how they market and sell their products."
Source: MassLive.com on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Feb 1, 2022
On Health Care:
ACA remains the law of the land; peoples' lives depend on it
In a statement, Healey said the coalition will defend the ACA, including the law's provision that protects people with pre-existing conditions. "The ACA remains the law of the land and it needs to stay that way--we cannot let this Administration get
away with sabotaging our health care," Healey said. "I am joining my colleagues in defending the ACA in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and protecting access to health care for millions of families across the country. People's lives depend on it."
Source: MassLive.com on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Nov 10, 2020
On Health Care:
Treat mental health care as seriously as other health care
As Governor, Maura will ensure we have a [healthcare] system that serves every community. This includes:- Treating mental and behavioral health care as seriously as all other forms of health care.
Maura will invest in workforce development and support, create enforceable standards for parity in coverage, and build on successful models for providing behavioral health access in the community.
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Lowering the cost of prescription drugs by increasing transparency in the pharmaceutical industry and exploring ways to ensure that prices correlate with the value new drugs add to available treatment regimens.
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Focusing on ways to lower overall health care costs for families, including rising premiums and out-of-pocket costs, and ways to address unwarranted increases in provider prices.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Immigration:
Fought Muslim travel ban & family separation at border
Healey went to court to fight--among other issues--the travel ban targeting primarily Muslim countries, family separation at the United States--Mexico border, a push to let some employers deny health insurance coverage for contraception, multiple
attempts to weaken protections involving student loans, multiple attempts to weaken regulation of environmentally damaging emissions by power plants and motor vehicles, and the attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census.
Source: WGBH (NPR Radio) on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Feb 3, 2022
On Immigration:
End state involvement in federal immigration matters
- Ensuring that eligible undocumented residents can receive a driver's license, regardless of immigration status.
- Ending state and local law enforcement's involvement in federal immigration matters.
- Expanding the state's capacity to meet the
language access needs of our communities.
- Providing health care coverage for children regardless of their or their parents' immigration status.
- At the federal level, providing a meaningful pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Principles & Values:
A proud progressive but not interested in labels
Healey told WBUR she is a proud progressive, but added the race is not about labels. "I understand that there are those who want to ascribe labels to me," she said. "Frankly, I don't know that voters or ordinary people care much about labels. They care
about who you are and what you're going to do. For me, I'm not trying to do anything other than speak to what I see as the real issues and the real concerns that voters have, and they are looking to our next governor to do something about."
Source: WBUR (NPR Radio) on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Feb 3, 2022
On Principles & Values:
Briefly played pro basketball, went on to law school
I ended up--after a brief stint playing pro basketball overseas after college--going to law school, because I wanted to fight to make life better for people, to pursue justice and fairness and help out those who are vulnerable. That's what led me to
law school. It's what led me to the Civil Rights Division in the attorney general's office. It's what led me to run as an unlikely and an unknown candidate ... seven years ago. And it's the way I've tried to lead this office as the people's lawyer.
Source: WBUR (NPR Radio) on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Feb 3, 2022
On Technology:
Prioritize electric vehicle charging infrastructure
- Increasing investments in public transportation, including regional transit authorities, with the help of federal funding.
- Shifting rail service patterns to serve throughout the day instead of a rush-hour focus. Technology and the pandemic
have changed commuting patterns, and we should adjust accordingly.
- Prioritizing public spending on electric vehicle charging infrastructure to projects that benefit low- and moderate-income households and overburdened communities.
Source: 2022 Massachusetts Governor campaign website MauraHealey.com
Jun 7, 2022
On Tax Reform:
Defends tax cut as imperative; cuts $375M from budget
A day after trimming $375 million from the state budget, Healey said she has no regrets about signing a billion-dollar tax cut package into law. "Not at all," Healey said. "I mean, the tax cut was absolutely, in my view, imperative. It was imperative to
make this state more affordable for people." Healey informed state lawmakers of the spending cuts, describing them as a necessary move with tax collections for this fiscal year now projected to land $1 billion lower than originally anticipated.
Source: WGBH News on 2022 Massachusetts Gubernatorial race
Jan 9, 2024
Page last updated: Jun 08, 2024