Gov. Maura Healey is expected to lay out some of her fiscal year 2026 budget priorities, transportation policies, education reforms, and efforts to make Massachusetts more affordable in her yearly State of the Commonwealth address Thursday evening, according to her aides.
You can watch the speech live tonight at 7 p.m. in the player below, or click here.
Healey is facing major challenges at the start of her third year in office — security in state-run shelters has blasted into the spotlight on Beacon Hill, funding for critical transportation projects and the operations of the MBTA remain a challenge, and transparency in government is plaguing her and lawmakers in the House and Senate.
But Healey is expected to tout her legislative accomplishments during her first two years in office, which she will argue have made Massachusetts more affordable, competitive, and equitable, according to her aides.
The first-term Democrat will point to a tax cut she helped pass in her first year, a major borrowing bill focused on housing, a policy-laden jobs bill, and a climate bill that zeroed on permitting and siting for renewable energy projects.
The governor is also set to key the public in on some of her fiscal year 2026 budget priorities, including several policies she has already announced including an effort to eliminate renter-paid brokers’ fees and pump $8 billion over a decade into transportation projects.
Healey’s speech will also come one day after she called on Democrats in the House and Senate to drastically rewrite a spending bill she filed just over a week ago to include some of the most major reforms to the state’s decades-old right-to-shelter law since it was approved.
Those changes came after her administration faced mounting criticism for safety in state-run shelters following the arrest of an illegal immigrant in Revere with an AR-15 and an alleged stash of fentanyl worth $1 million and the publication of records detailing disturbing incidents in the system.
The Democrat from Arlington is also expected to touch on how to ensure schools have a statewide graduation standard after voters approved a ballot question in November removing the MCAS as a graduation requirement for high school students, according to her aides.
Healey will also address investments in primary care; creating jobs in the climate technology, life sciences, and artificial intelligence sectors; making energy more affordable for homes and businesses, and cutting red tape to make it easier to do business in Massachusetts.
Rep. Marcus Vaughn, a Republican from Wrentham, is scheduled to offer a rebuttal immediately after Healey finishes her remarks, according to the Massachusetts Republican Party.