Maura Healey

Rule Changes

Declared state of energy emergency; seeking reelection

Healey declared an energy emergency on Oct. 5, signing an executive order to expand heating assistance and suspend a solar charge on electric bills. Heating oil is running about $6.12 a gallon, up nearly 75% from a year ago, and heating aid applications are up 70%.

Updated 2 days ago

Force in Play

Publicly pressing MGB to resume negotiations

Brigham and Women's nurses set an open-ended strike for 7 a.m. on October 14, filing the required 10-day notice. About 4,000 Massachusetts Nurses Association members voted 2,986 to 215 to authorize the walkout, the largest such vote in state history, per the union.

Updated Oct 4

Rule Changes

Administration backing the act, filing new regulations after the Milton ruling

Massachusetts's Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the MBTA Communities Act for the second time, dismissing the town of Marshfield's claim that the 2021 law violates local home rule. The ruling locks in the state's power to require its 177 MBTA-adjacent communities to zone for apartments and townhomes.

Updated Oct 4

Built World

Announced the funding authorization and RFP release

Massachusetts has moved the replacement of the 91-year-old Sagamore Bridge into its final bidding phase. The state released a request for proposals for a design-build team and locked in authorization for $956 million in federal funding, with another $371 million expected in mid-October.

Updated Oct 1

Rule Changes

Sitting governor, announced the FTA decision

Four years after a federal investigation found a 'lax safety culture' at the MBTA, the Federal Transit Administration has closed its directive to the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities and returned daily safety monitoring to the state. The FTA's Sept. 11 letter found the state agency now meets federal standards, though seven directives the FTA issued to the MBTA itself remain open under state supervision.

Updated Sep 22

Money Moves

Welcomed the office at its launch

Enterprise Singapore opened its Boston office on September 9 — the agency's fifth in the United States and the first Southeast Asia trade outpost in the city. It sits inside the Cambridge Innovation Center, minutes from the Kendall Square biotech cluster that anchors American life sciences.

Updated Sep 11

Rule Changes

In office; signed Sept. 8 executive order

Massachusetts towns hold veto power over new data centers. Gov. Maura Healey's Sept. 8 order requires projects over 25 megawatts to win community approval and meet a 100% clean-electricity standard before state permitting.

Updated Sep 10

Built World

In office

A Woburn developer sold a downtown Boston office building approved for conversion into 95 apartments for $8.6 million, or about $90,500 per approved home. KS Partners won the conversion approval in April 2025, then sold the site rather than build it.

Updated Sep 8

Rule Changes

Leading state's fight against FEMA denial

Massachusetts asked the federal government in April to declare the February blizzard a Major Disaster, unlocking funding for six coastal counties. The Trump administration denied the request in July, then denied Governor Maura Healey's appeal this week.

Updated Sep 6

Money Moves

In office since January 2023

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced the state's largest housing funding round in over a decade: $278 million for 29 projects across 20 communities. The awards draw on the 2024 Affordable Homes Act, which expanded state subsidies and tax credits for housing.

Updated Sep 6

Rule Changes

Running for re-election; unopposed in primary

Mike Minogue, a former medical device CEO and Army veteran, won Massachusetts' Republican gubernatorial primary Sept. 1, defeating Brian Shortsleeve with about three-quarters of the vote. The 59-year-old political novice now faces Democratic Gov. Maura Healey in November.

Updated Sep 4

Built World

Activated state emergency operations center, directed non-emergency employees to stay home; declared state of emergency and deployed 200 National Guard troops

A nor'easter developed into a bomb cyclone on February 22-23, 2026, burying the Interstate 95 corridor from Philadelphia to Boston under 1 to 2 feet of heavy, wet snow. In parts of New Jersey, totals exceeded 2 feet; Lyndhurst received 30.7 inches while New York City got 19 inches on February 24.

Updated May 29

Built World

In office since January 2023

For 40 years, transmission bottlenecks and opposition blocked Hydro-Québec from selling more power to New England. On January 16, 2026, a 145-mile power line through Maine began delivering 1,200 megawatts of Canadian hydroelectricity to Massachusetts—20% of the state's needs and the largest clean energy transmission addition to the region in decades. The line went dark when a winter storm hit 10 days later.

Updated May 21

Rule Changes

Declared January 2026 as Firefighter Cancer Awareness Month

Maryland's James Malone Act took effect January 1, 2026, requiring free cancer screenings for professional firefighters in every county with a self-insured health plan. The law targets ten cancer types that kill firefighters at dramatically higher rates than the general population.

Updated May 19

Rule Changes

Won court victory for Vineyard Wind on January 27, clearing final 18 turbines to complete 800 MW project

Five federal judges delivered consecutive defeats to Trump's offshore wind freeze between January 13 and February 2, 2026, granting preliminary injunctions to all five East Coast projects—Revolution Wind, Empire Wind, Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind, Vineyard Wind, Sunrise Wind—representing over $25 billion in investment and 6+ gigawatts of capacity. All five projects are now operating under court orders.

Updated May 16

Rule Changes

Part of four-state coalition demanding classified briefing on wind pause

On December 22, 2025, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum paused all major offshore wind construction on the East Coast: Vineyard Wind, Revolution Wind, Sunrise Wind, Empire Wind, and Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind. These five projects, representing $28 billion in investment and enough power for millions of homes, halted on orders from Washington citing radar interference and national security risks near military installations.

Updated May 16