Healey's promises, one year later

Also: The long view on METCO; say goodbye to "use yah blinkah" [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  January 17, 2024 ☀️ Sunny but chilly and windy, with a high near 28. Good Morning Boston, Gov. Maura Healey's first State of the Commonwealth address is tonight at 7 p.m. You can listen live on 90.9 starting at 6:45 p.m. or [tune in on our website.]( As with all "state of the [fill in the blank]" speeches, there's a very good chance Healey will make some policy announcements and goals. Do you remember last year, when we gave you [a list of the promises she made during her inaugural address]( WBUR Today, like [Pepperidge Farms]( remembers. Here's a look at the list, with a check (✔️) for items she's fulfilled and an X (❌) or ellipses (💬) for items still on the to-do list. ✔️ Create a secretary of housing in her cabinet: [Say hello to Ed Augustus](. 💬 Identify state property that can be turned into rental housing: In progress. Healey [filed a sweeping $4.1 billion bill to boost housing production that would]( this process, but the State House has yet to act on the legislation. ✔️ Reduce costs for first-time homebuyers and renters: Partial check. Renters can save [up to an additional $50 in taxes]( each year thanks to an expanded tax deduction that was part of the [tax cut deal]( Healey signed in October. (Yes, it's not much, but it technically fulfills half of that promise.) The big $4 billion housing bill we just mentioned above also includes money to provide assistance and fund home-building for first-time homebuyers, but that's still TBD. ✔️ Expanded child tax credits: A big check. Those were also in the [tax deal](. ✔️ Expanding child care support for families and pay for caregivers. This is both a check and an incomplete. Healey's first budget included [some money]( to help child care providers, but advocates say the industry is [so broken]( that more needs to be done. So, just yesterday, Healey announced she'll [include a raft of permanent investments to make child care more affordable]( in her fiscal 2025 budget. ✔️ Free community college for students over 25 without a degree: [Check](. ✔️ Fund the Student Opportunity Act Status: [Check](. ✔️ Improve mental health care and food security for students: The current budget includes [funding for universal free school lunches](. Healey has also [dedicated money]( to youth mental health. ✔️ Appoint a new MBTA GM: [Best of luck, Phil Eng](. ✔️ Hire 1,000 new T workers in the first year: Promise kept-ish! While the T did hire more than 1,000 new people, it [netted 730 full-time equivalent hires]( once you factor in the people who left in the last year. ✔️ Form an interagency task force to get more federal highway funding: Check. Healey [tapped Quentin Palfrey]( to head up the effort to tap the pool of federal funds, which the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said could amount to $18 billion. ✔️ Equity audit of every state agency: Check. Healey [made the order]( within days of her speech. ❌ Double our offshore wind targets, quadruple our energy storage deployment: We're marking this incomplete because, while saying you're going to double a target is fine, some the projects already penciled into those goals [aren't penciling out](. 💬 Electrify the public fleet: In progress. Healey has [created a new office]( to help manage this conversion through 2040. (Some advocates have been [disappointed]( in the state's previous efforts around electrification.) 💬 Put a million electric cars on the road by 2030: Still in progress, but the state would have to [massively pick up the pace]( to meet this goal. ✔️ Create cabinet-level climate chief position: Melissa Hoffer was a nominee before Healey was sworn in, and by October had [issued her first major report]( on the state of the state's approach to its climate goals. ✔️ Commit 1% of state budget to environmental and energy agencies and triple the budget of the Clean Energy Center: [Check](. ❌ Create thousands of clean tech jobs and build a "climate corridor" across Mass. to bolster clean tech business: This is another technical incomplete because it's not really something you can grade pass/fail. It may be impossible to say when such a corridor is in place, since it's always going to be a work in progress. P.S.— Don't worry if you miss Healey's speech tonight; we'll have a quick debrief on any announcements or news she makes during the address in tomorrow's newsletter. Roberto Scalese Senior Editor, Digital  Support the news  The Rundown [A new study highlights the long-term benefits of METCO participation]( The report found that the voluntary busing program has a host of measurable effects for participating students, including higher MCAS scores, college enrollment rates and lifetime earnings. [Read more.]( [A new study highlights the long-term benefits of METCO participation]( The report found that the voluntary busing program has a host of measurable effects for participating students, including higher MCAS scores, college enrollment rates and lifetime earnings. [Read more.]( [Some N.H. residents want better answers from 2024 candidates on the opioid crisis]( Drug overdose deaths in New Hampshire have increased in recent years, and some residents want to hear more from the presidential candidates about how they'd help. [Read more.]( [Some N.H. residents want better answers from 2024 candidates on the opioid crisis]( Drug overdose deaths in New Hampshire have increased in recent years, and some residents want to hear more from the presidential candidates about how they'd help. [Read more.]( [What to know about January's annual drug price hikes]( Spoiler: There are some decreases this year, too. Here's an overview of the changing prices and what to make of them. [Read more.]( [What to know about January's annual drug price hikes]( Spoiler: There are some decreases this year, too. Here's an overview of the changing prices and what to make of them. [Read more.]( [N.H. 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[Read more.]( [Judge blocks $3.8 billion JetBlue-Spirit merger]( A federal judge on Tuesday sided with the Biden administration and blocked JetBlue Airways from buying Spirit Airlines, saying the $3.8 billion deal would reduce competition. [Read more.]( [Judge blocks $3.8 billion JetBlue-Spirit merger]( A federal judge on Tuesday sided with the Biden administration and blocked JetBlue Airways from buying Spirit Airlines, saying the $3.8 billion deal would reduce competition. [Read more.]( Anything Else? - From George Washington to Martin Luther King Jr., downtown Boston has no shortage of statues honoring famous historic figures. Now, in Chinatown, one artist is on [a quest to memorialize — in bronze — the ordinary people who built the neighborhood](. - It turns out the federal government doesn't find those[funny and quirky electric highway signs]( very funny. The humorous messages will soon disappear from highways across the country, thanks to a new ban. States have two years to implement the change, so at least we may have "use yah blinkah" a little longer. - While the MBTA remains in crisis ([take yesterday, for example]( Christina Ganim [writes in this Cognoscenti commentary]( that we often overlook one of the greatest benefits of public transportation: "how it helps us build a sense of community." - The Cut — a spacious and well-appointed 500-capacity music venue in the middle of Gloucester — [opened its doors this past weekend with a belated 80th birthday concert]( for the "Godfather of Boston Punk."  What We're Reading 📚 - I was wrongly charged under the DOJ’s failed China Initiative. A House bill would reinstate it. ([The Boston Globe]( - Uber shutting down alcohol delivery service Drizly ([Axios]( - Chicago's Latest Attraction? A Rat-Shaped Hole ([The New York Times](  Tell Me Something Good [Spot a 9-year-old Brockton actress in 'Good Burger 2']( Alexis Turner and her mother, Antoinette Toney, join Radio Boston to talk about Alexis' role in the new movie "Good Burger 2." [Read more.]( [Spot a 9-year-old Brockton actress in 'Good Burger 2']( Alexis Turner and her mother, Antoinette Toney, join Radio Boston to talk about Alexis' role in the new movie "Good Burger 2." [Read more.]( Listen: The Common explains [how the closure of retail pharmacies exacerbates racial healthcare disparities in Boston]( in the wake of another Walgreens closure. Play: [WBUR's daily mini crossword.]( Can you keep your streak going? Before you go: [This]( looks longer than the Snowport lines... Correction: In yesterday's newsletter, we incorrectly stated the number of murders in 2022 and 2020. This has [since been updated]( [online]( and we're sorry for the error. 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