Spill of the Hill: Healey hears it from both sides

• That includes moving to limit stays in emergency shelters, rework regulations she considers red tape for businesses, and vowing to work with the Republican-led federal government if cooperation could benefit Massachusetts.

Why it matters: Healey's shift toward a more money-minded stance on shelter benefits for homeless migrant residents, as well as her pivot away from full-throated criticism of President Trump, has landed her in hot water with some progressives.

What they're saying: "Governor Maura Healey is using this moment to sound Trumpian in her approach to emergency shelter," Progressive Massachusetts policy director Jonathan Cohn wrote in response to Healey's proposed shelter changes.

• He called Healey's move "straight out of the playbook of the soon-to-be-president and the right-wing Republicans in Congress."

State of play: State Senate President Karen Spilka, leader of the left-leaning Senate, isn't fully signing on to Healey's proposed cost-saving changes to shelter eligibility.

• "I think it's important that we remain fiscally responsible, and yet balance our moral obligation to make sure that our families, particularly with children, young children, aren't out in the cold," Spilka told reporters after Healey's State of the Commonwealth speech last week.

The other side: Then there was the expected criticism from the right.

• In the official Republican rebuttal to Healey's speech, Wrentham Rep. Marcus Vaughn held Healey over the coals for letting the shelter system get so expensive.

Healey spent some time in her speech taking credit for tax relief passed in 2023, but GOP-oriented critics aren't satisfied with just one round of tax cuts.

• "Governor Healey's ambitious spending plans and lofty goals lack the substance needed to address the tremendous structural challenges facing our state," Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance spokesman Paul Diego Craney wrote last week.
• Craney also wants Healey to roll back energy mandates he says are harming the state's ability to compete.

The bottom line: Though she doesn't like the label, Healey is charting a moderate path that's proven fruitful for other governors facing opposition from the left and right.

• But to win the "fiscal responsibility" reputation in time for a reelection campaign in 2026, the shelter system needs to be solvent.
• In the meantime, the governor will have to thread the needle of working with Trump and Republicans without forfeiting her progressive reputation, especially when it comes to immigration.