Healey's big swings: Trump fights and consumer rights
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Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Gov. Maura Healey used her annual State of the Commonwealth address Thursday to ramp up her aggressive rhetoric against President Trump while rolling out a few populist consumer protections for Massachusetts residents who are racked with rising costs.
Why it matters: As she gears up for a reelection race, Healey wants Massachusetts voters to think of the commonwealth as a firewall against the chaos dominating Washington.
- She aims to use whatever powers the state has to shield residents' wallets and their civil rights from Trump.
The big picture: Healey's speech balanced the usual campaign political posturing with kitchen table policy fixes suitable for the inflation age.
- Here are the key takeaways:
Healey didn't mince words when it came to Trump, something more pugilistic Democrats have wanted to hear from her for a year.
- She accused the president of throwing "tantrums like a 2-year-old" and slammed the administration for sending "masked agents" to conduct ICE raids.
- The clearest message to anti-Trump liberals: She framed Massachusetts as the home of the resistance and promised to protect healthcare access and immigrant families from federal overreach.
Zoom out: She also used the speech to introduce a few policy proposals meant to alleviate the aching wallets of Massachusetts resident.
She wants new protections for health care consumers that would ban medical debt from being reported to credit agencies.
- Healey proposed a "click to cancel' rule targeting the "subscription economy," to make it as easy to cancel a streaming service or app as it is to sign up.
Social media companies that target kids are in her crosshairs.
- Healey would lock down social media that use "addictive algorithms" to exploit young people. She proposed strict new requirements for age verification and parental consent for kids and teens online.
And she included some local color that matched her anti-Trump message in the form of Dropkick Murphys front man Ken Casey, who was sitting next to first lady Joanna Lydgate.
- Healey called Casey "Massachusetts storyteller of the year," for his blue collar stances against Republicans.