Since the election of Bill Weld in 1990, Massachusetts has elected seven governors over a 36-year span. Each has brought their own focus and style to the corner office, which has both benefited and harmed our members.
Without a doubt, Maura Healey is the first governor in nearly four decades to actively seek to partner with our Association for the benefit of public retirees. For this reason, we proudly endorse her candidacy for election as Governor of the Commonwealth.
Prior to her election as Attorney General in 2014, Healey sought to craft a strong working relationship with our Association. During her tenure as AG, she intervened on behalf of public retirees and employees when the GIC attempted to implement draconian plan design changes that arguably had not been properly vetted under the open meeting law.
As she was weighing a run for governor, Maura Healey asked to meet with our Association’s leadership to develop a deeper understanding of the issues of direct importance to our members. Without the presence of staff, she spent over 90 minutes in our Beacon Hill office discussing pension funding, retiree health insurance, and – of course – COLA benefits. She asked great questions and took detailed notes.
Except for State Treasurer Deb Goldberg, Healey is the first candidate for statewide office in modern times to have sought out our Association for a deep dive into public retirement issues.
As governor, Maura Healey has maintained her close relationship with Association officials while also embracing the issues of top importance to our members.
Within months of becoming governor, she signed into law legislation increasing post-retirement public sector work hours from 960 to 1,200 hours annually – legislation previously vetoed by former Governor Charlie Baker. This past July, Healey approved a $10,000 increase in the post-retirement earnings limit.
In 2024, she supported and signed into law the first increase in the state’s Basic Life Insurance benefit since 1985, increasing the state retiree and employee death benefit to $10,000. During her tenure, there have been no major changes in GIC plan design nor increases in out-of-pocket costs – despite significant increases in the cost of healthcare.
When we sat down with Maura Healey in 2021, a major focus of the conversation was on the COLA and our hope to create an Enhanced Benefit for long-term retirees. We also talked at length about pension funding, as well as the need to begin earmarking a portion of excess pension investment returns to fund COLA improvements.
Largely based on that conversation, in 2024 Healey initiated the Special COLA Commission which then led to the COLA Reform law she approved this past July. To be clear, without the direct support of Maura Healey the new COLA Reform Law would not have gotten off the ground.
Not only has Maura Healey been true to her word when it comes to supporting public retirees, but she has also not deviated from the decades-long commitment by the Commonwealth to fully fund the State and Teachers’ Retirement Systems within the coming decade.
Additionally, she is the first governor since Paul Cellucci to not veto Association-backed legislation nor seek to unfairly “reform” public retirement benefits, undermine our defined benefit pension plan, or make adverse changes to retiree health insurance.
Throughout their tenure, both Governor Healey and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll have remained accessible to Association leaders. This enables us to make our case on your behalf directly to the governor and her senior staff.
For these reasons, we believe Maura Healey and Kim Driscoll have earned our endorsement and support for reelection. We hope that you will grant them every consideration for your vote in the November 3rd Election.