Four years ago, Governor Maura Healey pledged to usher in a new era of Democratic leadership, aggressively tackle the climate crisis, and “build an economy in which everyone can thrive.”
Now, as she runs for reelection against a well-funded Republican challenger, voters must determine whether Healey has kept her promises in deciding whether to give her another term.
The Globe reviewed a slew of pledges Healey made in 2022 during debates, in dozens of news releases, and in media interviews, and compared them with her track record.
The results: Healey, 55, has delivered on some and broken others, and many appear to be works in progress as she prepares to face Republican nominee Michael Minogue on Nov. 3.
PROMISE: Cut taxes.
FINDING: Promise kept.
In her first campaign ad, Healey said she would “cut taxes.” Months later, in the final gubernatorial debate with then-Republican nominee Geoff Diehl, Healey again zeroed in on taxes when asked how she would ease economic pain.
“Cutting taxes,” she responded. “Cutting taxes.”
She did, roughly nine months into her term, when she signed a $1 billion tax package that was billed as the state’s first significant tax cut in two decades. The law slashed the tax rate on short-term capital gains — those are profits on investments held up to a year — and allowed low- and middle-income seniors who rent or own their home to claim a $2,400 credit. It also featured a scaled-down version of a child and dependent tax credit that Healey introduced as a candidate.
To be sure, Healey has also sought to raise some taxes and allow local officials to do the same. Notably, in that 2022 debate, Healey did not commit to opposing tax hikes as governor.
Last year, she tried to subject candy to the state sales tax (the Legislature didn’t buy in) and limit what taxpayers could claim under a state charitable tax deduction (she ultimately walked this back amid concerns from nonprofits). She also repeatedly tried through legislation to allow towns and cities to raise their own local taxes on hotel stays, cars, and meals, only for lawmakers to rebuff her.
PROMISE: Cut red tape to spur housing production.
FINDING: In progress.
Healey’s 2022 promises on housing were broad, saying she’d deliver “access to safe and affordable housing for all” by way of programs, task forces, and a new cabinet-level position. Massachusetts has made progress in addressing its housing shortage, fueled, in part, by major zoning changes promised under the MBTA Communities Act — which passed before Healey took office — and a sweeping $5.2 billion housing package that Healey signed, which gave homeowners the right to build accessory dwelling units, invested in public housing, and expanded tax credits for developers.
The state has also eased some regulations to speed up housing production, and, Healey’s administration boasts, there are tangible results: As of August 2025, state officials said 90,400 homes had been proposed, awarded funding, or received a building permit since Healey took office. There are 2,000 ADUs in the works, too, according to the administration. And aides to Healey said more than 5,600 new housing units are in various stages of planning and review.
Still, some advocates wonder if it’s all enough to reach the state’s goal of adding 222,000 homes to the housing stock by 2035.
Carolyn Chou, director of Homes for All Massachusetts, a tenant advocacy group, said while Healey has been “clear on prioritizing housing,” that goal has eclipsed helping people paying rent or mortgages day-to-day.
“The work they have done has been more around production,” she said. “It doesn’t address tenants’ and low-income people’s immediate needs.”
PROMISE: Provide free community college to residents over age 25.
FINDING: Promise kept.
In her first year, Healey signed language dedicating millions in funding to offer free community college to state residents over age 25 who didn’t already have a bachelor’s degree.
The following year, the Legislature created, and Healey approved, a wider program to offer free community college to all residents. Roughly 20,000 new students took up the offer, state data from last year show, reversing years of enrollment declines.
PROMISE: End state and local involvement in federal immigration.
FINDING: Mixed.
In a sweeping executive order and later, legislation she signed, Healey said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents cannot make warrantless civil arrests in courthouses, churches, or schools in Massachusetts. The new law also prohibits any state agency from entering into new agreements with ICE unless there is a public safety need.
The moves made good on her 2022 campaign pledge to “continue to defend our immigrant communities,” including “ending state and local law enforcement’s involvement in federal immigration matters.”
However, the Department of Correction is the only entity left in Massachusetts that has an agreement with ICE, called a 287(g) agreement, which allows officials in the state’s prison system to act as immigration agents. And Healey wants to keep the agreement.
Healey said she supports the pact, which was first implemented in 2007, because if someone is incarcerated in a state prison, they’ve “done something pretty bad.”
Jaya Savita, executive director of the Asian Pacific Islanders Civic Action Network, said she would give Healey a “mixed record,” noting that the bill signed earlier this year is “a good example of incremental change.”
“But [it’s] change that doesn’t really live up to those promises,” said Savita. “The campaign promise was to end collaboration, and that has not happened.”
PROMISE: Triple the budget of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
FINDING: Promise broken.
While the governor has championed creating more clean energy jobs, the quasi-governmental agency has shrunk, not grown.
In the fiscal year 2024 budget, the first one Healey signed, MassCEC got $30 million. In the budget Healey signed this year, MassCEC was allotted $8 million, down from $10 million last year and $20 million the year before that.
Karrisa Hand, Healey’s spokesperson, said the MassCEC “has not seen as significant of an infusion in state operating funding” because of “fiscal constraints caused by the federal government.” Others also say Healey isn’t to blame.
“Obviously, it’s impossible to make up all the cuts from the federal government,” said Casey Bowers, executive director of the Environmental League of Massachusetts’ Action Fund. “In the areas she can control, [Healey] has taken steps to do so.”
PROMISE: Install 1 million heat pumps by 2030 and put 1 million electric vehicles on the road by the same year, including electrifying public transportation.
FINDING: In progress.
Healey’s goals are, to be frank, lofty. But the Healey administration says it is making headway despite a Trump administration that’s been unfriendly toward expanding clean energy.
The state exceeded its goal of installing 100,000 heat pumps by 2025 a year early, the administration said, and electrifying vehicles is progressing slowly but steadily.
The T, for example, is on track to have 32 electric buses in operation by the end of the year. The state has funded 423 electric school buses across 20 districts, the administration said, and 167,031 electric vehicles were registered in 2025, according to the most recent available state data. That is up from 103,534 in 2023.
“The Trump Administration’s attacks on energy and our environment, including rescinding billions in federal funding, are making it harder for states to take the aggressive action that we need to protect our communities from climate change and lower people’s energy bills,” Hand said.
When Healey took office, Larry Chretien, executive director at Green Energy Consumers Alliance, said the Biden administration “enabled us to think big.” Since then, efforts to address climate change have backslid.
“The transition is happening,” he said. “Is it happening fast enough? No.”
Samantha J. Gross can be reached at samantha.gross@globe.com. Follow her @samanthajgross.