BUSINESS LEADERS COUNTING ON A FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOV. HEALEY
If business leaders were wondering whether they have a friend in Maura Healey, she cast aside any doubts in her inaugural address as governor last week “Let me speak directly to the business community. You help drive our economy and you will help build our future,” she said. “In me, you will have a partner every step of the way.”
That’s exactly what corporate titans needed to hear from the new governor. A millionaire’s tax, the rise of remote work, disrupted supply chains, and soaring costs of doing business — these are unsettling times for the business community, amid a generational change in politics and growing economic uncertainty. Just ask any developer in Boston who’s trying to figure out Mayor Michelle Wu.
At least on Beacon Hill, captains of industry could count on Charlie Baker and the continuity his administration represented — until the popular Republican governor decided not to seek a third term. He was seen as one of them, with his MBA and experience as a CEO of a major health insurance company.
While Healey may not have had the same bonafides as Baker, she cultivated a relationship with the business community during her two terms as attorney general. She peppered her inaugural speech with policy matters near and dear to employers, centering on building the state’s economic competitiveness by investing in job training, making community college free for older adults, lowering the cost of housing, and creating a better transit system.
Her nod to business leaders might seem counterintuitive, given her role as regulator and enforcer, but it speaks to her leadership style, said Beth Boland, a longtime supporter who is a partner at a Boston law firm.
“Her first instinct has always been to find actual business, community, and social resolutions before looking through the prosecutorial lens,” said Boland, who co-chaired the finance committee for Healey’s gubernatorial campaign.
Healey has shown a willingness to listen and collaborate from the get-go. Exhibit A: During her first year as attorney general, she had to issue regulations for a paid sick leave law that voters passed by ballot initiative in November 2014. The law took effect the following July, and business groups raised concerns that some employers would not be able to update their payroll systems in time.
Healey stuck to the date, but her office introduced a safe harbor provision, which granted employers who already offer earned sick time until Jan. 2016 to come into full compliance with the new law.
“That was an indication of an opendoor policy, where she would take feedback, was always willing to hear it and act on it when appropriate,” said JD Chesloff, president of the Massachu
I know the importance of predictability, certainty, clarity, and fairness when it comes to business.
GOVERNOR MAURA HEALEY
setts Business Roundtable. “I just always remember that example ... it just set the tone for a productive and collaborative relationship with her office.”
At the same time, Healey saw herself as “the people’s lawyer” and did not shy away from suing businesses if she felt consumers had been wronged. But her most prominent cases tended to be with out-of-state companies such as CVS Health, ExxonMobil, Facebook, Johnson & Johnson, Purdue Pharma, and Walmart.
Healey attracted national attention for leading the charge among attorneys general to hold drug companies accountable for harm created by their marketing, manufacturing, and distribution of the opioids that fueled an epidemic. Her lawsuits led to a $26 billion resolution with drug distributors, money that would be disbursed nationwide, including $525 million to Massachusetts for opioid treatment and recovery programs.
As attorney general, Healey was a familiar figure in business circles, speaking at events and working through legislation that affects employers and workers, such as pay equity. If she seemed comfortable in that setting, there’s a reason.
In between stints in the public sector, the Northeastern law graduate spent seven years at white-shoe law firm WilmerHale (former Hale and Dorr), representing corporate clients spanning a range of sectors, including financial services, medical devices, and technology.
Right before Healey was sworn in as attorney general in January 2015, I had lunch with her and asked whether she could work with the business community. She had seemingly come out of nowhere, but after winning her race, she was seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party.
Healey knew what to say, and she’s stayed true to her word.
“I know the importance of predictability, certainty, clarity, and fairness when it comes to business,” Healey told me then. “That’s what companies, general counsels, boards, and CEOs are looking for.”
Some business sectors will still be jittery about a Healey administration. As attorney general, Healey made it clear that she believes the state doesn’t need more natural gas pipelines or fossil-fuel fired power plants, and should instead invest in clean fuel sources.
Healey has also been tough on Mass General Brigham, the state’s largest hospital network. In 2015, she threatened to sue the organization over a plan to acquire community hospitals north and south of Boston. Then in 2021, she wrote a letter warning that Mass General Brigham’s proposal to build three suburban surgery centers would increase health care costs. In both instances, the health care behemoth would eventually pull those expansion plans.
Another looming tension point in health care: whether the state will need to rein in insurance premium increases and once again cap rates, which Governor Deval Patrick did when he came into office more than a decade ago.
No one expects Healey as governor to give a free pass to the business community. There will be fireworks — there always are — but she has forged the best kind of relationship, one in which both sides may not always see eye to eye, but they know how to work with each other.