Court Rulings Give Governor Healey a Political Break

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey got some unexpected help recently — not from a political ally, but from the state's highest court. The Supreme Judicial Court threw out two major ballot questions that voters were set to decide on in November. Both questions had put Healey in a tough spot, and their removal makes her path to reelection a little smoother.

The first question would have lowered the state's income tax rate to 4 percent. Healey had called that idea 'catastrophic' for Massachusetts in a TV interview. The court tossed out this question because of an error in the summary written by Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office. Without that question on the ballot, Healey no longer has to publicly fight against a tax cut that many voters actually supported.

The second question would have created one of the toughest rent control laws in the entire country. Rent control is when the government limits how much landlords can charge for rent. Healey had said she would vote against this measure, worried it would slow down the building of new homes. The court removed this question too, ruling that part of its wording broke a rule in the state Constitution.

Both questions were popular with regular voters, even though Healey opposed them. That created a tricky political situation. If the questions had stayed on the ballot, Healey might have had to fight against her own allies — labor unions supported the rent control measure, and some business leaders pushed for the tax cut.

Political strategist Tony Cignoli explained why the court rulings helped the governor. 'For the governor, it's definitely a political blessing,' he said. 'She doesn't have to come down hard on one side of either of those contentious questions.' In other words, Healey no longer has to risk upsetting big groups of voters or important supporters.

The rulings also hurt the plans of Healey's possible Republican opponents, Mike Minogue and Brian Shortsleeve. They had hoped to use the income tax question to argue that Healey was blocking a tax cut for regular people. Now that the question is gone from the ballot, that argument has less power, even if it hasn't completely disappeared.

In other political news, a group called One Commonwealth — started by Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll in 2024 — is running a digital ad about housing. The ad costs $100,000 and looks a lot like a campaign ad for Healey. The group is a special type of non-profit organization that does not have to say who gives it money. A news report found that two of its donors are a road construction company from New York and the sports betting company DraftKings.

On the topic of housing, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 358–32 to pass a bill meant to help build more homes and apartments across the country. The Senate had already approved it 85–5. President Trump was expected to sign the bill, called the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, making it the first big law passed by both parties in Congress since the 2024 election. High housing costs have been a major problem for many Americans, so this was seen as an important step.

Back in Massachusetts, Governor Healey filed a temporary spending bill to keep the state government running through next month. State lawmakers are working on a full budget before the fiscal year ends on June 30. Even though they have a history of missing that deadline, lawmakers may finish on time this year because the House and Senate don't disagree on many big issues in the budget.