Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio News.
Speaker 2: I wanted to start by talking about the Massachusetts economy.
Speaker 3: Your state has been uniquely.
Speaker 2: Impacted by the federal funding cuts.
Speaker 3: What's the biggest impact you've seen so far.
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, it's great to see you, great
Speaker 1: to be here among friends and also those online. Look
Speaker 1: you know, in some ways, Massachusetts is no different than
Speaker 1: any other.
Speaker 3: State right now.
Speaker 1: I mean the cuts that we've seen to healthcare, to infrastructure,
Speaker 1: transportation funds have been cut to our state food, We
Speaker 1: could go on. Unfortunately, the Trump administration has made cuts
Speaker 1: that are impacting so many states. But I think that
Speaker 1: for us in particular, we are a knowledge based economy.
Speaker 1: We are a state that has grown over the last
Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty years through investments in education, research, knowledge,
Speaker 1: and it's given rise to this incredible growth, for example
Speaker 1: and life sciences.
Speaker 3: Where we lead the world. And so when you think.
Speaker 1: About cuts to NIH funding, NSF funding, Noah, cuts to
Speaker 1: colleges and universities, that does have a disproportionate effect on Massachusetts.
Speaker 1: And it's not just here's the important thing, it's not
Speaker 1: just jobs in those areas, in research, in science, in
Speaker 1: life sciences, for example, it's all the other jobs that
Speaker 1: go with it, because two out of every five jobs
Speaker 1: in those areas are actually jobs in construction, in real estate,
Speaker 1: in legal IP operations, in hospitality, in restaurants, and so
Speaker 1: you know, that's why those cuts are particularly devastating to
Speaker 1: a state like Massachusetts. But you know, we could talk
Speaker 1: about what I'm doing, yeah, to combat that, but that.
Speaker 3: Is certainly something that we're seeing.
Speaker 1: The other thing that's been hard for us is that
Speaker 1: we're a state where as governor, I am very focused
Speaker 1: on lowering costs for residents for businesses that include energy costs.
Speaker 1: One thing we don't need is energy supply to our
Speaker 1: region cut off. And unfortunately, that's what we're seeing by
Speaker 1: the Trump administration's move to kill jobs and to literally
Speaker 1: take away power by dismantling wind operations on the East Coast.
Speaker 2: Yes, and we're gonna absolutely get it to get to wind,
Speaker 2: but before we get there, I just did want to
Speaker 2: talk about what you've been doing to combat the threat
Speaker 2: that these funding costs.
Speaker 3: Pose to the state.
Speaker 2: You've proposed using four hundred million dollars in state funding
Speaker 2: to help combat that.
Speaker 3: How far does that go?
Speaker 1: Well, here's the thing Okay, I think this is a
Speaker 1: good investment even without what is happening by the Trump administration,
Speaker 1: but especially because of the cuts that we're seeing. You know,
Speaker 1: I want to be clear as governor of this great
Speaker 1: state of Massachusetts, we're open to the world for business.
Speaker 1: We want to continue to be the place that attracts
Speaker 1: students and researchers from around the country, from around the world.
Speaker 3: We want to attract.
Speaker 1: Entrepreneurs and innovators as we have for so many decades.
Speaker 3: And you know, part.
Speaker 1: Of my statement and coming forward with DRIVE, which stands
Speaker 1: for discovery, Research.
Speaker 3: Innovation for a vibrant economy.
Speaker 1: The whole point is to say we're making these investments
Speaker 1: because we know the ROI. We've seen it in life
Speaker 1: sciences and that's why we're not just number one in
Speaker 1: the country.
Speaker 3: We are the global hub for life sciences.
Speaker 1: And when you think about climate technology or applied AI
Speaker 1: or even you know, further work that we can do
Speaker 1: in life sciences, these are the kinds of investments.
Speaker 3: That we need to make.
Speaker 1: So that's four hundred million dollars in state funding that
Speaker 1: we hope to leverage with additional funding from you know,
Speaker 1: I'm a big believer I'm a time flavor player and
Speaker 1: public private partnership, you know, that's what we are embracing
Speaker 1: more than ever. So obviously, we have a venture community,
Speaker 1: we have a life sciences community, we have an academic community,
Speaker 1: we have an investment community. People know and understand what
Speaker 1: it means to make an investment and see a great return,
Speaker 1: and so we're hoping to be able to leverage that
Speaker 1: and really be a model. I don't know of a
Speaker 1: state that's doing this, but it's that important, by the way,
Speaker 1: not just to Massachusetts, it's important to this country because
Speaker 1: the only one who's winning right now is China. China's
Speaker 1: on our campuses in Massachusetts and around the United States,
Speaker 1: at our research institutions, at our teaching hospitals, looking to
Speaker 1: recruit everyone away. You've seen that, You've covered that, and
Speaker 1: that's the shame of it all, you know. I am
Speaker 1: about America first. I'm a very competitive person. I want
Speaker 1: Massachusetts soaring and I want America soaring. And one thing
Speaker 1: we shouldn't be doing is not investing in science and
Speaker 1: research and innovation and seeing that essentially to China and
Speaker 1: other countries.
Speaker 2: Yes, just to go a little bit deeper into that
Speaker 2: public private initiative that you've proposed. Can you give us
Speaker 2: a window into how much interest have you received in
Speaker 2: actually putting money into this and why should individuals or
Speaker 2: businesses put money in a state administered fund.
Speaker 1: Well, look, I'm the CEO of the state, and my
Speaker 1: job is to be the best economic steward that I
Speaker 1: can be for this state. And that means making sure
Speaker 1: that we are maximizing the return on taxpayer dollar. It
Speaker 1: also means making sure that I am working inside and
Speaker 1: outside of government to provide the best economic infrastructure that
Speaker 1: I can. It's why I've gone big investing in education
Speaker 1: in this state and including a whole pipeline KTA twelve
Speaker 1: and beyond. It's also why I think there's a recognition
Speaker 1: by folks in the private sector that it is our
Speaker 1: economic infrastructure at stake, and that's why we all need
Speaker 1: to come together and figure out a way to power
Speaker 1: through this time. I think through new and innovative partnerships
Speaker 1: that not only will sustain us through this time, but
Speaker 1: really put in Massachusetts where it should be, which is
Speaker 1: right at the front nationally globally when it comes to
Speaker 1: attracting talent. Again, my message to the world is Massachusetts
Speaker 1: were open for business.
Speaker 3: We want you to continue to come.
Speaker 1: Here, study here, research here, innovate here, incubate here.
Speaker 3: And grow your companies here.
Speaker 1: And we have provided and have sought to provide an
Speaker 1: environment that's conducive to that by providing a pipeline or
Speaker 1: workforce were the most educated workforce in the country, by
Speaker 1: making major improvements to a public transit system, which is
Speaker 1: important to producing more housings so that employees can actually
Speaker 1: afford to live in a place like Massachusetts. These are
Speaker 1: things that I think are very important to the private
Speaker 1: sector and why we've seen energy and synergy around this
Speaker 1: kind of collaboration.
Speaker 2: Do you have a death that I know, Do you
Speaker 2: have a dollar or figure in mind that you'd like
Speaker 2: to read for that or how are you thinking about
Speaker 2: its potential thithe and impact.
Speaker 1: Well, these are big numbers, right, but you know, if
Speaker 1: you think about Massachusetts alone, we probably have received per capita,
Speaker 1: the largest amount of NIH funding over the years. It's
Speaker 1: about three point three billions. So we're talking about big numbers.
Speaker 1: And it's not to say that we'll be able to
Speaker 1: sort of make up for all of that, but I
Speaker 1: think that if we can smartly and nimbly come together
Speaker 1: and make the right investments. Together the public sector and
Speaker 1: the private sector, we'll be able to do something very special.
Speaker 2: So I want to I said I'd come back to wind,
Speaker 2: which you brought up the Trump campaign, their campaign against wind.
Speaker 2: There was additional developments today with the proposal to stop
Speaker 2: the development of projects in your state. This past week,
Speaker 2: you joined other Democratic governors in a joint statement calling
Speaker 2: for the administration to allow permitted offer wind projects to proceed.
Speaker 2: What was the reaction to that statement after you put
Speaker 2: it up.
Speaker 1: Well, I guess we're sort of waiting to see, but
Speaker 1: you know, all of us are in the strongest possible
Speaker 1: terms urging the Trump administration to stop with this, to
Speaker 1: stop with the stop work orders, to stop killing jobs,
Speaker 1: to stop cutting off power. I mean literally, when we
Speaker 1: were hearing word that there might be a stop work
Speaker 1: order down the entire East Coast, that was incredibly concerning
Speaker 1: for all of US governors. For me, I had the
Speaker 1: concern not only was it going to kill thousands and
Speaker 1: thousands of jobs, it was also going to literally shut
Speaker 1: off power to two hundred thousand homes in businesses because
Speaker 1: our wind project is already producing power into the grid,
Speaker 1: and so that just doesn't make any sense. And you know,
Speaker 1: I am somebody I've been very public about this. I
Speaker 1: support an all of the above approach when it comes
Speaker 1: to energy to.
Speaker 3: Do what we need to do.
Speaker 1: And as somebody who's spent one hundred million dollars to
Speaker 1: create an applied AI hub here in Massachusetts, when you
Speaker 1: think about what our energy needs are as a country,
Speaker 1: they're just expanding exponentially. It's why we need nuclear and
Speaker 1: solar and hydro and wind and gas. So don't take
Speaker 1: wind off the table. We desperately need it. And that's
Speaker 1: why you saw so many governors come together. Not only
Speaker 1: is it a matter of jobs, because you know, we're
Speaker 1: talking about so many jobs, so many construction jobs, so
Speaker 1: many union jobs. There's been a lot of investment in
Speaker 1: this workforce actually to the tune of hundreds of millions
Speaker 1: of dollars. Don't let that go to waste, and most importantly,
Speaker 1: don't shut off power into a region that needs it.
Speaker 1: The other thing, of course, is this more power, more supply,
Speaker 1: lower costs. Everybody across America is dealing with the high
Speaker 1: cost to energy.
Speaker 3: So what do you not want to do in the
Speaker 3: face of that?
Speaker 1: You don't want to shrink supply, right and so that's
Speaker 1: why we continue to advocate for this most strongly. But
Speaker 1: you know, you think about the companies at the top
Speaker 1: of the index right and you think about you know
Speaker 1: that the needs of tech right now, and in particular,
Speaker 1: I think about a state like ours, where we're looking
Speaker 1: to do so much power through technology the energy supply
Speaker 1: as a country, there should be a concerted effort to
Speaker 1: get every state in the country working to work together.
Speaker 1: Some states may be better for guests, some states may
Speaker 1: be better for nuclear. Some states may be better situated
Speaker 1: for solar arraysed or hydro or geothermal. By the way,
Speaker 1: I want to explore all in Massachusetts. But it seems
Speaker 1: to me leadership from the President and the administration would
Speaker 1: look like figuring out a plan to source more energy
Speaker 1: into this country, to build out the transmission line so
Speaker 1: that power can actually flow, so that we have a
Speaker 1: reliable and truly independent source of energy for Americans.
Speaker 2: Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that in New York, Governor
Speaker 2: Hokal got the FEDS to lift a stop work order
Speaker 2: on the Empire Wind Project in exchange for dropping opposition
Speaker 2: to new gas pipelines.
Speaker 3: In the state.
Speaker 2: Do you think there's scope for a similar deal in Massachusetts?
Speaker 1: Well, I think we've already talked about that. I mean
Speaker 1: that's already that's already known, but that there's a willingness
Speaker 1: to do that.
Speaker 3: But that's sort of, you know, not enough.
Speaker 1: I mean, what we really need to do is have
Speaker 1: a comprehensive, concerted strategy where the federal government is working
Speaker 1: with states, not against states, in an effort to bring
Speaker 1: more power on board. Right, That's what we should be doing,
Speaker 1: and that's what I just you know, really urged the
Speaker 1: Trump administration to get back to. It makes no sense
Speaker 1: wind is I don't understand where some of this is
Speaker 1: coming from.
Speaker 3: This antipathy towards wind. We see WIND.
Speaker 1: I mean, look at so many of the states out
Speaker 1: out west. I mean they've been long using WIN. We
Speaker 1: need to continue to do that here and to harness
Speaker 1: it here. It's a tremendous source for us, it's not
Speaker 1: the only source, which is why you know, I'm going
Speaker 1: to continue to work in partnership with other governors. It's
Speaker 1: also wid months ago I invited all the premieres down
Speaker 1: from Canada, you know, and what can we work out
Speaker 1: this region and the Eastern provinces in terms of sourcing
Speaker 1: more energy into our regions.
Speaker 2: So, just to be clear, as part of your all
Speaker 2: of the above approach to energy, you would be supportive
Speaker 2: of new gas pipelines in Massachusetts.
Speaker 1: I'd consider any proposals that come our way. In fact,
Speaker 1: ever Source, one of our utility companies, just filed a
Speaker 1: proposal for ten years that I personally support because we
Speaker 1: need we need some near term solves to the supply
Speaker 1: issue that we have right now in the Northeast. And again,
Speaker 1: this is an issue that we see across America, but
Speaker 1: I think it's particularly acute for the Northeast region of
Speaker 1: the country.
Speaker 2: So at the same time, the state does have some
Speaker 2: pretty ambitious goals in terms of cutting its emissions. Do
Speaker 2: you have a plan B for renewable energy if Trump's
Speaker 2: opposition to wind doesn't really.
Speaker 1: Budge Look, I have been I think as governor I
Speaker 1: was the first governor to name a climate chief across
Speaker 1: our administration. I'm very mindful of that. It's why I
Speaker 1: was invited by them Pope Francis to the Vatican to
Speaker 1: talk about how we could work both through national and
Speaker 1: subnational relationships on addressing some of these issues. That said,
Speaker 1: I am acutely focused right now on the issue of costs,
Speaker 1: costs for our rate payers, our residents, our businesses, and
Speaker 1: how do you deal with that. You deal with that
Speaker 1: by getting more supply into the region. And I think
Speaker 1: the good news here is that there are a lot
Speaker 1: of different ways to do that to accomplish that that
Speaker 1: also make use of a clean energy portfolio that is
Speaker 1: proven to work, and the prices are coming down on that.
Speaker 3: So don't take that off the table.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's a reason why China is building multiple.
Speaker 3: Wind farms right now.
Speaker 1: Right we already see them in Europe, for example, so
Speaker 1: we know this is part of the solution. Other countries
Speaker 1: are recognizing it. Don't take this, don't take this away again.
Speaker 1: If you care about American competitiveness, right and we want
Speaker 1: to have AI and we want to have these data
Speaker 1: centers and we want to see this kind of growth,
Speaker 1: You're not going to be able to do anything if
Speaker 1: you take power away from from these sources. You know,
Speaker 1: I think about Virginia. You know they've got that wind
Speaker 1: operation going with Dominion. They've got a lot of data
Speaker 1: centers that need to get powered. I don't know they
Speaker 1: are not going to be able to be powered absent
Speaker 1: that wind source. So it's just an example, but I
Speaker 1: think it's the mentality that we need. It's all of
Speaker 1: the above working together, states and the federal government working together.
Speaker 2: So we've talked about a few of the areas where
Speaker 2: the federal government is cutting spending. One area that is
Speaker 2: getting more money is Trump's immigration enforcement agenda. Assuming that
Speaker 2: arrests and deportations pick up, what is your strategy for
Speaker 2: dealing with that.
Speaker 3: In the last few siths.
Speaker 1: You know, this is just another area where I shake
Speaker 1: my head. You know, the investments have been made there,
Speaker 1: but to what end. We just lost one point two
Speaker 1: million people from the employment rules because of those immigration tactics. Right,
Speaker 1: one point two million immigrants are not working today who
Speaker 1: were working six months ago.
Speaker 3: How is that good for our economy?
Speaker 1: And here's what I see, And remember, I was an
Speaker 1: attorney general. As a prosecutor, I put away drug cartels
Speaker 1: and drug traffickers and human traffickers. I think I had
Speaker 1: my bona FIDE's there, okay, And I've said I was
Speaker 1: all in when it came to taking out violent.
Speaker 3: Criminals from our streets, our communities. Right, I think.
Speaker 1: Every governor has said, well, help, but that's not what's happening.
Speaker 1: It's construction workers and nannies and landscapers and health aides, right,
Speaker 1: and people taking care of our kids. That's who's getting
Speaker 1: picked up. And it doesn't make any sense economically. It's heartbreaking,
Speaker 1: you know, it's heartbreaking. I mean, we are better than that, America.
Speaker 1: We're not a country that was about putting little Guatemalan
Speaker 1: kids on a plane and sending them all by their
Speaker 1: lonesome to a foreign country. That's not who we are.
Speaker 1: So I just, yes, the money is unbelievable. I think
Speaker 1: it's it doesn't do anything to further public safety. Again,
Speaker 1: if you focused on violent criminals, that's one thing, but
Speaker 1: that's not what they're running through.
Speaker 3: Now they've run.
Speaker 1: Through that, and so they're taking away people who are
Speaker 1: contributing to our economy, who are paying taxes, who are.
Speaker 3: Contributing to our community. The other thing is this, I
Speaker 3: think it.
Speaker 1: Undermines local law enforcement, to be honest, because what local
Speaker 1: law enforcement and state law enforcement need, they need to
Speaker 1: be funded, and instead the Trump administration has cut funding
Speaker 1: for local and state law enforcement for the work that
Speaker 1: we would do with victims of crime. Witnesses to crime,
Speaker 1: for the kinds of support that we give to keep
Speaker 1: people out of the criminal justice system. Cuts to mental health,
Speaker 1: cuts to drug recovery and drug treatment programs by the
Speaker 1: Trump administration do not make us more safe.
Speaker 3: That's where I'd like to see the money go.
Speaker 2: What would you do if Trump sends the National Guard
Speaker 2: into Massachusetts?
Speaker 3: I don't know why he would. I don't know why
Speaker 3: he would.
Speaker 1: I'm very proud of the Massachusetts National Guard. Did you
Speaker 1: know that Massachusetts is the birthplace of the National Guard?
Speaker 3: I did not.
Speaker 1: Yes, We've been around since sixteen hundreds. The very first
Speaker 1: muster of the National Guard was in Salem, Massachusetts. Were
Speaker 1: also the birthplace of the Navy and the Coast Guard,
Speaker 1: and we claim the Marines too, because George Washington sent
Speaker 1: a crew off a couple hundred years ago. So I
Speaker 1: really respect and value our military history here. I also
Speaker 1: respect and value our law enforcement work as well. And
Speaker 1: to put the Guard on the streets in a way
Speaker 1: they were never intended to be used, which was domestically
Speaker 1: against our own citizens. That's not what the Guard is
Speaker 1: supposed to be doing. That is not the mission, Nor
Speaker 1: do I think it is the mission that the good
Speaker 1: men and women of the Guard signed up for you know,
Speaker 1: they signed up to be citizen shouldiers, to be prepared
Speaker 1: to go overseas and fight wars and defend our freedom abroad,
Speaker 1: and also to be here it's hurricane season. Think about
Speaker 1: the Guard and how instrumental they've been in natural disasters
Speaker 1: and even during COVID, the work that they were doing.
Speaker 3: That's the mission of the Guard.
Speaker 1: And so to see it abused in this way as
Speaker 1: a as a really an act of political theater and
Speaker 1: just to sort of show a power flex it's it's
Speaker 1: it's terribly distressing and I know it's it's not the
Speaker 1: mission of those teams, and it's it's just sad to see.
Speaker 2: So switching gears a little bit, you brought up the
Speaker 2: AI industry. Can you tell us about how you see
Speaker 2: developing that in Massachusetts? Strong businesses here and what is
Speaker 2: your vision?
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, first, it does take money in investment, because
Speaker 1: the rest is just happy talk unless you actually put
Speaker 1: some muscle on, some investment and some dollars behind it.
Speaker 1: So we've launched one hundred million dollar AI hub that
Speaker 1: we've created that allows research and government and industry to
Speaker 1: come together and that's exciting to see. We also, though,
Speaker 1: have focused on how can we create the kind of
Speaker 1: applied AI accelerators that we want to see, and we
Speaker 1: recently announced a partnership with IBM and red Hat where
Speaker 1: they'll be here in Massachusetts and they'll be helping us
Speaker 1: create this accelerator network for applied AI entities, and I
Speaker 1: think that's going to be really powerful because again I'm
Speaker 1: for me, the race in Massachusetts is how can we
Speaker 1: use AI to more quickly treat disease and come up
Speaker 1: with cures or you determine what we need to do
Speaker 1: around any number of things, right, I mean that's been
Speaker 1: our focus, and so I'm excited about those things. The
Speaker 1: other thing with this is you've got to have training,
Speaker 1: though you've got to have a workforce. So we put
Speaker 1: a lot of research and resources into our schools how
Speaker 1: to train in our schools on AI because we want
Speaker 1: our young people trained on and acclimated to AI and
Speaker 1: using that as part of a vocational training and also
Speaker 1: something that they learn in a traditional CA to twelve curricula.
Speaker 1: I think that's super important. And finally importantly, I think
Speaker 1: you've got to practice what you preach, and so We've
Speaker 1: benefited from a wonderful partnership with colleges and universities. Northeastern
Speaker 1: University here, pre eminent university. We have students from Northeastern
Speaker 1: that we have actually brought into all of our state
Speaker 1: agencies and we gave them a sandbox, an AI sandbox,
Speaker 1: and they've actually now developed tools that our state employees
Speaker 1: are using to make the delivery of governments services faster
Speaker 1: and better.
Speaker 3: I'll give you an example.
Speaker 1: You apply for you know, you're working on a project
Speaker 1: as a contractor to redo this highway, and typically you'd
Speaker 1: have to call somebody up at the Department of Transportation
Speaker 1: and talk through different change orders and specs that could
Speaker 1: take days weeks to wade through nine hundred pages right
Speaker 1: and get a response. Imagine a prompt just a couple
Speaker 1: of minutes later, you have an answer that's going to
Speaker 1: be great for government because it's going to help us
Speaker 1: better deliver and serve our people. So I'm very excited
Speaker 1: about the possibilities of AI in our state.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So before we go to the audience, Q and I
Speaker 2: one last question. I was hoping you could zoom out
Speaker 2: a little bit for us and tell us how effective
Speaker 2: you think the Democratic Party has been so far at
Speaker 2: pushing back on President Trump, and specifically, could you give
Speaker 2: us a window into the level of coordination amongst the
Speaker 2: Democratic governors and the attorney generals. What does that look
Speaker 2: like as you think about all these policies that you oppose.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, and as I mentioned at the outset,
Speaker 1: I think all of us are dealing with really severe
Speaker 1: cuts and hits to our state.
Speaker 3: I think about the fact.
Speaker 1: That the recently past Big Beautiful Bill is going to
Speaker 1: potentially throw three hundred and fifty thousand base Staters off
Speaker 1: of health insurance. That's a huge number, right, And the
Speaker 1: same thing is happening in other states. And so we
Speaker 1: obviously talk a lot about what these cuts mean. You know,
Speaker 1: how we're going to take care of our seniors, how
Speaker 1: we're going to feed kids who just saw Donald Trump cut.
Speaker 3: Food for kids.
Speaker 1: I mean, things that we can never have imagined are happening.
Speaker 1: The disinvestment. How do you deal with the fact that
Speaker 1: capital isn't being deployed in your state because it's not
Speaker 1: being deployed in this country right now because people are
Speaker 1: so uncertain or they're going elsewhere. You know, all of
Speaker 1: these things we're experiencing there's a lot of commonality there,
Speaker 1: so it's important for us to be into to and
Speaker 1: find ways to support each other. You see that happening
Speaker 1: among states looking to work together regionally. You know, I
Speaker 1: mentioned the convenient I did with the Canadian premiers and
Speaker 1: the Northeast governors, including New York, because we have to
Speaker 1: think about how we're going to work collaboratively on bringing
Speaker 1: more energy into our region and lowering costs. I think about,
Speaker 1: for example, public health in the face of RFK just
Speaker 1: destroying public health and the public health infrastructure in this
Speaker 1: country or attempting to you know, how are we going
Speaker 1: to work together as states to make sure that people
Speaker 1: have access to the kinds of you know, vaccines that
Speaker 1: people want. Flu seasons coming up, we still have COVID,
Speaker 1: I mean all the stuff that you know, we send
Speaker 1: our kids off to school and get like, how do
Speaker 1: we work together as states to come in and support
Speaker 1: some of this infrastructure.
Speaker 3: I think the thing.
Speaker 1: About the party, Look, it's a big party, it's a
Speaker 1: big tent.
Speaker 3: You got a lot of voices.
Speaker 1: I know that I am focused on telling the story
Speaker 1: of what I am doing as a Democratic leader. I
Speaker 1: tell people about the fact that I cut taxes. I'm
Speaker 1: the first governor in Massachusetts in over twenty years, a
Speaker 1: Democrat to cut taxes. I was preceded by a Republican governor.
Speaker 1: I am focused every day on building more housing. When
Speaker 1: I started as governor, we were short and estimated two
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty thousand housing units in this state.
Speaker 3: They just hadn't been housing being built in our state.
Speaker 1: And through a bunch of things, we did tax credits
Speaker 1: for developers, you know, changes to the law to make
Speaker 1: accessory dwelling units available by right, We're doing you know,
Speaker 1: mill to housing conversions, office to housing conversions. I've offered
Speaker 1: a surplus land in the state to developers to build housing.
Speaker 1: We started with a deficit of two hundred and twenty
Speaker 1: thousand and two and a half years in, we now
Speaker 1: have over ninety thousand housing starts underway. We got a
Speaker 1: lot of work to do still, but you have to
Speaker 1: talk to people about, you know, what it is that
Speaker 1: you're delivering on and frankly, what the Democratic Party represents
Speaker 1: to me. We represent we invest in education, in public education,
Speaker 1: we invest in science, we invest in healthcare. You know,
Speaker 1: we believe that working together we can achieve so much more.
Speaker 3: I mean, we invest in workforce. These are all things
Speaker 3: that the Democratic Party stands for.
Speaker 1: And by the way, you know, I'll just say this,
Speaker 1: as a party, I think we think diversity is a strength,
Speaker 1: not a flaw. We ought to be availing ourselves of
Speaker 1: everybody's talent. You know, it doesn't matter where they're from
Speaker 1: or who they love, like, why not, you know, make
Speaker 1: the most of what everybody has to offer.
Speaker 3: And I think too to that point.
Speaker 1: You know, people believe in freedom in this country, as
Speaker 1: we should. And as a governor in Massachusetts, where this
Speaker 1: country was born, right, we celebrated two hundred and fifty years.
Speaker 1: We started a year early because we kicked it all
Speaker 1: off with those little battles in Lexington and conquered freedom matters,
Speaker 1: you know, reproductive freedom, right, the freedom to live a
Speaker 1: life free of discrimination.
Speaker 3: Right. These things matter to people. They matter to people.
Speaker 1: Who have kids too, because you want the future to
Speaker 1: be even brighter for your kids than it was for yourself.
Speaker 1: And I think that's something that we need to continue
Speaker 1: to draw in as a country, and certainly I will
Speaker 1: as a Democratic leader