By Bob Katzen
“Massachusetts has some of the most beautiful state parks in the country, and it takes all of us to preserve them for generations to come. In honor of Earth Day, it’s nice to get outside and celebrate our natural spaces.”
—Gov. Maura Healey who along with First Lady Joanna Lydgate, visited Torbert MacDonald State Park in Medford to celebrate Earth Day.
“Massachusetts is hemorrhaging private sector jobs, and the Healey administration’s answer is to bloat the government at a time when our state’s fiscal wellbeing is in a very tenuous position. This isn’t job growth—it’s political insulation, and taxpayers are the ones footing the bill.”
—Paul Craney, executive director of the Mass Fiscal Alliance on newly released employment data which he says revealed a net loss of 24,800 private sector jobs over the last year.
“When employers violate our laws, including through wage theft and untimely payments, workers are unfairly harmed, exploited and financially deprived. My office will continue to enforce our laws to protect and empower workers, reminding employers that Massachusetts is serious about workers’ rights.”
—Attorney General Andrea Campbell announcing that Swissport, a North Carolina-based airport services company that employs workers at Boston’s Logan Airport, will pay $3.1 million In restitution and penalties to resolve allegations, including failure to make timely payments and pay overtime to more than 2,000 airport workers.
“The persistent increase in antisemitic incidents over the past five years is a stark reminder that antisemitism continues to impact our communities. Particularly concerning is the continued proliferation of extremist incidents and the rise of attacks against Orthodox Jews. The alarming manifestations of antisemitism in 2024 instill fear and are reminders that much work remains to be done.”
— Samantha Joseph, Anti-Defamation League New England’s Regional Director, on the group’s annual audit of antisemitic incidents reporting a total of 638 incidents of assault, harassment and vandalism in 2024 within the five-state region of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. She said that this is the fifth year in a row that antisemitic incidents increased and broke the previous all-time high in 2023.
“MAGA Mike Kennealy is quickly proving that he is not ready for prime time. The fact that Mike Kennealy admits that he didn’t even make a choice for President in three of the most consequential elections of our lifetime is a sad statement on his leadership.”
— Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair Steve Kerrigan on Republican candidate for governor Mike Kennealy’s acknowledgement that he did not vote for a president in the last three elections in 2016, 2020 and 2024, when Donald Trump was on the ballot.
“If the MassDems care about strong leadership on issues like housing, the migrant crisis and the economy, their options are support Mike Kennealy or recruit a primary challenger to Maura Healey. She has failed miserably on all of the issues Massachusetts residents care about.”
— Ben Hincher, campaign manager for Mike Kennealy, responding to Democratic Party Chair Steve Kerrigan.