Before he leaves the State House and goes back to life as just Charlie from Swampscott, Gov. Charlie Baker had a chance to reconnect with some old friends Thursday — and leave some notes for his successor.
Maura from Cambridge, Bill from Canton and Marty from Dorchester — better known as Gov.-elect Maura Healey, former Gov. Bill Weld and U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh — all called in during Baker’s final appearance on Boston Public Radio as his eight years in office wind down, expressing their gratitude and congratulations.
“You’re busted!” Baker said to Healey, laughing. “I do have a lot of questions, though,” she quipped after thanking Baker for his “incredible service to the commonwealth.”
After the incoming and outgoing governor exchanged jokes about Healey cleaning out the highest shelves in the governor’s office after the much-taller Baker leaves, the governor told her he looks forward to her and Lt. Gov-elect Kim Driscoll “climbing aboard and taking over the show.”
“It will be, I promise you, it will be one of the most maddening and amazing professional experiences you’ll ever have,” he said.
Asked what he hopes to see Healey do once she takes office next month, Baker pointed to some of the unfinished business of this legislative session, including a package of tax cuts he proposed at the start of the year and a funding bill he filed last month to address the housing and shelter needs for the influx of migrants that have been arriving in Massachusetts.
He also reflected on his time as governor, calling his upcoming departure bittersweet.
"Obviously, Karyn Polito and I have really appreciated the time we've been able to spend with the people of Massachusetts for the past eight years, and I wouldn't trade it for anything," he said. "I think both of us believed that it was appropriate not to run again, and I think we're leaving the state better than we found it — which, given the fact that there was a pandemic in the middle of it, we think is pretty cool."
On his accomplishments
Aside from the big political names, Baker heard farewell messages from a mix of callers — among them, a trial lawyer who thanked him for the many judicial appointments he made, one who was involved in his procurement reform efforts, and a retired Health Connector employee who voiced appreciation for the support Baker showed for the state's insurance marketplace.
Co-host Margery Eagan said she thought of Baker when she recently had dental surgery and came home with a “tiny container” of pain pills — the product of a policy Baker proposed to limit first-time opioid prescriptions for adults.
Baker said while the pandemic has dealt a blow to efforts to combat the opioid crisis, many strategies pursued by Massachusetts “ultimately became part of the national conversation around opioids.”
“We have a ton of work left to do there, but it’s definitely a different dynamic than it was when we took office, and I’m glad you got a very small prescription on your way out the door,” Baker said.
On what’s next
Baker said he has “a bunch of books I want to read when I’m done." Among them is “Empire of Pain,” about the Sackler family that founded Purdue Pharma and its role in the opioid epidemic.
After eight years of being shuttled around by the state police, who he said don’t want him behind the wheel because of safety concerns, Baker said he’s also thinking about buying a new car and would consider an electric vehicle. He said he recently visited a dealership and sat in a car, only to be mystified by the high-tech dashboard.
"I'm going to have to spend some time, like, figuring out how to actually — they've changed a lot since the last time I was in one," he said.
Baker maintained that another bid for office — any office — in 2024 is not on his agenda, but said he will “try to be involved in a positive way.”
The governor started his career in state government working in health care and budgetary roles in Weld’s administration. Weld — who governed as a Republican, ran for president in 2016 as a Libertarian then ultimately returned to the GOP for a brief presidential run in 2020 — said he had an idea for a project both he and Baker could take on.
“It’s something that I know he has greatly enjoyed while in office and now, Gov. Baker, you can do it full time — and that’s to work on rebuilding the Massachusetts Republican Party,” Weld offered.
After Baker and Polito turn their keys over to Healey and Driscoll, Republicans will hold no statewide offices in Massachusetts. Democrats also picked up a few seats in the state Legislature in the November election.
Baker said voters across the country sent a message on Election Day.
“I think it’s really important that people hear the voters, because hearing the voters and adjusting to them is the only way you maintain your relevance,” he said.
Weld, reviewing Baker’s tenure, told him he “got an awful lot done.”
“Although, you know, in my view, you kind of did it the hard way. You worked at it, all the time,” Weld said, drawing hearty laughs from Baker. “It would have been so much easier if you’d only had some guy — like, for example, Charlie Baker — working for you as I did to take care of all the financial stuff and the big issues like health care. Next time you want to think about that.”
WATCH: Boston Public Radio’s last “Ask the Governor” with Gov. Charlie Baker
