Gov. Maura Healey earned sustained applause from state lawmakers when she said in her inaugural address last week she wants to conduct a full equity audit across her administration. On Thursday, she offered some new details of how that review will proceed.
Appearing live on the internet broadcast Java with Jimmy, Healey told host James Hills she plans to soon issue an executive order creating an interagency task force to look at equity across commissions, departments and the various secretariats in her cabinet. The task force, she said, will look both internally at staffing and pay within government and externally to the outcomes of state policies.
"The whole point is, you know, breaking down systemic barriers that have held people back, particularly people of color, but we could talk about LGBTQ people, we could talk about people with disabilities, right, we could talk about, you know, a range of disparities out there," said Healey, who made history when she was sworn in as the first openly gay governor of Massachusetts and the first woman elected to the post.
Healey listed off a slew of areas she hopes the review will explore, including pay differences, environmental justice, health outcomes, public transit ridership and the populations that use state services.
She said she wants to make sure all the executive offices under her purview — which handle broad and important areas like housing, economic development, transportation and health and human services — keep equity at the forefront.
"It's about what we're doing in our own house, who's at the the table, who's making decisions, all of that, right?" she said. "And importantly, it's also about — I mean, I want to be the people's governor — it's about what we're doing for people. We've got to measure what's happening with people, what the impact is on on people and you know, [be] really mindful that we must center equity in all that we do."
In her first week on the job, Healey so far has signed one executive order, creating an office of climate innovation and resilience.
