'I never close the door on anything,' outgoing Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker says of future
BOSTON - Governor Charlie Baker's term ends in a week. In an interview Thursday with WBZ-TV's Chris Tanaka, he discussed the ups and downs of the office, his next job at the NCAA, and what comes down the road.
Baker said one of his biggest accomplishments was delivering high-speed internet access to western Massachusetts.
"I do think putting the broadband capabilities into those 53 communities in western Mass. that didn't have it, was a really significant impact," Baker said.
Despite a popular and productive eight-year term, Baker leaves office wishing he had done more. He said he fought hard to get legislation done on both dangerousness and sexually explicit images.
"We're one of only two states in the country that doesn't have a statute that makes revenge porn a crime and some of the stories the women told about that were just brutal as well," Baker said. "I feel terrible about the fact that I couldn't get the job done for those folks."
He also acknowledged other challenges confronting Maura Healey when she is sworn in as governor next Thursday.
"We have got to do something about our housing supply and our housing cost, because if you're between the ages of 25-35, there are much easier places to buy a home and you can work from home a lot of different places now," Baker said.
Next up, Baker is getting behind the wheel of the NCAA as well as a car of his own. He has not had to drive himself for the last eight years. "My wife thinks I need to notify the police departments in all the communities that surround Swampscott as well as Swampscott," Baker said.
He begins his role as president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association in March.
He described the NCAA sports landscape as transitional, complex, and high-risk. "I just look at the whole thing and see something that is already remarkable and could be amazing and we just have to make sure that we get from here to there in a positive way," Baker said.
He also said he is not ruling out a potential run for president in the future.
"I never close the door on anything," Baker said. "There's enough unpredictability in my own political career for me to accept and understand and appreciate that hard and fast answers on stuff like that are probably just a bad idea."
Baker will continue to live in Swampscott and you may catch him driving in an old '66 Mustang he's been working on for years.