Challenges Loom As Charlie Baker Prepares To Take Office
BOSTON (AP) — With a month to go before he's sworn in as Massachusetts' 72nd governor, Republican Charlie Baker is facing an array of challenges — from narrowing a stubborn racial achievement gap in the schools to assuming oversight of the state's health care website and voter-approved medical marijuana program.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Baker acknowledged one of his first tasks will be closing a budget gap estimated by Gov. Deval Patrick at $328 million, but which Baker said could run higher.
He said he's opposed to cutting unrestricted state aid to cities and towns — something Patrick proposed. Baker is also reluctant to dip into Massachusetts' rainy day fund — noting the state's economy has recovered enough to trigger an automatic income tax rate cut from 5.2 percent to 5.15 percent starting Jan. 1.
"There is some irony to this," Baker said Thursday. "We have a tax revenue base that's growing fast enough to support an automatic reduction in the income tax yet we have a spending problem.
"When people talk about the rainy day fund, it's usually supposed to be because revenues have fallen off the cliff, not the other way around," he added.
Baker — who served in the administrations of former Republican Govs. William Weld and Paul Cellucci — said two other priorities during his first 100 days include putting together a team of advisers and managers and overhauling the state's regulatory code.
On Friday, Baker visited the White House along with other newly elected governors to meet with President Barack Obama. Baker has expressed concerns about the federal government taking too heavy an approach on health care, education and other issues.
During the campaign, Baker said he'd seek a waiver from the federal Affordable Care Act. On Thursday, he said he wants to make sure the state retains the "elbow room" it needs to chart its own health care course.
"I worry a lot about having them dictated by people who don't know much of anything about how health care works on the ground here in Massachusetts," Baker told the AP.
Baker said he's taking a wait-and-see approach to the relaunch of the state's health care website, which appears to be going smoother than the disastrous rollout last year.
"I'm going to hold the balloons until we've had a chance to get on the ground and kick the tires on this stuff," he said.
On education, Baker says he'd support legislation to expand the cap on charter schools in the state's lowest-performing school districts. But he said that's only a piece of the larger education puzzle.
Higher performing schools located in urban areas should be encouraged to share some of their best practices with underperforming schools in their districts, he said, and there needs to be a greater appreciation for the challenges associated with teaching in urban areas.
"I'm really just a believer in schools that work for kids, especially in underperforming school districts," he said.
Baker said he was frustrated by the botched rollout of the voter-approved medical marijuana program, and said his goal is to get "as clean a process as we possibly can in place with professionally capable operators."
He would oppose fully legalizing marijuana in Massachusetts — a question activists are vowing to put on the 2016 state ballot, he said. While Massachusetts could benefit from the experience of other states like Colorado that have legalized pot, he said he remains concerned about the consequences of taking such a step.
"I think the addiction community will be a lot more aggressively involved in a straight-out legalization effort than they were in the previous conversations," Baker said.
Baker also weighed-in on the recent protests over a grand jury's decision not to charge a white New York City police officer in the videotaped chokehold death of an unarmed black man.
"The most important thing public officials need to understand is that we all serve at the pleasure of the communities that we're in," he said. "There's a certain trust issue that's associated with that that we need to recognize and appreciate."
He expressed interest in the use of body cameras on police officers, assuming privacy concerns can be addressed.
"If there are folks who are up for demonstrating the model, it's probably worth pursuing," he said.
During the interview, Baker also noted he's been critical of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
Asked if had confidence in commission chair Stephen Crosby or would seek a change in leadership at the panel, Baker would only say that he expected to share some of his concerns about the process upon taking office.
He said questions surrounding the Wynn Resorts casino proposal in Everett, which was recently awarded the eastern Massachusetts resort casino license, must be resolved in the next several months. Developers must show they can clean up the polluted site where the casino would be built and solve potentially serious traffic issues in nearby Sullivan Square, he said.
Baker won the governor's race in November, defeating Democrat Martha Coakley and three independent candidates. He will take the oath of office in early January, replacing Patrick, a two-term Democrat.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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