While Healey patches a Health Connector cost gap, the list of ballot questions grows

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The calendar turned, and with it came a familiar January ritual on Beacon Hill: problems that waited politely through the holidays arriving all at once.

Health care costs snapped into focus, ballot question signatures piled up in the basement, the Senate dusted off its near-term agenda and cities around the state welcomed new mayors — all against the backdrop of a new year that will end with a crowded and extremely consequential election cycle.

The most immediate pressure point arrived in the form of health care affordability. Enhanced federal premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025, and Gov. Maura Healey moved to deploy a $250 million one-year backstop through the state Health Connector. The infusion, drawn from the Commonwealth Care Trust Fund, is designed to shield about 270,000 ConnectorCare enrollees earning under 400% of the federal poverty level from dramatic premium spikes, bringing the state's total ConnectorCare investment to $600 million.

Healey and legislative leaders framed the move as necessary, limited and fundamentally reactive — a stopgap to temporarily spare people from the consequences of congressional inaction rather than a durable fix.

The delayed rollout also highlighted a gap between the administration's public warnings and its apparent internal preparations. Even as Healey spent months cautioning that the state could not backfill the loss of federal aid, the Connector had already built additional state subsidies into 2026 premiums starting Jan. 1, when the enhanced credits expired. Officials waited until Jan. 8 to publicly detail the plan.

Health Connector Executive Director Audrey Morse Gasteier said the relief was reflected in what enrollees were seeing during open enrollment. "The help that's being described today is baked into what people are seeing in terms of their premium increases and their contributions this open enrollment," she said, later emphasizing that "this help is in effect for January because of the way we planned for the possibility of congressional inaction on this topic. So people are already seeing this help today."

Senate President Karen Spilka called it standing "on the side of Massachusetts residents," while health care leaders warned that without intervention, coverage losses would explode. Still, the plan is temporary and does not help residents above the 400% threshold, all but guaranteeing that health care costs will remain front and center as lawmakers head toward budget season — and voters toward the ballot box. Surging costs are already a major headache across the state for payers and policyholders not affected by the $250 million plan.

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Speaking of ballots, few things captured the scale of what's coming like the sight of Secretary of State Bill Galvin’s staff wheeling more than 100 boxes of initiative petitions into the State House basement. Eleven questions were certified this week, joining a twelfth already on track — a record-setting slate that spans taxes, housing, elections, cannabis, zoning, public records and gun laws.

Galvin suggested the common thread is not ideology so much as frustration. With lawmakers slow or reluctant to act at all on a range of issues that people care about, well-funded campaigns have concluded that the ballot is the most efficient route to make change.

The potential logistical implications are unusual and only just now coming into view: multi-card ballots, multilingual printing, a thicker-than-ever voter information "Red Book," and an estimated $5 million increase in election administration costs. The political and policy implications may be even larger, as legislators decide whether to negotiate, deflect or let voters decide questions that cut straight to Beacon Hill's power.

The question repealing adult-use recreational marijuana already faces turbulence. Opponents are alleging that paid signature gatherers misled voters, forcing hearings before the Ballot Law Commission next week. Galvin was skeptical that challengers could knock out enough signatures in time, but the dispute is an early sign that ballot fights will be as contentious as any campaign for office this year. In this case, there's new proof of how high the stakes are: regulators this week reported cannabis sales hit a record $1.65 billion last year.

As the ballot pipeline swells, the Legislature is beginning to reawaken after its holiday lull. The Senate plans to take up a bundle of local-option property tax relief bills next week. The package would give cities and towns new tools to blunt tax shocks for seniors and lower- and middle-income homeowners.

The timing is not accidental. With affordability a dominant political theme — and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu still lobbying unsuccessfully for a broader tax shift to commercial owners — Senate leaders are signaling an approach rooted in municipal flexibility. Amendments are due Monday, and the debate will offer an early window into how aggressively the Senate plans to move in 2026.

Wu, for her part, used the first Monday of the year to set her own tone.

Taking the oath for a second term at Symphony Hall, the mayor leaned into Menino-like a message of "getting the basics right" — repaving streets, streamlining permitting, improving parks and fixing long-troubled Boston Public Schools. She paired that with sharp criticism of the Trump administration and a pledge to bring City Hall closer to neighborhoods through expanded office hours.

The speech was light on new marquee initiatives and largely sidestepped the city's fiscal challenges tied to falling commercial property values. Wu later acknowledged the need for tough choices in a constrained budget environment, emphasizing vision and continuity over splashy proposals. With Boston facing hard math in the months ahead, the contrast between ambition and affordability may define her new term's early chapters.

Leadership changes extended beyond city halls around the state.

Sources confirmed that John Barros — former Boston economic development chief and longtime civic figure — is poised to take over as interim CEO of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority. The move comes after years of turmoil at the agency, including leadership turnover, a $500,000 severance payout and an ongoing Senate oversight investigation.

On the infrastructure front, offshore wind contract negotiations slipped again, with state officials understatedly citing "ongoing uncertainty caused by federal level activities." Given the Trump administration's flat opposition to offshore power projects, contracts once expected in 2024 seem on hold indefinitely, leaving climate goals — and Healey's campaign promises — in a holding pattern as lawmakers also grapple with rising utility bills.

Transportation planning offered a different kind of long view. The MBTA shortlisted three teams to compete for the next commuter rail operating contract, a deal that will shape service, spending and modernization efforts for up to 14 years. With regional rail transformation still more aspirational than real, the procurement process is framed as a pivotal step — and one that will draw scrutiny over cost and performance expectations.

In Everett, the changing of the mayoral guard came with a major development. Outgoing Mayor Carlo DeMaria signed an agreement with Wynn Resorts just hours before leaving office, clearing the way for a major hotel expansion near Encore Boston Harbor and reviving plans for a long-discussed commuter rail stop.

New Mayor Robert Van Campen pledged to move the deal forward while flagging concerns about congestion and station placement — a familiar tension as casino-driven development intersects with regional transit and a proposed New England Revolution soccer stadium across the street.

That stadium, and another global spectacle, loom large as summer approaches.

With less than six months until the FIFA World Cup kicks off matches at Gillette Stadium, state officials reported progress on security and transportation planning but raised fresh concerns about funding structures, reimbursement timing and still-undetermined fan festival locations. The event promises international attention and economic upside but exposes the state to logistical and fiscal risk that lawmakers are carefully monitoring.

Rep. Natalie Blais announced plans to resign her Franklin County seat to take a government relations post at UMass Amherst. Her departure will leave a sprawling rural district unrepresented as budget deliberations begin, forcing House leaders to decide whether to call a special election in an already jam-packed political year.

National headlines also reached Massachusetts this week after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. When asked about the incident, Healey said ICE had to "stop doing what they're doing."

"The way to prevent incidents like that from happening is for ICE to act in a way that's appropriate, that's lawful," she said. "It's not making our communities safer."

Taken together, the first full week of 2026 felt like a table-setter. Health care costs are colliding with ballot-box democracy, affordability debates are intersecting with leadership transitions, and long-term projects — from offshore wind to World Cup planning — are testing the state's capacity to manage risk in uncertain times.

THE SUNDAY SHOWS

@ ISSUE SIT DOWN: 9:30 a.m., NBC 10. Reporter Matt Prichard interviews Liz Breadon, the new Boston City Council president.

ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. Congressman Stephen Lynch is the guest.

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