New England Council Breakfast with Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker February 19, 2015—8:00 – 9:30 A.M. The Boston Harbor Hotel, Boston, MA On February 19, 2015, Governor Charlie Baker spoke to NEC members during a breakfast at the Boston Harbor Hotel. The Governor discussed his early days serving the Commonwealth, the economic and weather related issues facing it, and what issues he would like to tackle during his Administration. A special thanks to NEC members John Hancock Financial Services and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care for their generous sponsorship of the breakfast. Summary of the remarks of Governor Charlie Baker to The New England Council February 19, 2015 Governor Baker opened his remarks by sharing a joke a friend told him while he was campaigning for Governor saying, “With respect to all of the recent snow, I remember talking to a friend who said that hell would freeze over before Massachusetts elects a Republican governor.” Governor Baker, a former Chairman of the New England Council, discussed his time at the organization and what it has been able to become and accomplish over the years. o The Governor said, “The New England Council was my first job out of college. The great thing about the Council is that it has stood the test of time and during that time it has continued to serve as the regional leader for a whole series of initiatives and issues. Under Jim Brett’s leadership it has become the premiere place to go to engage Congress on issues that matter to New England—we appreciate all that you have done for the people of the region.” The Governor then reflected on his tenure so far as the Commonwealth’s chief executive by discussing his governing philosophy. o During his campaign for governor, Baker made a commitment to seek out the best ideas and implement them regardless of where or which party they came from saying, “If you look at the folks we brought in, it’s an even split between Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. I did not know most of their party affiliations; I just knew they were leading experts in their fields. These are people with a tremendous amount of public and private experience and that will be great managers and leaders for the Commonwealth.” o Another priority of the Baker Administration has been reach out to other stakeholders, such as mayors, legislators, the business community, and communities, to “establish the notion of an open door administration.” The Governor said this approach was “helpful for when the skies opened and it started to snow.” o The Governor said, “One of the biggest early lessons for me was that you should not be surprised when you get surprised. During the first weeks of my Administration I received calls saying Boston was selected for the U.S. Olympic bid and that there were protestors blocking the road on both I-93 North and South.” o On a lighter note, Governor Baker said, “It is very important to point out that the Patriots won the Super Bowl under my Administration.” Governor Baker discussed some early challenges faced by his Administration, such as the snow, the MBTA, and the budget. o The Governor then addressed the challenges stemming from the seemingly endless snowstorms the Commonwealth received saying, “The big story of the last month or so has been snow—I’ve learned a lot about snow recently.” The Governor shared that he has spent a lot of time with local officials and gotten to know a lot of our neighbors in the Northeast that have been helping with snow removal efforts. The Governor said, “I want to give a shout out to Connecticut, Vermont, and Maine because those three states have sent a lot of resources to Massachusetts—it has been marvelous to see them and other states lend us their help, equipment, and manpower. The support from other states and cooperation from local communities has made a great difference in dealing with all of this snow.” o Governor Baker said the storms revealed and reiterated the longstanding issues with the public transportation system and called it “a learning experience.” The Governor said his conversations with the MBTA focused on “spending time talking about the things we need to do today to make the system work better tomorrow—this is our primary focus.” He then thanked the National Guard “who helped shovel out the railroad tracks and made it possible to restore the system in five or six days instead of the thirty days that was originally projected.” o Governor Baker said, “The budget deficit that we had to deal with coming in the door was largely caused by the rollout of the Affordable Care Act in Massachusetts and the Commonwealth’s inability to get it [the Mass Health Connector] operational.” The Governor thanked the legislature for helping him to pass a bill in less than two weeks which closed the budget gap for the remainder of fiscal year 2015 and said, “It showed that the legislature is willing to work collaboratively with us and will help for when we file the budget for fiscal year 2016.” Governor Baker talked about the New England region saying, “New England is doing well compared to other regions but we have to make sure our overall position keeps getting better” and cited high energy costs as a drag on economic growth. o The Governor said, “New England pays a lot more for energy than other parts of the country and that’s due to a combination of factors. One of the biggest factors is that we do not have enough capacity to get source energy supplies here that are significantly less expensive than other sources that other regions enjoy.” The Governor would like to address this problem by expanding existing pipeline capacity along existing right of ways. o The Governor is spending time with other New England governors “Talking about what [they] can do to enhance our capacity to meet regional energy needs in an appropriate and cost effective way. Businesses, families, colleges, municipalities, and everyone else cannot go through this issue every winter where electricity prices rise over 30% when it is so expensive to begin with—we have to do better and this is a great opportunity to work together as New Englanders.” Governor Baker closed his remarks saying, “We need everyone’s help on all of these initiatives to be truly great. Any opportunity we have to work with you, we are interested in doing so. The best opportunities going forward are ones where we work together and put labels away to focus on getting things done here not only in Massachusetts but throughout the entire region.” Never miss a New England Council Event! Check out our upcoming events page here. .