Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey’s approval ratings are holding steady in a new poll. But widespread concerns over mass transit and the state’s housing crisis are earning her poor marks among Bay State residents.
Nearly 6 in 10 respondents (58%) to the new poll by UMass Amherst and WCVB-TV in Boston say they approve of the Democratic governor’s job performance after nearly 10 months on the job. That’s compared to the 27% who disapproved, and 15% who said they had no opinion.
The governor’s numbers are all-but-unchanged from a similar poll in April, where 57% respondents said they approved of her job performance. And a clear majority of respondents to the latest UMass canvass (56%) said she’s thus far met their expectations.
But more than half the poll’s 700 respondents gave Healey poor marks for her management of the state’s housing crisis, with 51% saying she was handling it “not too well,” or “not well at all.” And a plurality, 43%, graded her the same way for the challenges surrounding the MBTA, according to the poll.
Last week, Healey’s administration filed a long-awaited $4.12 billion housing bond bill, a sprawling policy blueprint that includes 28 new policy proposals, two tax credits, and three executive orders. All of it is aimed at creating and preserving housing in Massachusetts, MassLive previously reported.
“For over three decades, housing production has not kept pace with our population and we have a severe housing shortage in Massachusetts,” Healey said during a news conference in Chelsea last week. “There aren’t enough homes to go around and prices have gone up. I don’t want people leaving. I don’t want to see people struggling. We don’t want our economy to stop growing and thriving.”
The five-year bond bill, which more than doubles the previous housing bond bill filed in 2018 by then-Gov. Charlie Baker, is expected to lead to the creation of 40,000 new housing units.
Nearly a third of the poll’s respondents, 31%, listed housing affordability and the housing shortage as their top policy concern facing the state.
The state of the “T,” meanwhile, remains an ongoing headache for Healey’s administration. Healey has called the problems facing the transit system “unacceptable,” and its general manager and CEO, Philip Eng, has reshuffled its executive leadership, the Boston Globe reported.
“I took this job understanding the T was going to be a major, major issue,” Healey said. “And as governor, I have accepted the task of making sure we are doing everything we can to address years of mismanagement, underinvestment,” Healey said during a Sunday interview with WBZ-TV’s “Keller @Large” program. “The blame here, and I want to be clear, it’s not on the workers.… the problem here is with senior officials at the T under the prior administration who knew information, didn’t disclose it, and most importantly didn’t address it.”
Healey’s approvals are more narrowly split on the state’s ongoing migrant housing crisis, with 38% of respondents giving her high marks, compared to 41% of respondents who panned her performance. Twenty percent said they didn’t know enough to form an opinion.
Despite those challenges, Healey’s approvals still are higher than the state’s other, major elected leaders: Attorney General Andrea J. Campbell (36%) and Democratic U.S. Sens. Ed Markey (50%) and Elizabeth Warren (55%). The Bay State’s Legislature nabs a 54% approval rating in the poll.
The poll was conducted between Oct. 13 and 20, with a total margin of error of 5.1%.