Legislative Update – Week of January 2, 2023

Jan 03, 2023

This week:

At 2 PM on Tuesday, Governor Charlie Baker will deliver his farewell speech from his office as a “thank you” to Massachusetts residents. The ceremonial transfer of power from Baker to incoming Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey will take place on Wednesday afternoon. Baker, a Republican, was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2014 and was re-elected in 2018. In March, Baker will begin his next role as president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 

The inauguration of incoming governor of Massachusetts Maura Healey will take place on Thursday in the House Chamber at 11:30am. Healey is the first lesbian governor in the country, and is the first all-female executive leadership team in Massachusetts history with incoming Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll.

The Massachusetts Legislature holds their final session of the 192nd General Court on Tuesday before the new Legislature is sworn in on Wednesday. On Wednesday, Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate will separately caucus to choose party leaders before being sworn-in to office. 

The U.S. House of Representatives gavels in to the first session of the 1118th Congress on Tuesday morning. The first action will be to elect a Speaker of the House. Despite a Republican House majority, party leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is struggling to secure the necessary votes.

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