As someone who has served as a state legislator with Deval Patrick during his entire tenure as Governor (and four years under Governor Romney!), like many engaged Massachusetts progressives I have been thinking a lot about his legacy. So it was great to read the above the fold story in the Boston Sunday Globe, “The Patrick legacy: history and headwinds.” The story drove lots of discussion on Sunday, mostly on social media, and I have no doubt that it will be a big topic of discussion this week, as legislators for the 2015-2016 session get sworn-in and Governor Patrick makes his “Lone Walk” from the State House on Wednesday, and Charlie Baker becomes our next Governor on Thursday.
It’s hard to measure any elected official’s legacy, most especially a high-profile governor who commanded headlines almost every day, both good and bad, and quickly became a prominent national figure, such as Deval Patrick did. And of course, it’s often even unfair to assess a politician’s legacy just as its ending, compared to two, five, ten years down the road.
However, when I think of the impact that Governor Patrick had on Massachusetts, including its political culture, it’s important to remember the messages that Governor Patrick ran on that brought him to the Corner Office – it was to time change the culture on Beacon Hill, and we’re all in this together. I saw this as Deval Patrick using his rhetoric, his vision, and his administration and supporters to bring the hopes, dreams and concerns of people outside the State House, and give them a seat at the table, to move the Commonwealth of Massachusetts forward, together. From that initial “issues input website” that his staff created after his election in November 2006 (remember that?!), there was a tremendous amount of excitement about a potential new way of governing.
Of course, any new ideas, policies or pieces of legislation would need to pass the Legislature, and as Governor Patrick admits in the Globe story, the Legislature can be very confusing, and frustrating. In addition, there is the reality that the Legislature in its current form is highly centralized, with significant power wielded over rank and file members by the Speaker of the House and the Senate President. The challenge, then, was balancing the power of the grassroots, of voices outside Beacon Hill, with establishing a close rapport with the House and Senate leadership, and at least a significant portion of the Legislature, to carry out a vision that was bold, progressive, inclusive, and forward-looking.
This is very, very difficult, and to properly explain the dynamic that existed between the Legislature and Governor Patrick would require writings consisting of tens of thousands of words. However, I think it is fair to say that on most major initiatives that Governor Patrick and the Legislature committed itself to (clean energy, biotech, transportation infrastructure, gay marriage, substance abuse, Gateway Cities, protecting open space, ethics reform, health care reform, education, among others), a great deal of progress was made that improved the lives of everyday Massachusetts residents. To those who criticize the Governor on not doing enough, or having poor relationships with legislators, or for his administration making mistakes, I think that Massachusetts has come a long way since 2006, and much of that progress came about due to a strong partnership with the Legislature. To those who critique Governor Patrick as being too much of an outsider, I would respond (as I referenced in a BMG post last fall, “If only he governed MORE as an outsider!” All in all, I believe that Governor Patrick struck a healthy balance in governing with the co-equal branches, and I am sad to see him leave the State House this week.
There is no way to properly summarize Governor Patrick’s accomplishments on all of the issues that he championed, and the long-lasting impact he has had on Massachusetts. But I did want to highlight a few key areas where all of his (and his staff’s) impressive skills came together to engage and inspire people to action, comprehensive legislation was passed, and the consensus of the state was moved forward, such that the people of Massachusetts face a much brighter future.
On clean energy policy, Massachusetts became the leading state in the nation not only because of legislation such as the Green Communities Act and the Global Warming Solutions Act, but the way that Governor Patrick connected clean energy with generational responsibility, inspiring tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents to become global warming activists with his vision. These policies created thousands of new jobs, reduced energy costs, and struck a blow for combating climate change.
Governor Patrick made immigrants and communities of color feel that they had a seat at the table, and that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts was as much theirs as their neighbors. He did this by tirelessly defending against attacks on non-citizens, making education, healthcare and workers’ rights accessible to more immigrants, and reminding all residents that we are all in this together. The state is a more welcoming place because of his outspokenness. Think of all of the new people now active in their communities across Massachusetts, running for office, taking leadership in their neighborhoods, demanding that their elected officials fight for bold change.
Finally, Governor Patrick has led a statewide conversation about comprehensive criminal justice reform, successfully fighting for laws like CORI reform and early release for nonviolent drug offenders. It is my sincere hope that the major changes that he has called out for over the past year will become law in the next session. Perhaps more than any other issue of our time, especially in light of the growing movement since the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, criminal justice reform is the next civil rights issue in this country, if we are serious about achieving racial equality.
Governor Patrick’s vision and accomplishments on clean energy, inclusiveness, and criminal justice reform, like many others, will positively shape the people of Massachusetts for generations to come. We will soon lose the man whose rhetoric and record created this change as our governor, and it’s now up to the rest of us to carry that vision forward.
It took 1,050 words to say not so much about specific accomplishments of the Patrick Administration. Gov.Patrick was elected on his speaking ability and will be remembered for his speaking ability, but high rhetoric does not always result in substantive actions. I think he was bored with the administrative duties, did not like dealing with the legislature and public safety/DA offices and turned to others to carry the ball. (That became most apparent after the Lt. Governor resigned…Murray had done the yeoman’s work on transportation, Gateway Cities/municipal issues, veterans issues, STEM education initiatives, etc….his departure left a void.) The Patrick Adm. as a whole can take credit for some initiatives but like Rep. Eldridge’s own 1,050 words of soaring rhetoric, I think the Patrick Administration fell short of expectations and given 8 years missed some chances to solve some big problems. ….Hate to admit that as a Democrat but the speeches don’t mean that much to me anymore, action is the only gauge I pay attention to now.
I think Sen. Eldridge makes great points on several fronts. Clean energy, there is a night and day difference between what Gov. Healey or Gov. Baker would’ve pursued vis a vis Cape Wind, and he went up against some powerful Democrats too (including our US Senate delegation for his first term). Estimates at the time showed Cape Wind powering 1/5 of MA homes and now estimates say it may be as high as 1/3 or 1/2. For those of us, like my extended family in Salem, who have to live next to carbon spewing monsters, seeing the smokestacks at Salem Light come down while wind turbines are starting to come up is a big deal.
So are the reforms that allowed biotech to do business more easily, implementing the first stages of health care reform, and keeping most services funded due to sound economic stewardship of one of the worst recessions. Massachusetts fared far better than most states, particularly the one I am currently living in, and did so without significantly raising taxes or fees or cutting back on services.
There have been many missteps too. From symbolic stuff like drapegate, significant things like the Franklin Park Zoo cut proposal, cuts to mental health, and drastic mismanagement of the DCF and Health Connector fiascos in the second term. Heads should’ve rolled, people should’ve been fired, some people may even needed to be jailed. None of that happened. It’s on Deval. Rejecting his bold and sound revenue and transit proposal is entirely on the legislature (the OP excepted of course).
But I don’t regret voting for the man twice, and I honestly feel if given a third change to do so, I would have.
I think Governor Patrick was great on loads of things, including energy. But, no power plant could provide 1/3 to 1/2 of the electricity for Massachusetts homes, and that’s a good thing, both from a reliability and a market power perspective.
454 MW, 38% annual capacity factor. 1.5 million MWh. There are roughly 55 million MWh in total retail sales in Massachusetts (EIA, 2012). Even if we just look at residential (“Massachusetts homes”) you’ve got retail sales of approximately 18 million MWh (roughly 1/3 of sales are residential). 1.5/18 == Cape Wind powering 1/12 of MA homes.
I don’t write this to disparage Cape Wind. On the contrary, Cape Wind and projects like it are necessary for Massachusetts to meet our carbon emissions targets, to hedge against the price fluctuations of natural gas and oil, and to increase local economic benefit to energy expenditures.
I only write to keep folks’ understanding in perspective: Cape wind is big, and Cape Wind is important, but not as big and important as you suggest, expressed as a fraction of electricity provided.
It has gone up to 75% of Cape Cod homes, not the entire state. Still ahead of projection and nothing to sneeze at.
75% of the electricity needs of Cape and Islands — not just homes, but also businesses, government, and all other users. It’s been pegged at 75% of C&I, plus or minus a smidge, for more than a decade though. That forecast hasn’t changed. And, let’s not forget, it isn’t built yet.
But, we digress. There’s no question that Deval Patrick’s early and vocal support for Cape Wind, both as a candidate and a governor, has been instrumental to Cape Wind getting to where it is today — poised to begin construction this year.
Deval was the face of the effort, and it kept me calm even in Chicago just seeing his face on TV and the actions he took. Even my Baker voting relatives had to concede that. To wit, I think Mitt handled emergencies quite well too, and think it’s the sort of thing Baker will be good at as well. It takes the extraordinary incompetence like Michael Brown, George W. Bush, or Michael Bilandic to mismanage them. But it takes amazing grace and resolve under pressure, and Deval was a great Governor throughout that crisis.
The Patrick administration was largely responsible for the initial implementation of Chapter 58 (Romneycare), and they made it work. It wouldn’t have been a model for a national system without the good work that they did.
This legacy is, of course, tarnished somewhat by the Health Connector disaster of 2013-14. But it’s not too much to say that MA was indeed a successful laboratory of democracy, and that a lot of people beyond our borders have health care today because of Chapter 58. We can only hope that MA’s successes on clean energy and efficiency are also imitated and adopted throughout the country.
I’m personally not sure things ultimately worked out for MA on the health care front.