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BOSTON (State House News Service) — With both halves of the Healey-Driscoll administration out of Massachusetts, Secretary of State William Galvin is serving as acting governor until Thursday night.
Gov. Maura Healey departed Massachusetts on Sunday evening for what her office said is a school vacation week family trip in Florida. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll also left the Bay State on Sunday, opting to spend the vacation week visiting family in Georgia, the governor's office said.
Healey is expected to return Thursday night, Feb. 23 and Driscoll is scheduled to be back on Sunday, Feb. 26. Until Healey returns Thursday night, the powers of the governor will be in the hands of Galvin, the longtime secretary of state and veteran of Beacon Hill.
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The trip to Florida, where Healey also spent some time in the weeks after winning the November election, is at least the third time that the new governor has left Massachusetts and handed off power to someone else. Healey was in Washington, D.C. for the State of the Union address on Feb. 7, then returned to Massachusetts for one day before heading back to D.C. for National Governors Association winter meetings and a gala at the White House. Driscoll traveled out of state in late January to attend to a family matter.
With many Massachusetts schools on vacation, the third week of February is often a quiet time on Beacon Hill while many families travel. The pace should pick up soon: Healey is due to file her first budget and said she will present her own tax package on March 1.
Written by Colin A. Young/SHNS
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