Massachusetts Recovery Plan - 3/16/2009

We gather, as you all know, in a time of economic crisis. Every individual, every family, and every business in our Commonwealth is facing unprecedented challenges and uncertainty. This crisis also reminds us how interconnected we all are. Hardships in one sector of our economy affect others. One neighbor’s struggle becomes a neighborhoods’. We rise or fall together. In times like these the mission of state government is absolutely clear, and that is to Secure our Common Economic Future. That means doing everything we can to create and sustain jobs for Massachusetts people and opportunities for Massachusetts businesses. That is what our Massachusetts Economic Recovery Plan is all about. Our plan will deliver immediate relief by putting people to work today, invest in ways that position us for a better tomorrow, and reform the way government does business to prepare our Commonwealth for the ultimate revival of our global economy. And it is worth reminding ourselves of that at every opportunity. All economies are cyclical, and we will cycle out of this downturn. So we must make the judgments today that make us as strong as possible for that opportunity when it comes. Using federal stimulus dollars, state funds and economic development grants, and private development to jump-start our economy, our goal is to put people to work now, and to create economic value over the long-run. In the coming weeks, we will announce investments through the Massachusetts Recovery Plan in education, health care, unemployment benefits, broadband and clean energy projects, public safety and housing – all of them designed to put people to work and secure our common economic future. Today is the first. I’m very proud to join you all to break ground on the rehabilitation of the Chelsea Street Bridge. This $125 million project is already underway, and will employ – before all’s said and done – some 150 people during the life of the project. It also restores a safe and essential transportation link between Chelsea and Boston. Rebuilding the Chelsea Street Bridge is just one example of how Massachusetts will get back on the track to recovery. There are projects just like this one for which people in other communities, often waiting all across the Commonwealth for years, and that we can start to get to thanks to the kind of collaboration the state has with municipalities like Boston, with neighborhoods like this one, and with resources from the federal and state government. We have lots and lots of work to do to turn this economy around; to rebuild our business activity and our self-confidence. We may have to do that one project and one worker at a time. But I know that Together We Can. So let’s get started. Thank you.