Governor Deval Patrick joined Jim Braude and Margery Eagan on Boston Public Radio for his monthly installment of “Ask the Gov,” in which he addressed new allegations that the Russian government withheld intelligence about Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Patrick said he was “not sure” additional intelligence from the Russian government could have prevented the attack.
“We are all grasping for, quite naturally, for ways to explain how this might have happened. But so far it’s pretty attenuated,” Patrick said.
Patrick expressed frustration with the Russian government’s refusal to provide requested information to the FBI in a timely fashion, which could have triggered more extensive investigations into Tsarnaev in the years leading up to the bombing. “You’d like to think Russian intelligence would respond to direct FBI questions about the suspects within a year or more of the question being asked - I think repeatedly asked,” Patrick said.
“But even so, I’m not sure the answers we now have would have been enough to prevent what happened,” he continued.
Looking forward, Patrick said the city was fully prepared to host this year’s marathon on April 21. “You can’t compare against every eventuality, but we practiced a lot of scenarios. And I think the team is really ready,” he said.
Patrick Defends Controversial Zohydro Ban
Governor Patrick recently came under fire for his move to ban the prescriptive painkiller Zohydro – a new drug recently approved by the FDA despite concerns that it is dangerously addictive and potentially deadly. Zogenix, Inc., the manufacturers of Zohydro, have taken legal action, declaring the ban a violation of their constitutional rights.
Patrick justified the ban within the context of a wider epidemic of heroin overdoses plaguing the state. “We have a very serious opiates addiction in Massachusetts,” he said. “A lot of analysis shows the spike in heroin addiction and heroin overdoses have their roots in addictions that begin with narcotic painkillers.”
Patrick maintains the ban is legal under the state law authorizing a governor to declare a public health emergency. “The question before the federal court is whether commercial interests trump the public health,” he said.
On New House Ways and Means Budget
The House Ways and Means committee announced a new $36.2 billion state budget proposal Wednesday afternoon. The proposed budget – which contains no new taxes - rejected Patrick’s plan earlier this year for a soda and candy tax to fund early childhood education, among other initiatives.
Nevertheless, Patrick was hopeful that negotiations had not reached a dead end. “The budget process is just that - it’s a process,” he said. “I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to do a little better – hopefully a lot better – on the line item about early childhood education.”
The Civil Rights Act: 50 Years Later
Today marked the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act, the landmark piece of legislation lifting legal barriers to racial equality signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
Patrick pointed to the Civil Rights Act as being a fundamental driver of racial progress in the past fifty years, but said the work it began on advancing racial equality was far from finished.
“The laws we’re celebrating are partially responsible for the life I’ve gotten to lead,” Patrick said. “I also see there are lots of other people of color who are stuck in poverty, stuck in achievement gaps.”
“I have always acknowledged the role of personal responsibility and grit and determination,” he continued. “But there areas till systemic attitudes and obstacles before people. As a community, citywide, statewide, a national community, we need to see our common stake in solving these problems.”
Listen to the full interview with Governor Deval Patrick on Boston Public Radio above.
