Baker vows to announce future out-of-state travel

[unhappycamper]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/03/17/baker-vows-announce-future-out-state-travel/0AelJoMjHleOAJOT5wbq7I/story.html

Baker vows to announce future out-of-state travel
By Jim O’Sullivan Globe Staff
March 17, 2016

Following a weekend trip to a secret conservative confab, Governor Charlie Baker said Thursday that he would stop his practice of leaving the state — an act that triggers a constitutional transfer of power — without first informing the public.

Appearing on a WGBH radio show, Baker acknowledged his trip earlier this month to a gathering of high-level conservatives off the coast of Georgia. He called the trip, which was first reported by the Globe this week, “no big deal,” but he said he would put an end to his administration’s custom of not publicly acknowledging when the governor travels outside state borders.

“Any time I travel outside Massachusetts, we’ll make sure everybody knows that I’ve traveled outside Massachusetts,” he said during a regular radio appearance.

Baker has broken with his predecessors in not proactively alerting the public when the state’s chief executive leaves its borders. Under the state constitution, when a governor leaves the state, power is transferred to the next in line, usually the lieutenant governor.