NEWS & MEDIALatest updates from Act on Mass and the fight for transparency in the State House

“This favorable report is a sign that the State House is feeling the pressure of our movement,” said Brenna Ransden, organizing director of Act on Mass. “And it’s not just constituents who stand to benefit from increased government transparency; this bill is also about empowering rank-and-file lawmakers to be the strongest possible advocates for their legislation. We look forward to working with allies inside and outside the building to get this critical bill across the finish line.”

The leadership and lobbyists make deals behind closed doors. There are no recorded votes in House committees, where legislation is often sent to die, making it impossible to hold representatives accountable. Full texts of bills are often unavailable, and final passage on the floor is usually by voice vote. Technically, a member can demand a roll call, and it does happen once in a while. But to do it is to court retribution.

"The democratic dysfunction and secrecy of Beacon Hill actively harms our ability to pass policy that uplifts the Bay Staters who need it the most. The Office of the Auditor exists to find ways to make our government work better for the people. Not only should the Auditor audit the Legislature—it should be priority #1.”

The facts paint a disturbing picture. Study after study finds that Massachusetts has one of the least efficient, least productive state governments in the United States. By the end of May, only 10 bills had been passed by our elected officials, and most of those bills were for ultra-specific matters like nixing the age limit for a Boston police officer. If you’re wondering why our lawmakers are so lacking in urgency and initiative, it’s hard to say, because Massachusetts also has one of the least transparent state governments in the nation.

**Massachusetts ranked among the bottom 10 state legislatures** for the number of laws enacted in the 2021-2022 session, with 110 total. Just 5.8 percent of bills filed at the State House eventually became law — the fourth lowest rate nationally behind Minnesota, New Jersey and Missouri. Bay State senators and representatives this year introduced 6,691 bills — 80 percent fewer than in the last session, a recent study found.

A non-binding ballot question last year found 84 percent of voters agree representatives should make legislative committee votes public.  Act on Mass – who was behind the effort out it — said they “hope that Beacon Hill sees these results and acts accordingly.” As Beacon Hill’s unfinished and largely opaque work approaches August, it appears the Legislature missed the memo.

According to Hecht, who’s on the steering committee of the *Coalition to Reform our Legislature*, the problem starts at the top. Power is concentrated among a small group of leaders — the House speaker, Senate president and their respective Ways and Means chairs — which means rank-and-file members and, yes, even the governor, have to “tread carefully,” he said. “Their budget priorities, their bills, are all ultimately dependent on whether those two or three people at the top look favorably on them or not,” Hecht said.

The slow start is likely historic, and, current and former Beacon Hill officials say, reflective of a Democratic-controlled body where power is overly concentrated at the top and where leadersincreasingly rely on hulking, omnibus legislation to move important policy.

The tax package was never voted on by the Legislature’s Revenue Committee, making a mockery of the public hearing that committee held on March 28. It contained a tax cut for corporations that was not even on the agenda at that hearing. The tax cut, which would cost the state at least $79 million annually, was not in Governor Maura Healey’s original proposal or any bill or amendment filed by a House member. It came from a Senate bill filed by a Republican and favorable to the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the lobbying arm of the state’s big businesses.

That lopsided control has allowed House speakers and Senate presidents to hold a tight grip on their respective chambers. They do it by rewarding supporters with choice committee assignments that come with enhanced pay. And by relegating dissenters to the hinterlands where they are rarely heard from again.