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

"Some advocates say the near total reliance on phone calls or Zoom meetings has handicapped their ability to engage lawmakers. Act on Mass, a nonprofit that’s lobbied lawmakers to make their rules more transparent, said when lawmakers don’t respond to requests for Zoom meetings, it leaves few, if any, other options. 'That’s a pretty unique challenge in this completely online advocacy space,' said Ella McDonald, the group’s spokeswoman."

"'Massachusetts, as progressive as we are, has been ranked by good government groups as the least transparent in the nation,' \[Sen. Diana] DiZoglio said, according to her prepared remarks. 'I know you all agree that is unacceptable and we as Democrats need to push our Democratic-controlled Legislature to step it up and adopt these measures.'"

"'We’re excited that the Boston City Council, with leadership from Councilor Mejia, has chosen to stand with the people of Boston in support of transparency and accountability' said Gabriel Mireles, an organizer with Mijente Boston Asamblea. 'This is the kind of leadership we need to see inside the State House and we’re grateful to the Boston City Council for their courage and their commitment to transparency.'"

"The Boston City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday to pass a resolution 'urging action in the Massachusetts Legislature to uphold the values of transparency and accessibility to the people’s business.' Moulton, a Salem resident who represents the 6th Congressional District, wrote in a July 14 tweet that 'government works for the people' as he shared a Boston Globe editorial condemning the House for rejecting the changes."

"While that secrecy abounds beyond the House and even the Legislature, it is hard to think of a more exemplary affront to democracy than denying Bay Staters decent foreknowledge of legislation being teed up and how the representatives that they sent to Beacon Hill vote on those bills in the critical committee phase."

"Moulton, who has represented Massachusetts’s 6th Congressional District since 2015 and ran for the Democratic nomination for President in 2019, drew praise and gratitude from transparency advocates for his message of support."

"Rank-and-file legislators’ fear of the speaker – who could demote them, decrease their salaries and number of staffers, or move them to a moldy basement office – too often outweighs their commitment to actually representing constituents."

"'This is about holding ourselves accountable to the public, making our work transparent and accessible to all, and honoring and recognizing the thoughtfulness, hard work, creativity, and ingenuity of the bills that come before us by having a public vote in every legislative session for each bill' said freshman representative Erika Uyterhoeven in a floor speech during debate for \[public committee votes]."

"'Today’s vote definitely showed that the power in the State House — the speaker, the Rules Committee, even rank-and-file reps — will go to extreme lengths to defend their power,' said Ella McDonald, the communications director for the progressive group Act on Mass, which has pushed for transparency reforms."

"'We don’t know if they’ve been meeting, who is in those meetings, who they’re consulting, what they’re hashing out, when it’ll be available,' \[Ella McDonald] said. 'It’s deeply concerning that it’s been so long. And the fact that these transparency rules are being decided behind closed doors is definitely ironic.'"