Let’s face it: March isn’t the most pleasant month. April has some good days which trick us into making poor jacket decisions on other days. But we all know when the real spring begins: May, truly one of New England’s finest.

And those of you who live in the 9th or 10th Suffolk districts will have even more reason to look forward to this May: a special election.

9th Suffolk Rep. Jon Santaigo (Boston’s South End, Back Bay, and Roxbury) and 10th Suffolk Rep. Edward Coppinger (Boston’s West Roxbury, JP, and a slice of Brookline) announced their departures from the Legislature last month. In order to fill those vacancies, a special election will be held for both districts on May 30th. We’ll keep you posted on how the race shapes up as candidates begin to file.

But no matter who wins, the new reps will be entering a state house that strips them of their power to meaningfully represent the voters who sent them there. In a structure where, more or less, the gentleman from Quincy and the gentlelady from Ashland decide what bills are passed, where does that leave Boston and Brookline voters? Or the rest of us?

State House Scoop

State Auditor announces audit of the Legislature

Fulfilling a key promise from the campaign trail, newly-elected Auditor Diana DiZoglio announced this week her plans to audit the state Legislature. DiZoglio served as both a state representative and a state senator before being elected auditor, and has long been an outspoken advocate for state house reform. Among the areas of scrutiny for this audit: lack of transparency, concentration of power, lack of accountability to constituents, and lack of equity in the legislature’s processes. Friend, I have one word: finally.

This will be the first audit of the Legislature in 100 years, and it couldn’t come soon enough; with the house’s perennial refusal to publicize committee votes and the senate’s recent elimination of senate president term limits, we need every tool in our toolbox to end this anti-democratic bender on Beacon Hill. Senate President Spilka issued a short statement denying that there was any need for an independent audit of the senate. Crickets from House Speaker Mariano. All signs point to legislative leaders fighting the inquiry instead of complying. If they truly wanted to best serve the people of Massachusetts, wouldn’t they welcome a review of the Legislature’s possibly outdated or inequitable processes? Then again, they’re quite used to being able to exempt themselves from accountability (public records law, open meeting law, public committee votes, to name a few). I guess old habits die hard.

Mobile sports betting rollout plagued by legal and regulatory concerns

Chances are you’ve been inundated with mobile sports betting ads lately (think: DraftKings, FanDuel, etc.). The timing is no coincidence; the barrage of advertisements comes on the heels of yesterday’s official legalization of mobile sports betting in Massachusetts. So far, it's off to a rocky start; both the Attorney General’s office and the Mass Gaming Commission have raised serious concerns over misleading, predatory, and in some cases illegal advertisements from mobile sports betting companies. Further, a letter from the AGO cited concerns over glaring holes in the safeguards to prevent a gambling public health crisis – glaring holes that could have been addressed if the legislation hadn’t been rammed through in time for March Madness.

Let’s remember how we got here. There wasn’t a huge appetite to legalize sports betting on Beacon Hill until Mariano became Speaker in 2020. But as soon as the gavel was placed in his hand, this became one of the Legislature’s top priorities. The senate was more hesitant; President Spilka had previously opposed legalizing sports betting. This made it all the more surprising when, following the house’s lead, the senate passed this bill in August of last year. How did President Spilka, and the rest of the senate, vote on this bill? We’ll never know: it was passed on a voice vote. 

This is how Beacon Hill conducts the people’s business: if it’s a priority for the Speaker, it’s suddenly a priority for everyone else. If legislators don’t want to publicly support it, don’t worry, they can ensure it passes without a public vote. The Speaker’s personal agenda: signed, sealed, and delivered.

Supplemental budget bill heads to conference committee

While lawmakers consider Governor Healey’s fiscal year 2024 budget, a smaller spending bill (often called a “supplemental budget”) is working its way through the legislature. Initially filed by Healey in late January, this time-sensitive $353 million bill includes funding for emergency migrant shelters and continuing expanded SNAP benefits. The Healey administration hoped the bill would pass before March 2nd at which point the additional federal aid for SNAP ended, directly impacting families in need. But the Legislature isn’t exactly known for meeting deadlines (or acting in the best interests of vulnerable communities for that matter). The house and senate versions now head to a conference committee where any differences will be ironed out.

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Missed a Scoop or two? You can find a full archive of all past Saturday Scoops on our blog.

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Take Action

Write a letter to the editor about the need to audit the legislature

Press is key for any grassroots movement; it allows us to reach new audiences and build awareness among the electorate, which in turn applies pressure to elected leaders. The Auditor’s announcement is a perfect opportunity to apply pressure. Write a letter to the editor to your local paper voicing support for the audit, or describing the changes you would like to see in the Legislature. See our full LTE toolkit here. Plus, here are a handful of audit-specific resources to help get you started: 

WRITE A LTE >>

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Sunshine Week: Get the Joint Rules out of Conference Committee

Next week is Sunshine Week, a public education initiative led by journalists to shed light on the importance of open government and celebrate access to public information. There’s not much to celebrate on that front here in MA, so we're using this upcoming Sunshine Week to change that via the Joint Rules. The senate’s version of the Joint Rules would publish committee votes, whereas the house's would not. Now the Joint Rules are sitting in a conference committee. The last time the Joint Rules went to a conference committee, they never came out.

Email your legislators now to tell them we want public committee votes in the Joint Rules this session:

EMAIL YOUR LEGISLATORS ABOUT THE JOINT RULES >>

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An actually fun fact to kick off your weekend

This week, staff in US Senator Ed Markey’s office officially announced their intent to unionize. According to reports, the senator “happily complied,” saying in a statement that he is proud of staff for embodying the commitment to organize, not agonize (a catchphrase from his 2020 campaign). 

Compare that to the Massachusetts State Senate, where staffers announced their intent to unionize a full year ago only to be rejected by Senate President and former labor lawyer Karen Spilka. The unionization push came in the wake of multiple devastating reports of state house staff treatment, both of which include accounts of low and unequal wages, poor working conditions, and sexual and racial harassment. Okay, I admit this has devolved into a not-so-fun fact after all, but the point is this: Senator Markey exemplifies how every employer should react to their staff unionizing. It's really not that hard. After all, it takes more muscles to union-bust than it does to smile.

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That’s all for this week! Don't forget to spring forward an hour tomorrow.  

Until next time,

Executive Director, Act on Mass

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