What a week!

We had our first ever Lobby Day on Tuesday, which was a huge success. THANK YOU to everyone who made it out to the State House early Tuesday morning to participate in the Fight for your Rights Lobby Day! We had a great turnout; 50 or so activists from across the state met with both their state rep and state senator to advocate for three bills which are critical to our democracy: The Voting ACCESS Act (S.410), the Location Shield Act (H.357/S.148), and last but not least, our very own Sunlight Act (S.1963). 

Thank you to our friends at Indivisible Mass Coalition for hosting the event with us, and a special thanks to Senator Jamie Eldridge, lead sponsor of the Sunlight Act, for being the keynote speaker.

As we reel in the chaos from the past few weeks, we’re downsizing the Scoop, just for today. This week, we’re serving a kiddie-sized Scoop – a tiny cup full of good-flavored news to tide you over until next week. 

And boy do I have some very good news for you. Yes, really:

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State House Scoop

The Sunlight Act, our flagship transparency bill, has been favorably reported out of committee!

The very same day over 50 advocates showed up at the State House to meet with their legislators about the Sunlight Act, it was favorably reported out of committee. Yes, that means what you think it means: our transparency bill was not “sent to study,”and has advanced to the next step in the legislative process. To all of you who attended the lobby day, have spoken with your legislators about transparency in the past, or have emailed your legislators about this issue: you made this happen. Clearly, Beacon Hill has been hearing a lot about this bill from constituents, and felt the need to act on it. This is a great day for our movement, and a testament to our people power. Read our full press release here.

The Sunlight Act  includes several transparency reforms, including requiring all recorded committee votes to be posted on the Legislature’s website, requiring that committee hearings be scheduled at least a week in advance, making written testimony submitted to committees publicly available, and subjecting the Governor’s Office to the state’s public records law.

Pretty great, right? Sadly, commonsense pro-transparency measures like these are considered controversial on Beacon Hill because they aren’t supported by House Leadership – the very people who benefit from the status quo of closed-door meetings and off-record votes. That makes it all the more significant that our bill has made it this far. 

So, what’s next? The bill has now been sent to the Senate Ways & Means Committee, where it waits for Senate Leadership to decide whether to bring it to the floor for a vote. This next hurdle is a big one, so our work isn’t done yet. We need to keep up the momentum through the end of the session to get this a vote before August. And the only chance we have at that, is to get way more cosponsors in the meantime:

ASK YOUR REPS TO COSPONSOR THE SUNLIGHT AGENDA >>

Stay tuned for more ways to take action as the new phase of this campaign emerges in the next few weeks!

And the cherry on top: MCI-Concord to close this summer

Weeks after Governor Healey announced her devastating “9C” budget cuts to social services, we’re finally cutting costs from someplace good: the state prison system. MCI-Concord is on the budget chopping block and is set to close as soon as June due to record-low incarceration rates, unsafe facilities, and a desire to reinvest in programming and educational opportunities for people experiencing incarceration. While it’s yet to be seen where the existing population will be transferred, advocates are pushing for many to be placed in minimum-security or pre-release facilities instead of maximum-security Souza-Baranowski. In any event, this is a huge win for abolitionists and decarceration advocates as we get another step closer to bringing loved ones home, and reinvesting in our communities.

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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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Mmm, that was a nice little break from reporting on the typical tomfoolery of Beacon Hill. Sometimes all you need is a kiddie-sized Scoop to satisfy your sweet tooth!

But rest assured, we’ll be back to our normal Saturday Scoop next week with an analysis of Governor Healey’s FY2025 budget proposal, so bring your appetite.

Until then,

Erin Leahy
Executive Director, Act on Mass