Senate President’s Amendments Indicate First Step Toward Better Government

Boston, MA: The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to promoting better government and right-of-center fiscal and economic policy solutions, today expressed strong support for many proposals made by new state Senate President Stanley C. Rosenberg (D-Amherst) to alter the Senate’s rules.

“President Rosenberg has taken the first step toward matching his words with some positive action,” said Paul Craney, the group’s executive director. “We hope Speaker DeLeo will do the same for the House of Representatives, and we hope both leaders will collaborate on much-needed reforms to the joint rules of the legislature as well.”

Supreme Court Ruling a Victory For Americans’ First Amendment Rights

Boston, MA: The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to promoting better government and right-of-center fiscal and economic policy solutions, today noted that the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, a major win for free-speech and free-association rights in the U.S., has hit its fifth anniversary.

"Despite opposition from those who prefer ever-sharper limits on the First Amendment’s guarantees of free speech and free association, the Citizens United case has proven a major boon to our political system,” said Paul Craney, the group’s executive director. “The Supreme Court rightly chose to strengthen the rights of citizens to express their political beliefs in the public square without undue fear of retribution.”

On Thursday, Gov.-elect Charlie Baker and Lt. Gov.-elect Karyn Polito will be formally inaugurated, a day after the 200 members of the new state House of Representatives and state Senate are sworn in. One of the most important parts of our state’s democratic processes, though often overlooked, is fast approaching.

At the beginning of each legislative session, both chambers of the Legislature must agree upon the rules governing all aspects of procedure for the next two years. After electing leadership, the first dozen votes lawmakers will cast will pertain to these rules for how they are to conduct the “people’s business.”