Former Sen. Brian Joyce has been arrested by federal authorities. Joyce, once Assistant Majority Leader in the Senate, faces more than 100 charges of racketeering, extortion, money laundering, and embezzlement in an appearance later today before the US District Court in Boston. 

The 104-page federal indictment details bribes and kickbacks in exchange for influence.

You might remember back in February of 2016, the IRS and the FBI raided Joyce's home and office, and MassFiscal called on Joyce to resign. We implored then-Senate President Stan Rosenberg to stand with us against Joyce's corruption.  At the time, Joyce dismissed MassFiscal’s calls for him to resign as a partisan witch hunt, and Rosenberg chose to let the spectacle play out, with Joyce retaining his cushy chair in the Senate chamber. 

Since when has demanding decency and integrity from our public servants been a partisan issue? 

It's been a rough couple of weeks for the Boston political elite, with scandals galore, ranging from sexual assault to raiding schoolchildren's field trip money.

Yet, Joyce isn’t the only former lawmaker under investigation. Former state Rep. Garrett Bradley (D-Hingham) who as the chair of the Elections Committee, passed laws aimed at MassFiscal, is under investigation for orchestrating the country’s largest straw donor campaign finance scheme. Many of Bradley’s beneficiaries have returned or donated much of the dirty money, except for the Massachusetts Democratic Party.

Never has it been more important to be a Beacon Hill watchdog.

We'll keep you posted.

For Immediate Release
Press Release

November 28, 2017

MassFiscal Calls on Auditor Bump to Investigate BPS 

(BOSTON) — MassFiscal wrote to State Auditor Suzanne Bump urging a thorough investigation into Boston Public Schools (BPS) and its use of student activity accounts. Recent reports allege school administrators used these funds in violation of IRS laws, including to pay staff under the table. According to the published reports, BPS officials covered up their knowledge of the misuse of funds for several months.

The outrageous legislative pay and perk package passed in January did away with "per diems," the daily drive money formerly doled out to some legislators for each and every trip to Boston. Taxpayers were glad to see them go. The system was rife with abuse.

A recent Fox 25 investigation exposed the last, corrupt gasp of travel account shenanigans. We weren't surprised to see just how little correlation there is between actual attendance and the claims made by the politicos. To see for yourself, click the link below.

Our favorite moment is when state Representative Paul McMurtry (D-Dedham) flees the cameras, leaving his car behind. (3:10 in the video) Is it any surprise Rep. McMurtry has a 0% on our legislative scorecard at www.MassFiscalScorecard.org?

Fox deserves big kudos for their diligence. As usual, legislative leaders claimed they were exempt from the state’s public records laws and tried to fight the investigation with a team of lawyers. 

No wonder McMurtry and his friends voted against the opportunity to include the Legislature in public disclosure laws (See that vote here.) Their abuse of taxpayer dollars just doesn't stand up to public scrutiny.

They can run, they can hide, but we'll keep pushing for better, more accountable government on Beacon Hill.

Take a look at the video below.