On Tuesday, Massachusetts voters sent a clear message to Beacon Hill: they want more transparency and accountability.

Ballot Question 1 passed with an even higher percentage of the vote than the Audit the Legislature ballot question two years ago. These two voter approved laws have delivered a clear mandate. However, more can and should be done.

Ballot Question Results:

Question 1 will serve as a continuation of the voter-approved audit law, which is still making its way through the courts. By subjecting most records held by the Legislature and the Governor's Office to the state's Public Records Law, the measure will bring greater transparency to Beacon Hill. Massachusetts is the only state in the nation that excludes all three branches of government from its public records law and one of only two states that excludes both the Legislature and the Governor.

We also want to recognize State Auditor Diana DiZoglio, who has continued to lead the fight for greater transparency on Beacon Hill. Auditor DiZoglio herself received more votes than any other candidate on the ballot. That level of support, combined with the success of two statewide transparency measures, is a testament to the trust voters have placed in her. 

The Massachusetts State House desperately needs more transparency, and the results of Questions 1 and the audit law bring us closer in the right direction. That is reason to celebrate. 

We are disappointed with the results of Ballot Question 5, the modification to the taxpayer rebate law. It looks like it garnered around 48% of the vote. On a better note, many of the towns that supported Question 5 were middle class communities, dispelling the notion that this question was to benefit the affluent. The communities that voted Yes on 5 wanted the return of more of their tax dollars and more responsible spending. Getting to that 48% didn’t require a massive ballot question campaign budget like it did four years ago when fighting the millionaires tax. There is a solid coalition forming who are concerned about the state’s tax policy and economic direction, and this coalition will be very important in two years when the next round of potential ballot questions are presented. 

Not on the ballot this year were potential ballot questions that included government-imposed rent control and ranked choice voting. These were early ideas that were blocked.  

A Word About the Election Results:

MassFiscal was established in 2012, and we have continued to hold our elected officials accountable to taxpayers ever since. Over the next four years, we will continue to hold the Governor accountable. You may feel discouraged about some of the election results, but you have not lost MassFiscal. We are not going away. We are here, and we will continue to fight for taxpayers.

We want to thank Mike Minogue for running a very pro-taxpayer-centered campaign for Governor. Mike brought many of the issues we care about to the forefront and held Gov. Healey accountable for her policies on energy, Net-Zero mandates, taxes, spending, state contracts, transparency via the audit law, and more. It's not easy running in Massachusetts as a first-time candidate, but as Charlie Baker, Mitt Romney, Bill Weld, Karen Polito, and Joe Malone have shown, sometimes a promising candidate who act a balance of power in the State House needs to run more than once to win.

We also want to thank the pro-taxpayer candidates who ran down ballot, some of whom won while others lost. We will be highlighting some of them who got reelected in the coming weeks and months. We need them to be the taxpayers best ally in the coming legislative session. 

Republican candidate Jesse St. Gelais defeated incumbent Democratic state Representative Steven Ouellette in Bristol County. Unfortunately, incumbent state Representative Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica) lost his reelection. Rep. Lombardo is a fearless advocate for the taxpayers and his leadership will be greatly missed. 

November and December:

Our work resumes today when the State Senate returns to formal session. Senators will be debating an economic development bill. You'll be hearing from us very soon about this. There is no rest for those of us who advocate for taxpayers, and transparency in state government. Our work begins again today.

Over the next few weeks and into the new year, the Legislature and Governor may attempt to overturn the results of Ballot Question 1. We will be watching closely and ready to take action.