Majority of House Lawmakers Support Opaqueness of Legislature Over Reform

The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance made the following statement today following today’s House debate on amendments to the Joint Rules for the 192nd session of the General Court. Many pro-transparency, good government ideas, and reforms were voted down by the majority party and Speaker Ron Mariano’s leadership team. Since its launch in 2013, MassFiscal has been scoring “rules debate” votes on its legislative scorecard (www.MassFiscalScorecard.org). Over the years, MassFiscal has launched several campaigns highlighting the opaque nature of the legislature and educating the public on these anti-transparency votes through direct mail, social media ads, phone calls, and door knockers.

“Speaker Mariano continues to be the problem on Beacon Hill, not the solution. He may be new to the role of Speaker, but is employing old tactics to keep the status quo in place and prevent debate or scrutiny in the House,” stated Paul Diego Craney, spokesperson of Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. 

“What’s good for the Speaker is not good for Massachusetts. Rank and file lawmakers need to decide what side of history they want to be on, the side of transparency or at best, Mariano’s pawn,” continued Craney.

“House Republicans have once again shown that they are the driving force in the House that is pushing for more transparency and reform. While several members from the majority party joined them, it was clearly not enough. As a result, the state will most likely continue to suffer over the next two years under an opaque cloud,” concluded Craney.