Fighting for a Transparent and Accountable State House

Preview - Transparency Fight - for non-vols

Hi ,

Earlier this summer, I put forth amendments for a vote to make the State House more transparent, accountable, and accessible to the public. We received support both in the House and from a broad multiracial, multigenerational, statewide movement fighting for a State House that works for you. While our full demands were not met, we made significant accomplishments and will continue to build a state-wide movement to hold the State House accountable so that we can build a Massachusetts that leads on stopping the climate crisis, fully funding our schools, making housing a human right, and ensuring health care for all.

Prior to serving as your State Representative, I fought to increase State House transparency, accountability, and accessibility from the outside, and now that I serve as one of its members, I can see more clearly the ways in which it falls short of serving voters and residents like you.

During my first six months in office, I have seen two major issues that impede the State House’s mission of serving the people:

The lack of transparency for committee votes; and
The limited amount of time given to us to read bills before we vote on them.

You can watch my speech here. Public committee votes starts at 48:47 and enough time to review bills starts at 1:27:16.

We all deserve to know how our elected officials vote in committee because that is where so many consequential decisions are made on important bills. 94% of voters in my district voted in favor of public committee votes, and our fight for more transparency was covered by WGBH.

But that is not the only issue. People – both Representatives and the general public – are not given enough time to read bills before they are voted on. Representatives like me have only a few hours to propose amendments. The bottom line is, Representatives often do not know what they are actually voting on and the public has no time to read and share their opinions on bills.

We have cast many important votes this year and for all bills besides the budget, we have had under six hours to file amendments. For one bill, we had only three hours. That means that Representatives only have a few hours to read the bill, which can be tens or hundreds of pages, conduct research, find issues, seek advocates' input, and write amendments to improve the bill. There is not enough time and this is by design, because it forces us Representatives to vote however our respective party leader decrees, rather than voting based on our policy stances and constituents’ views. For all votes this year prior to the rules vote, 104 out of 129 Democrats voted 100% in line with the Speaker.

The longest we have had to propose amendments was for the budget when we had just over two days. Two days may seem like enough time, but the budget is 260 pages of legal writing, complex budget calculations, and more that allow our government to function over the next year with a >$50 billion budget. Not only does the budget fund every aspect of our state government, but it determines how we tackle recovering from the Covid-19 crisis over the next year.

For clarity, here is a table of all of the bills we have voted on since the House rules and how much time we have had to propose amendments.

The changes proposed received the support of a coalition led by Act on Mass, Indivisible MA, Mijente, Sunrise Movement, and Our Climate, and endorsement of these rules changes from the Boston Globe Editorial Board.

Quote from the editorial board:

“This isn’t the way democracy is supposed to work, and insisting on a Legislature that does its business in the open shouldn’t be a partisan cause. Indeed, opposition to the secretive House rules spans the ideological spectrum, from rank-and-file progressives to fiscal conservatives. More scrutiny may mean that legislators have to explain themselves more — but answering to the public is their job.”

Although these amendments were defeated on the floor, we received more support than ever and our movement for a State House that works for the people of Massachusetts continues. I will continue to fight every single day to make the State House more transparent, accountable, and accessible to you. You can make a difference by joining one of the grassroots organizations supporting this fight, including Sunrise Boston, Act On Mass, Indivisible Mass Coalition, Mijente Boston Asamblea, and Our Climate.

Sunrise Boston

Act On Mass

Indivisible Mass Coalition

Mijente Boston Asamblea

Our Climate

In Solidarity,

Erika