Democracy only works when voters know what their government did and did not do. Let's make sure every dollar, every bill, and every vote on Beacon Hill is out in the open.
Massachusetts was the first to say no to kings. As the birthplace of American democracy, we embarked on a number of transformative experiments that changed history for the better. We were the first to make education public, believing that everyone deserved to learn, no matter their background. We were the first to mandate a minimum wage, the first to say love is love, and the first to say healthcare is a right and not a privilege.
We said no to kings for the same reason we need transparency now: power that can hide from the people it serves stops serving them.
"[Sending to study is] the bloodless murder of legislation, where things die, and everybody has clean hands."
Jonathan Cohn, policy director, Progressive MassachusettsRight now, the Massachusetts legislature is the least productive and least transparent in the country. If nobody takes action on a bill after 60 days, it automatically goes to "study," effectively killing it. Jonathan Cohn of Progressive Massachusetts called it "the bloodless murder of legislation." Even if the Legislature takes a vote, unless a certain number of lawmakers opt in, you won't know how your elected official voted. So a bill can be killed and you won't know who did it.
We are the only state where the governor and the legislature are exempt from the public records law. When Massachusetts voters passed a ballot initiative to audit the Legislature, the Legislature voted to limit it, including the two other state representatives running in this race.
Right now, your legislator makes much more money if they fall in line with State House leadership. 149 out of 200 legislators get an extra "leadership stipend" that can add up to $119,000 on top of base pay. Leadership decides who gets the money.
When Massachusetts voters sought to overhaul the legislature's stipend system and tie their salary to actual work done, the Supreme Judicial Court signaled that the ballot initiative was unconstitutional, and the Attorney General blocked it from the ballot. Your legislator can make almost double their regular salary without doing any extra work, as long as they fall in line.
Burhan supports Question One, which would finally subject the Legislature and the Governor to the public records act, which every other state employee already follows.
Money talks. The Supreme Judicial Court already said that voters can't make this happen on their own. We need legislators who can act from the inside and decouple the incentives from buying loyalty. That's the only way this will change.
In Cambridge, Burhan built a policy order tracker that eventually transformed the way Cambridge reported its legislative progress. We need the same for the State House, and Burhan is the best person to build it.
Burhan will push to change the default so a bill is automatically put forward for a floor vote after 60 days.
Right now, unless a specific number of legislators vote to do so, you have no record of how any legislator votes. If a bill gets killed through a voice or standing vote, we don't know who's voting against them.
The voters approved it. Nearly two years later, the Legislature is still dragging its feet. We need more pressure from elected officials who are committed to making it happen. Burhan will vote against any rules package that narrows the audit's scope.
As an elected city official, Burhan already knows how to govern with transparency. Every one of his city emails are subject to the public records act. You know every vote he's ever taken and where he stands on the issues. Somehow, the cities are able to govern with transparency, while the State House argues they can't.
| Transparency rule | Cambridge City Hall | The Legislature |
|---|---|---|
| Official emails subject to the public records law | Yes | No |
| Meetings subject to the open meeting law | Yes | No |
| Any single member can force a recorded vote | Yes | No |
| Independently audited every year | Yes | Still refusing |
| Pay set in the open, not by leadership | Yes | No |
Burhan already encountered this issue in Cambridge and developed a fix. He built a policy order tracker so that people could see what was actually happening with the policy orders that got passed and what stage they were at. He'll do the same on Beacon Hill.