Transparency

New Reforms Will Make Government More Transparent and Accountable

By Guest Writer, Deirdre Cummings,
Legislative Director, MASSPIRG

Transparency advocates praised last night’s vote by the Massachusetts Senate approving two reforms which will set a new standard for government transparency and accountability.

With unanimous votes during its budget debate, the Senate created a searchable new state budget website, making transparent much of state spending and revenue sources for all state agencies, including quasi publics. The website will allow the public, including local officials, businesses, lawmakers, citizens, and others to see where the state is investing our tax dollars.

Over the past year, in nearly every state across our country, newspapers have been filled with stories of state legislatures and town committees trying to work their budgets out of the red.

These times of fiscal crisis can be opportunities for us all to work together to rebuild healthy, safe, and appropriately-funded state and local communities, but we can only be effective in these efforts if all involved have access to the necessary budget and revenue information.

Brockton community members have demonstrated their agreement as evidenced by at least two school committee members refusing to meet secretly with their Superintendent, and by the recent opinion piece on in The Enterprise regarding secret school committee meetings surrounding a potential layoff of hundreds of staff:

"As we face a serious financial crisis, the superintendent needs to lead openly, strongly and decisively. He can dispel any questions about his abilities to steer Brockton's system to even higher academic achievements if parents and citizens are certain of his strength and clear thinking under pressure.

But no one can support what they can't see or hear... [more]

We know that the public structures that make our state a great place to live can only be maintained and repaired with our shared support. That is why the nine votes in support of Rep. Matthew Patrick's amendment on dividends and interest are so important.

Those nine votes are a clear indication that representatives took to heart the calls our Greater Boston, Pioneer Valley, and South Coast and Cape members made, urging our legislators to support our communities with adequate revenues. Both rank-and-file reps and those in leadership positions backed the amendment in the face of stiff resistance from House Speaker DeLeo and Ways and Means Chairman Charles Murphy, both of whom have stated their opposition to any new revenues.

Speaking on the House floor, Rep. Patrick characterized his amendment as a call for the Legislature to look more closely at the tax system: "This is really the beginning of a conversation we need to have," he said. "We can't let talk radio dictate tax policy."

Secretary William Galvin has issued a new opinion on the lobbying law which adds clarity to certain key issues that have concerned many non-profits in the past few months.  In a January 21, 2010 opinion rendered to attorney Roger Donoghue, Lobbyist Section Director Alan Cote stated unequivocally that a communication with a covered executive or legislative official IS required in order to meet the statutory provisions for registering as a lobbyist.  In other words, back-room staff, who never talk with legislators, are not lobbyists.

To those of you who have been following this issue, Cote, in an October letter to attorney Carl Valvo, failed to answer this same question.  In this new letter to Attorney Donoghue, he references the previous letter and states that the office, "now finds that absent a direct, personal communication with a covered legislative or executive official by an individual, the participation of that individual in strategizing, planning and research activities does not trigger registration.” (emphasis in the original)

This new interpretation is consistent with Common Cause's view of the statute and that of Governor Patrick’s former chief legal counsel Ben Clements, who chaired the Governor's task force on Public Integrity and wrote the original legislation along with other members of the task force.  Attorney Clements is mentioned in the letter.

The opinion also clarifies the issue of whether non-profit board members who lobby on behalf of their non-profit have to register as lobbyists.  It states that when a Board member is not compensated by the non-profit, despite being a salaried employee of another corporation, he or she does not have to register.

The wellbeing of our communities across Massachusetts hinges on our ability to work together with our government in finding ways on how to support the public structures we have built and maintained for decades. Public education, clean water, public security, clean streets, snow and trash removal, prevention programs among many others are some public structures that we all value and seek to continue funding. These public structures are what make Massachusetts competitive.

As residents of this state we need to continue participating in the decisions our elected officials make on our behalf. Our elected officials as our representatives are accountable to our communities. We are the ones electing them to make decisions that have an impact on all of us. Recent government scandals have undermined the faith many have in our government and in our ability to work together to solve the big issues of our time. Government transparency and accountability play an important role in restoring the public’s faith in the mission and purpose of the Legislature, and government as a whole.

In an article dated on January 26th, State Representative Will Brownsberger talks about the lack of transparency in certain activities of the state Legislature. Representative Brownsberger particularly discusses the lack of transparency around how funds are spent in certain legislative accounts and about hiring patterns in the House leadership. The article rightly states how these indiscretions "obscure real recent accomplishments like pension reform, ethics reform, transportation reform, and education reform, not to mention producing a timely budget in a deep recession" that state government has accomplished recently.

By ONE Massachsuetts Guest Blogger Rep. Carl Sciortino

Medford - It’s not a secret that our state economy is in bad shape. The economic troubles plaguing the nation are having the same impact on the state budget as they are on the budgets of businesses and families across Massachusetts.