Attorney General Maura Healey says the public records reform bill approved by the House earlier this week, while a step in the right direction, does not go nearly far enough in making government records available to the public.
"Look, there was action. There's been an update to the public records law. I think that's important, it's in the right direction," Healey said on Boston Public Radio Friday.
"We need to keep pushing on this. We need to keep pushing on transparency," she continued.
The new reforms would be the first changes in the Massachusetts public records laws in forty years, and include a number of measures like reducing fees for copying government documents and allowing people to recoup legal fees if they successfully sue for access to information.
But the bill still includes exceptions for the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government—an arrangement that earned Massachusetts a 49th out of 50th ranking on journalism website MuckRock's ranking of the most transparent states in the country.
"I don't think any branch should be categorically exempt from public records law," Healey said, though she noted she was open to limited exceptions when "appropriate."
To hear more from Attorney General Maura Healey, tune in to Boston Public Radio above.
