Advocates of legislative openness in Massachusetts have suffered some big setbacks recently. A House amendment that would have made the committee votes of House members public was quickly defeated in early February, with no debate and (appropriately enough) no roll-call vote. And the Senate voted to eliminate term limits for the Senate president — meaning that, like House Speaker Ron Mariano, Senate President Karen Spilka will likely keep that job as long as she wants it.
So what accounts for the Legislature's seeming disinterest in, and backsliding on, transparency and small "d" democracy? And what are the consequences for the public in terms of the policies the Legislature does and doesn't choose to advance?
Adam Reilly is joined by state Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, who proposed the failed committee-vote amendment; state Sen. Becca Rausch, who was one of a handful of senators to vote against eliminating term limits for the body's president; and Erin Leahy, the executive director of Act on Mass, which works to make Beacon Hill more open and accessible.
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