In January, as the Massachusetts House faced calls for greater transparency from advocacy groups, Speaker of the House Ron Mariano opted to delay debate over the rules that govern legislative procedures by six months.
Those groups had called for reforms that they said would make it easier for everyday citizens and rank-and-file lawmakers to engage with the legislative process.
Publicizing votes that lawmakers make in committees, they argued, would help constituents hold their elected officials accountable for decisions that currently are often made in secrecy. Releasing bills at least 72 hours prior to a vote, they said, would give residents and advocates greater time to review legislation and contact lawmakers â who themselves would have more time to prepare â before debates begin. Organizers also pushed to reinstate term limits for the speaker of the House, seeking to curb the power that one individual can exert over the body.
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Massachusetts House, Senate differ on public access to legislative testimony
Updated Feb 24, 2021;
By Matt Murphy | State House News Service
House leaders have put together a package of rules to govern how joint committees and the two legislative branches will work together over the next two years, recommending a different approach from the Senate to how committees should share written testimony, publish votes online and advise the public of upcoming hearings.
The proposal drafted by House leaders shortens the required window for advance notice of a committee hearing from one week in the Senate proposal to 72 hours, and it does not require that public testimony submitted electronically to a committee be made available to the public if requested.