The bickering has injected a highly-unusual level of drama into the typically drab legislative process, and pulls the curtain back on long-simmering tensions between the Massachusetts Legislature’s two chambers.
Voters in November will choose the first new governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general in eight years, and the first new auditor since President Barack.
Voters in November will choose the first new governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general in eight years, and the first new auditor since President Barack.
BOSTON If you ask Democratic Sen. Harriette L. Chandler how she managed to pass controversial legislation on reproductive and civil rights throughout her time in the Massachusetts Legislature, she’ll tell you her only secret is working with lawmakers across the political aisle without looking for credit.
With over 20 years of experience in politics, the senator, who started her career as a Republican, has championed civil rights, health care and education reforms by going beyond partisan lines.
“Legislation is all about bringing two sides together to get to yes,” the 83-year-old Worcester Democrat said. “If you can understand the other person’s point of view, you can get a lot accomplished. It’s not yielding to them but finding the common thread that brings you both together.”
Lawmakers wade into redistricting without key data
More than a dozen hearings planned over next six months
Matt Murphy
State House News Service
BOSTON By most accounts, the redistricting process 10 years ago was a huge success. The district maps produced by legislative leaders avoided challenges in federal court for the first time in decades and most stakeholders walked away feeling heard.
Despite losing a Congressional seat, the Legislature created double the number of majority-minority districts in the Massachusetts House and established the newly drawn U.S. House district now held by U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley the first Black woman to represent the state in Congress.