Friday, January 23, 2015
Senate Republican Caucus Succeeds in Passing Transparency Rules
On
Wednesday, I distributed the following press release:
Senate Republican
Caucus Succeeds in Passing Transparency Rules
Senate to Begin
Posting Committee Roll Call Votes Online
Boston- Today the Massachusetts Senate Republican Caucus secured a major Senate rule requiring the posting of Senate committee roll call votes to the General Court website within 48 hours of a vote being taken. The measure passed unanimously by a vote of 38-0.
“The importance of this rule cannot
be overstated as it not only provides a new element of transparency within the
Senate, but it also creates a more informed public of the decision making
process on Beacon Hill,” said Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester).
“Giving citizens the opportunity to access this important information will
ensure a much higher level of accountability will take place.”
Other rules secured by the Senate
Republican Caucus include:
- Requiring the Senate Committee on Rules to report
within 10 days on any rule change proposed by 1/5 of the members, and for
the Senate to consider that report in a timely manner;
- Requiring an annual fiscal audit by a certified
public accountant of Senate financial accounts, to be made available to
the members of the Senate and the public upon request;
- Requiring the clerk to link the text of all
amendments to roll call votes on the General Court website; and
- Requiring the Senate Committee on Ways and
Means to provide copies of proposed bill texts to committee members upon
request prior to any vote on such bills.
Immediately following last session’s
Senate rules debate, the Senate Republican Caucus vowed to continue working to
ensure that state government moves further towards transparency. The new Senate
rule strikes a similar chord as a rule secured by the caucus during the
2013-2014 legislative session that requires the posting of all roll call votes
taken by the members of the Senate to the General Court website within 48 hours
of a vote being taken.
Unfortunately,
some of the rules offered by Tarr, Assistant Minority Leader Robert Hedlund
(R-Weymouth), Assistant Minority Leader Richard Ross (R-Wrentham), Minority
Whip Donald Humason (R-Westfield), Assistant Minority Whip Ryan Fattman
(R-Webster) and Senator Vinny DeMacedo (R-Plymouth), the Ranking Republican on the
Senate Committee on Ways and Means, did not generate the needed support from
the members of the majority party.
Those
proposed rules include:
- Requiring the Senate Committee on Ways and
Means’ budget proposal to contain detailed information regarding the
source of revenues and how it’s being spent;
- Requiring all Senate committees to provide at
least four hours to review a committee poll;
- Requiring a unanimous vote of all the members
present to allow Senate business to proceed beyond the hour of midnight;
- Requiring the broadcasting of all informal and
formal sessions online. Additionally, requiring the reporting of the
progress of negotiations for formal sessions to be broadcast on TV; and
- Limiting the pairing of votes only in cases
where a senator is absent from the chamber due to military service or
physical incapacity.
“It
is important that at every opportunity the Senate moves in a direction of
transparency and accountability, and while the Senate Republican Caucus didn’t
get everything we were seeking during this rules debate, we will continue to
work with the body to ensure the public remains informed of the process,” said
Senator Tarr.
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