Your State Rep Should Support Open Government
In 2016, when the MA Legislature updated the state's public records law, they decided to punt on the issue of how such laws should apply to themselves. Indeed, Massachusetts is the only state where the courts, Legislature, and Governor's Office all claim to be fully exempt from public records laws.
In traditional Beacon Hill fashion, the Legislature created a commission to study whether or not they should be subject to public records laws---or, at the very least, how they can be more open in their practice. The bicameral commission rarely met and ended up with no actual recommendations.
But that's not the fault of the senators in the commission. Frustrated with their House colleagues, the six Senate members issued their own report on December 31, 2018.
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Demand that Charlie Baker Prioritize Equity in Vaccine Rollout
The vaccine rollout in Massachusetts has been a disaster for everyone, but it has been particularly devastating to the communities of color who have already been disproportionately sickened and killed by the virus. Earlier this week, our friends from the newly formed Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition announced a roadmap for a more equitable distribution of vaccines to the disproportionately affected Black and Brown communities of Massachusetts.
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Progressive Mass on Governor Baker's State of the Commonwealth
No worker should have to choose between their health and their job, but Baker has failed to advocate for emergency paid sick time. No one should go homeless during a pandemic, but Baker has let the eviction moratorium lapse and vetoed essential tenant protections. No one should have to breathe the polluted air that increases the likelihood of disease and death during a pandemic, but Baker has vetoed landmark climate legislation.
Rather than investing in communities so that we can have an equitable recovery from both recession and pandemic, he believes that we should settle for short-changed services that leave us falling ever behind.
The 'good management' skills Baker touts have been nowhere on display during COVID, but management skills were never enough. We need good management and good values. Baker, sadly, has shown neither."
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