Colin Young, “Sunshine week meets shade on Beacon Hill,” State House News Service, March 15, 2024.
As Sunshine Week got underway, Progressive Massachusetts pointed out that the Massachusetts House has taken fewer than half as many recorded votes so far this session than it had in any of the previous six legislative sessions. The House took 202 roll calls by March 11, 2012; 297 roll calls by March 11, 2014; 206 roll calls by March 11, 2016; 313 roll calls by March 11, 2018; 164 roll calls by March 11, 2020; and 155 roll calls by March 11, 2022, the group said.
So far this legislative session, the House has recorded 81 roll call votes.
The trend has been similar, but not quite as dramatic, in the Senate. Progressive Massachusetts said the Senate had taken 186 roll calls by March 11, 2020, then 135 roll calls by March 11, 2022, and had taken 114 roll call votes so far this session as of the start of the week.
“So much of the legislative process occurs behind closed doors, and recorded votes are a critical opportunity for legislators to show the public where they stand. When the House refuses to bring up votes until they are unanimous and when legislators withdraw their amendments without discussion or debate, we lose out on opportunities to make progress on the many critical challenges facing the commonwealth,” Jonathan Cohn, policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, said.
