(Editor’s note: This story was originally published on or about January 30, 2021. It was lost after a website outage and later recovered.)
By 11 Lincoln residents
On Friday, Jan. 22, 32 residents of Lincoln and Waltham met virtually with state Rep. Tom Stanley to discuss proposed rules changes for the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Several Lincoln groups were represented, including the Lincoln Democratic Town Committee, Mothers Out Front, and 350 Mass. The meeting was convened by advocates from Act on Mass, which is spearheading the rules reform campaign.
People attending were advocating for more transparency and accountability in the House of Representatives. A healthy democracy requires transparency because that is the foundation for accountability. We believe all voters should know how their representatives vote in committee and in floor votes and should have enough time to make their views known on a bill before a floor vote.
Three amendments for House rules were presented to Rep. Stanley with the request that he publicly commit to voting for them:
- That all votes held in legislative committees are publicly disclosed.
- That all bills coming up for a final vote should be made public 72 hours prior to the vote.
- That the threshold for a vote to be publicly recorded in the House of Representatives is reduced from 16 representatives to eight.
A lively and passionate conversation about the issue of transparency ensued, and we appreciated Stanley’s candid responses to the concerns raised by his constituents. For example, a constituent from Waltham who does community organizing with college students pointed out that legislation to create same-day voter registration, despite popular support, has languished for 16 years without coming to a final vote. Lack of such a law can be an obstacle to young people voting due to their frequent moves, yet the bill has usually been “sent to study” to die, with no disclosure on which Representatives voted to kill it.
While he did endorse the principle that committee votes should be made public, Stanley did not commit during the meeting to voting for any of the three amendments. He assured the group that he was advocating privately with House leadership on behalf of the first rule change, but did not feel it was appropriate to promise a vote prior to the rules debate.
Stanley did not express support for the 72-hour rule or the eight-member threshold, stating they were either unnecessary or would be a hindrance to the legislative process. The constituents attending expressed their disappointment with Stanley’s positions, but also their appreciation for his participating in the meeting and his openness in discussing these issues despite his reluctance to agree to our requests.
We invite other community members to learn about the Act on Mass campaign. On January 27, House Speaker Ron Mariano announced an unprecedented delay on the house rules debate until July 2021. This means that efforts to push for more transparency appear to be having an impact. Please join us in expressing your views by contacting Rep. Stanley at ThomasStanley@mahouse.gov.
Signed,
Laura Berland
Emily Haslett
Sarah Cannon Holden
Joan Kimball
Steve Kropper
Margaret McLaughlin
Staci Montori
Patricia O’Hagan
Travis Roland
Barbara Slayter
Paul Shorb
