Pioneer Commends MA Governor-elect Healey’s Step Toward Greater Transparency

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Pioneer Institute commends Governor-elect Maura Healey for choosing not to claim a public records exemption for the governor’s office. Governor-elect Healey also pledged to support legislation that would curb exemptions claimed by the legislative and judiciary branches of state government.

Massachusetts and Michigan are the only states where the governor’s office claims to be exempt from the public records law, and Massachusetts is the only state in which the judiciary, legislature and governor’s office all claim such exemptions.  The Commonwealth has repeatedly been ranked among the worst states in the nation for government transparency in this area.

Past governors claimed they are exempt citing interpretations of the Supreme Judicial Court’s 1997 ruling in Lambert v. Executive Director of the Judicial Nominating Commission, a decision Secretary of State William Galvin has called “terribly abused.”

Pioneer Institute urged previous governors to extend this reform initiative to their offices. Governor Charlie Baker proposed public records reforms but continued to claim the exemption.

“There is no better way for the governor-elect to kick off her term,” said Pioneer’s Director of Government Transparency Mary Connaughton. “Hopefully, this will mark the dawn of a new era of government transparency in the Commonwealth. Ultimately, we hope it will inspire the judiciary and legislature to follow suit and become more transparent.”

Get Updates on Our Pioneer Public Initiatives!

Related Posts:

Q&A: Michael Morisy, Co-Founder of MuckRock

/
MuckRock is an online startup that helps journalists streamline,…

U.S. history an innovative field worth teaching

/
http://www.lowellsun.com/editorials/ci_19909427 Last month,…

Danvers man’s proposal for EZ-ID license plates endorsed

/
http://www.wickedlocal.com/danvers/newsnow/x132492920/Danvers-man-s-proposal-for-EZ-ID-license-plates-endorsed?zc_p=1#axzz2NcNYjWOG The…

Benefit of The Doubt? Not For Gov. Tim Murray

/
Lieut. Gov. Tim Murray has forfeited the benefit of the doubt. Murray,…

2012 Massachusetts State Spending Map

/
In 2012, Pioneer Institute proudly reprised this exciting online…

Massachusetts raced other states to win over doomed Evergreen Solar

/
In my last post, I took a look at how surprisingly credulous…

Why did Evergreen Solar backers miss the Chinese threat?

/
In reviewing hundreds of pages of documents related to Massachusetts'…

Does Mass. Exclude Low-Achievers from National Education Tests?

/
Last week, in reporting the national test results on how…

What will adoption of national standards cost Massachusetts schools?

/
It’s always struck me as odd that with all the talk about…