Editorial Staff

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

/in , , , /by Editorial Staff
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:

In The Era Of COVID-19, Mass. Needs To Get Long-Term Care Right

0 Comments
/
This op-ed originally appeared in WGBH News. In much of the…

National Study Finds Most States Lack Healthcare Price Transparency Laws

At a time when the coronavirus pandemic has caused massive shifts in state policies on telehealth and scope of practice in healthcare, a new Pioneer Institute study underscores that most of the 50 states continue to suffer from weak laws regarding price transparency.  The study identified states that have laws that require carriers, providers or both to provide personalized cost information to consumers before obtaining healthcare services.  Fully 33 states placed in the lowest of the three broad analytic tiers on the strength of their state healthcare transparency laws. 

Mapping COVID-19 in Massachusetts Cities & Towns

0 Comments
/
Kudos to he Massachusetts Department of Public Health for posting the count and rate (per 100,000) of confirmed COVID-19 Cases in Massachusetts by City/Town.

Transparency Needed at Long-term Care Facilities

0 Comments
/
The anxiety of having a parent in a nursing home under the constant…

Financial Disclosures – As Important Now as Ever

0 Comments
/
News sources report that certain senators sold stocks just before the market crashed when the economic impact of Coronavirus came to light. Now more than ever, financial disclosures must be accessible to the media and to the public.

Sunshine Week 2020 – When Government Transparency Is More Important Than Ever

0 Comments
/
COVID-19 has overshadowed what was supposed to be Sunshine Week, but vigilance on behalf of open government is even more crucial during times like these, when the public has limited access. But government transparency is important at all times. Each year during Sunshine Week, Pioneer reviews some of its recent work to increase public accountability in Massachusetts government.

New Video Highlights Need for Greater Access to Public Officials’ Financial Ties

With as new animated video, Pioneer Institute aims to inform the public about barriers to accessing Massachusetts elected officials’ financial information.

Pioneer Institute’s Government Transparency Resolutions 2020

As we do each January, Pioneer shares the resolutions it hopes state leaders will adopt to bring government actions into better focus and invigorate our democracy with heightened public engagement.

Survey: MA Least Transparent State at Making State Official Financial Disclosures Public

New rankings from Pioneer Institute show that among the states that require financial disclosures of elected officials and other significant policy makers, Massachusetts is the least transparent.