Let there be light!

“Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases.

Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants;

electric light the most efficient policeman.” 

Louis Brandeis

The disgraceful behavior of the Massachusetts Legislature continues in relative secrecy. We recently witnessed the crafting of legislation that will legalize casino gambling in the Commonwealth. It was done  entirely behind closed doors by a few people representing the Executive and the two Legislative branches.

In committee, the bill breezed through without a dissenting vote because the Committee members don’t dare to publically voice their dissent. Nearly every newspaper in the State has editorialized against it. The Boston Globe called it “badly flawed” and urged the rank and file to kill it.

Fat chance! The bill breezed through the House and will pass the Senate with similar ease. They rightly fear the power of the House Speaker and the Senate President.

One answer to this problem is obvious. We need to curb the power of the legislative leaders but that would take substantive reform and that is not going to come from the legislature, at least not in the short term. Any substantive change is going to have to come from the grass roots.

Perhaps then the more immediate answer as Justice Brandeis has suggested is sunlight. Recently twenty daily newspapers across the state ran an identical editorial calling for greater transparency in state government. The editorial reads in part:

“The felony convictions of three successive House speakers - and a Probation Department scandal that threatens to reach into every corner of public service - clearly indicate state transparency laws are in dire need of improvement.

Central to that effort is eliminating exemptions that free the governor's office, Legislature and judiciary from having to live by the meeting and records laws that apply to every other public office in this state. Just as important is making it easier and more affordable for people to take advantage of the access     already protected by a law that predates e-mail and the Internet.”

The editorial then quotes several bills already before the legislature that would make records easier to obtain and would subject the Legislature to the State’s open meeting law. The editorial is found here. http://www.eagletribune.com/opinion/x1117976685/Editorial-Trust-in-government-requires-public-access

I urge you to read it, forward it on to your friends and ask them to make their feelings known to their local legislators.

Let there be light!