Important Revenue & Transparency Votes

We know that the public structures that make our state a great place to live can only be maintained and repaired with our shared support. That is why the nine votes in support of Rep. Matthew Patrick's amendment on dividends and interest are so important.

Those nine votes are a clear indication that representatives took to heart the calls our Greater Boston, Pioneer Valley, and South Coast and Cape members made, urging our legislators to support our communities with adequate revenues. Both rank-and-file reps and those in leadership positions backed the amendment in the face of stiff resistance from House Speaker DeLeo and Ways and Means Chairman Charles Murphy, both of whom have stated their opposition to any new revenues.

Speaking on the House floor, Rep. Patrick characterized his amendment as a call for the Legislature to look more closely at the tax system: "This is really the beginning of a conversation we need to have," he said. "We can't let talk radio dictate tax policy."

We would like to thank representatives Peter Kocot, Liz Malia, Matt Patrick, Denise Provost, Angelo Scaccia, Carl Sciortino, Ellen Story, Benjamin Swan, and Tim Toomey for their visionary votes on this amendment.

Another important item that did pass in the House was Rep. Jay Kaufman's amendment on budget transparency that would establish a searchable online database in which every expenditure will be available to be accessed, aggregated, and analyzed by anyone for free. These changes, and others implemented in this outside section, were championed by ONE Massachusetts and its allies MASSPIRG and Common Cause Massachusetts.

This initiative will be an important step towards reinstilling the public confidence in our government necessary for our state to build a united effort in rebuilding all of our cities and towns into the safe and supportive communities we all deserve.

For more information on events happening across our state, check out this week's ONE Massachusetts newsletter.