MassFiscal Calls on Lawmakers to Focus on the People, Not Themselves

Wednesday, March 15, 2017
GoLocalWorcester Business Team

Paul Craney, MassFiscal Executive Director

MassFiscal Alliance is calling on lawmakers to do their jobs and focus on people instead of themselves. 

According to the Alliance, the legislature recently voted on several measures in their rules debate that prove antithetical to transparency and accountability issues. 

"It's particularly alarming that the first time Senators and Representatives voted to pass this measure. It sends a dark message when a newly elected lawmaker votes to give themselves a pay raise. Now is not the time to increase the Massachusetts economic tax burden. Do your job instead of reaching into the pockets of tax payers to pad your wallets. Sunshine Week, a nationally celebrated time for focusing on transparency in government and lawmaking, is a great time to talk about these maters,” said 
Executive director Paul Craney. 

Among the measures passed, the legislature voted to increase their pay by 40% without a single public hearing. 

In their press release, the alliance says "absent from their Joint Rules Package is any attempt to educate the public on bills before they are passed. Votes from legislative committees, where the breadth of bill creation and change occur, are not easily accessible to the public."