The package would publish all committee votes, make testimony public, and create summaries for legislation before committees
(BOSTON—2/13/2025) Today the Massachusetts Senate approved two rules proposals for the 194th General Court that would increase transparency and public accessibility. Senator Cindy F. Friedman (D-Arlington), joined her colleagues in unanimously voting to support the proposed rules for the Senate and the proposed joint rules governing the work of the Senate alongside the House of Representatives.
The Senate’s rules proposals for the 2025-2026 session aim to create a transparent and efficient Legislature that adapts to the needs of the Commonwealth. These proposals will build on the Senate’s commitment to transparency and create a framework for increased productivity during legislative sessions.
“The work of the Legislature is done on behalf of the people of the Commonwealth, and they deserve a legislative body that is representative, efficient, and responsive,” said Senator Friedman, Vice Chair of the Senate Temporary Committee on Rules. “The Senate rules and our joint rules proposal reflect our intentions to continue to build towards these values, without letting arcane procedures hinder this work. We hear from constituents that they want to see more transparency and easier public participation, and I think the Senate’s proposals deliver this.”
The Senate’s rules proposal includes measures to improve transparency, and ensures that in the absence of joint rules, the Senate would be able to still take steps to make information public.
Senate Votes in Committees: Senate rules would require that the votes Senators take in joint committees, such as whether to advance a bill out of committee, be posted online. In addition, the Senate currently requires Senate-only committees to make committee votes available online.
Testimony Received by Committees: Senate rules would require that written or in-person testimony received by Senate members of a joint committee be provided publicly online. To facilitate this, an email or online portal would exist where testifiers can submit testimony that would be made available online. In addition, the Senate currently requires public testimony in Senate-only committees to be made available to the public.
Bill Summaries: Senate rules would direct Senate committees to make bill summaries available online for legislation reported favorably out of the committee. Summaries from Senate Ways and Means have long been provided to Senators and members of the public who ask for them, but this provision would make the same information easily available online.
Cybersecurity Training: Senate rules would require every Senator and employee to undergo cybersecurity training every session. The Senate rules already require members and employees to undergo anti-harassment training, implicit bias training, and ethics training.
The Senate’s proposal for joint rules would take additional steps to make the work of both branches accessible and available to the public.
Joint Committee Reform: Allows Senate and House members to vote only on their respective branch bills after joint hearings, preventing deadlocks and improving efficiency.
Public Hearing Notice: Increases notice time for joint committee hearings from 72 hours to five days, giving residents and stakeholders more time to prepare.
Reporting Deadline: Requires joint committees to report bills by the first Wednesday in December of the first session year to prevent legislative backlogs.
Open Conference Meetings: Mandates that the first conference committee meeting be open to the public and media for greater transparency.
Conference Report Review Time: Requires at least one full day between a conference committee report filing and a legislative vote to allow more time for review.
Bill Summaries: Requires sponsors to submit bill summaries, which joint committees must make publicly available alongside the bill text.
Committee Name Updates: Renames the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy to the Joint Committee on Climate, Utilities, and Energy, the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs to the Joint Committee on Aging and Independence, and the Joint Committee on Agriculture to the Joint Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries to better reflect their focus.
The Senate Rules will now govern the Senate this session. The Senate’s Joint Rules proposal will need to be reconciled with a not yet released Joint Rules proposal from the House of Representatives.
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