Here in Massachusetts, we’re lucky to have an overwhelmingly big “d” Democratic Legislature. Unfortunately, it’s not very small “d” democratic.
This issue — changing the culture of the Statehouse — was an important issue for Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa from the time she decided to run for office. As soon as she won the primary election she started to talk about the issue with other candidates and to make plans about amendments to the House rules.
As an activist, she saw how the centralization of power and opaque processes and procedures empowers “Big Money” and leaves constituents in the dark. It also allows many bills to mysteriously fail to move out of committees and onto the floor for votes or to be part of marathon sessions on the last couple of days of the session.
With other female candidates, she signed a transparency pledge, committing to stand for votes and fight for more transparency in the building. When the session opened in January with votes on amendments to the House rules, she showed us that she’s kept her promise. Sabadosa backed several important, common sense transparency reforms, including making sure that legislators have enough time to read and consider what they’re voting on and making hearing testimony and committee votes available to the public.
These are basic steps that any voter should get behind. Unfortunately, none of them passed, as House leadership whipped votes against them. That outcome was certainly disappointing, but I’m proud that we can count on Sabadosa to put her values and her constituents first.
I cannot close without also mentioning that Sabadosa started working for us as soon as she was elected. She has met with me and other constituents around the concerns of the Climate Action Now monthly, starting in November. We were worried that she would be discouraged by the overwhelming defeat of the House rules amendments, but she assured us that she will continue to consider each vote on its own merit and keep us informed about her decisions.
Sharon Moulton
Leeds