In January, the Senate passed an election laws bill. The bill is currently in conference committee with the House. The Senate bill included essentially all of the proposals that have been floated recently to improve voter participation. Currently I’m receiving emails in the following form: Massachusetts election system has become outdated. I’m writing today to …
Author Archives: Will Brownsberger
The "Upskirting" Law
There’s been much understandable concern expressed over yesterday’s Supreme Judicial Court decision. In Commonwealth v. Robertson, the court found that Massachusetts’ peeping tom law did not apply to “upskirting.” Robertson’s alleged behavior was certainly invasive and from a commonsense perspective, criminal. The court summarized the allegations as follows: At approximately 8:30 A.M. on August 11, …
MBTA Pension Transparency
Back in 2008, I became aware and concerned that the MBTA Retirement Fund is not subject to the same transparency rules that apply to state agencies. My understanding of this issue has greatly evolved over the past few months: While I have undiminished passion for transparency, I have to admit that the Retirement Fund is …
Justina Pelletier
Recently, I’ve been hearing from people urging me to take action to free Justina Pelletier from the custody of the Department of Children and Families and send her back to her parents. See the sample emails further below. I’m certainly troubled by the story of Justina. It is always deeply saddening when DCF takes children …
Bowker Overpass — Multistage Construction?
Recently, concerns have been expressed that the Bowker project is actually larger than people have realized. This concern comes from the presence of multiple Bowker related projects in MassDOT’s project management system. Paul Nelson at MassDOT has offered the clarification below: I understand that trying to use our Project Information System can be a bit …
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Public Health Insurance Option
I’ve recently been receiving notices that constituents of mine have been signing a MoveOn petition urging me to support Senate 514, An Act Establishing a Public Health Insurance Option. Senate 514 is a serious, well-assembled legislative proposal which speaks to important issues — strengthening competition in the health insurance market place and improving access to …