children and families, election laws, ethics rules, insider jobs, pensions & benefits, structure and operations, transparency
Because Belmont has been considering a new animal control law, I’ve been receiving some state law questions. State law vests authority for regulation of animals with local officials. General Laws, Chapter 140, sections 136A through 172 defines local authority over both kennels and individual dogs. Here are a few relevant sections. Section 136A defines terms, …
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Last week the Senate passed legislation, which I sponsored, to allow disability commissions to authorize remote participation by their members. This required a modification to the open meeting law. The text of the bill was modified by the Committee on State Administration before passage by the Senate. The key language appears below: A local commission …
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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 Currently I’m receiving emails in the following form: Massachusetts election system has become outdated.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 …
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 …
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 …
Senator Brownsberger submitted the following written testimony to the Joint Committee on Financial Services. TO: Committee on Financial Services FROM: Senator William N. Brownsberger RE: S417, An Act to ensure full compliance with good funds statute. DATE: February 26, 2014 I am writing in support of S417, An Act to ensure full compliance with …
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