I’m happy to see Speaker DeLeo has responded to his house members and begun an investigation of legal fees for the ex-speaker. But – it’s only a start. The entire Legislative body’s spending, perks and benefits must have records open to the public. To think they are “special” and don’t need to have the public see what’s going on behind that curtain flies in the face of democracy, transparency in government and just plain honesty.
Comments are closed.
Fully agreed that there is more disclosure that should be routine. See my earlier post on this issue for some fine tuning on what needs to change. Most “spending, perks and benefits” are already public. What needs more routine disclosure is the procurement backup data for non-personnel spending.
Today’s Boston Globe reports little movement by the Speaker in opening the “books” to what’s really going on behind the scenes on Beacon Hill. In fact – his hiring ANOTHER law firm to review the bills for the law firm in question is outrageous. Stop spending money we don’t have!!! It seems once a legislator moves into a position of authority, the further they find themselves from the core role as our representative. They are not there to build empires and/or become wealthy due to political connections. They are supposed to represent the voters in passing laws and help the state in general – not find ways to take care of friends or co-workers at the state’s expense. Transparency is still the key, and I see very little of it from the Speaker’s office. The Democratic Party has already lost four big name stars this year as the backwash on the Democrats is starting to build. The next few years may, finally, be the time showing yourself as an incumbent will be a lead weight that sinks the candidate at the polls. Halleluiah! We are in desperate need of revised thinking in this state and hopefully the four House members who are pushing for release of the legal bills for the previous Speaker create the spark that starts the firestorm.