BOSTON – The Massachusetts State Senate convened Wednesday for the first formal session of the 189th General Court to debate and vote on the rules that will govern the operations of the Senate over the next two-year session.
Senator Don Humason, along with the members of the Senate Republican Caucus, pursued an aggressive agenda for changes to bring about transparency, accountability, efficiency, and an environment where every idea of every member would be given fair consideration.
“As my fellow Senators and I were debating updates and changes to the rules that govern the Senate I was mindful of the importance of bringing as much transparency and sunlight to the proceedings as possible,” Humason said.
Humason’s “Amendment Relative to Transparency in the Course of Proceedings,” requires that:
The Committee on Ways and Means shall provide a copy of its proposed text of any bills or resolves involving public money, or a grant of public property, to a committee member, upon request, before such bill or resolve is reported to the Senate for consideration.
The amendment was adopted with unanimous support of the Senate membership in a vote of 38-0. Humason is a member of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.
“This rule will provide Senators the ability to make informed decisions in response to polls taken by the Committee on Ways and Means, by being able to read the full text rather than just summaries of the bills,” Humason said. “When the Senate votes, it votes on bills, not summaries of bills. The Ways and Means Committee should be no different.”
In addition to the Humason amendment adopted yesterday, Humason proposed a rule which the Ethics and Rules Committee adopted and included in its report. The rule change added one additional member of the Minority Party to three top tier committees – Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets, Post Audit and Oversight, and Ways and Means.
The Massachusetts Senate Republican Caucus successfully secured a Senate rule requiring the posting of Senate committee roll call votes to the General Court website within 48 hours of a vote being taken. The measure passed unanimously by a vote of 38-0.
Other rules changes secured by the Senate Republican Caucus include:
. Requiring the Senate Committee on Rules to report within 10 days on any rule change proposed by 1/5 of the members, and for the Senate to consider that report in a timely manner;
· Requiring an annual fiscal audit by a certified public accountant of Senate financial accounts, to be made available to the members of the Senate and the public upon request;
· Requiring the clerk to link the text of all amendments to roll call votes on the General Court website.
When debate on all proposed amendments was complete the Senate voted unanimously, by a vote of 38-0, to adopt the package of rules for the 2015-2016 legislative session. The Senate then voted to adopt a temporary package of rules to govern joint interactions between the Senate and House.
