Please take a moment to look at the bills I have filed this session regarding democracy and transparency.
You can also view all bills I’ve co-sponsored this session here.
Filed bills
An Act increasing government accessibility for persons who are blind or visually impaired
Dial-by-name phone directories are used to help callers navigate large agencies and organizations, including offices within state government. However, dial-by-name directories can be inaccessible for people who are blind or who have visual impairments and cannot see the phone dial-pad. My bill requires all state government offices that utilize a dial-by-name directory to either replace or supplement the directory with an accessible method of routing calls.
Resolve increasing representation of all commonwealth residents in the state house art collection
The Massachusetts State House hosts one of the oldest public art collections in the nation, with pieces dating back to the eighteenth century. The State House Art Collection tells the story of the Commonwealth, depicting historical figures and events through paintings, murals, artifacts, and more. However, the collection does not represent the Commonwealth’s full history nor the diversity of its residents. My bill creates a special commission to review and make recommendations for updating the State House Art Collection to honor contributions from underrepresented and marginalized groups and celebrate the state’s cultural and geographic diversity, so that all Commonwealth residents can see themselves and their histories represented in their state capitol.
An Act providing for transparency and geographic equity in all state grant funding
Appropriating grant funding is a key function of state government. Grant funds are used to support education programs, environmental conservation work, public health services, community development efforts, municipal infrastructure projects, and much more. Despite the importance and prevalence of these funds, Massachusetts does not track nor report on grant funding in aggregate, making it impossible to evaluate the impact of state funding or assess whether grants are distributed equitably. My bill directs the Executive Office of Administration and Finance to create an interactive, publicly accessible dashboard with data on all state grant funding, including information on how much grant funding is distributed each year to every county and every municipality in Massachusetts. The bill also requires an annual report evaluating geographic equity in the distribution of state grant funding, with recommendations for how the state can improve geographic equity in the following year.
An Act relative to state employment postings
Massachusetts should have equal opportunity and access in hiring practices. The state falls short of this goal because there is no requirement that open state jobs be posted publicly online. My bill directs state officials to create a single, comprehensive online system and to require that all state job openings are posted in the online system.