The Editorial Board of The Boston Globe has chastised the Massachusetts Senate for passing a bill to legalize sports betting by voice vote instead of roll call. The action effectively negates one of lawmakers’ most fundamental responsibilities: transparency.
Ward 4 Chair and policy director of Progressive Mass Jonathan Cohn is quoted in the May 9th editorial. He points out that “both legislative bodies [in Massachusetts] like to pretend divisions don’t exist.” The opacity “is striking, compared to other states. Massachusetts likes to view itself as a positive example, but this is one place where we can learn something from other states.”
The editorial challenges each Beacon Hill representative to “put their name where their vote is.”