A wide range of paid lobbyists and volunteers from community based organizations paying close attention to the economists' projections at last weeks revenue hearing at Senate Ways and Means, got another piece of news from Senator Marc Pacheco who announced that the Senate intended to debate ethics and lobbying reform legislation on May 14. The day after ther Senate Ways and Means releases it's budget recommendations and one day before amendments are due.
Not unexpected news, since Secretary Bill Galvin had released a much improved lobbyist tracking system that folks were already testing to find themselves and see if the lobbyists they knew were working against them were properly registered. (Yes, a good user-friendly lobbyist search system is critical to campaign planning and implementation.)
The paid lobbyists and volunteer advocates paying attention to this critical reform effort have been tracking carefully what they considered the overly broad "definition" of lobbying that was in the Governors' proposal and had been retained in the House version.
This definition applied to for-profit AND non-profit large and small employers and both had shared with the House Ethics Committee their concerns that if they had to register everyone who had been involved in strategic research and preparing fact sheets the fees would be excessive and the reporting requirements would be burdensome.
Because we believe that transparency, enabled by user-friendly searchable data bases, is key to encouraging and supporting civic engagement and accountability, we are encouraging ONE Mass network members to talk with their Senator about two things next week.
When does lobbying reform go too far overboard and to the detriment of all? The Obama Administration may have reached that point. Lobbying, just like other noble professions, is performed by intelligent, thoughtful, and dedicated people who believe in their issue and who follow moral codes of conduct. Just like with other professions, not everyone matches this level of performance. That shouldn't be the reason to paint all lobbyist with the same negative brush, putting constraints on careers.
Judy Meredith and Lew Finfer are pooling their collective organizing, advocacy, and leadership experiences to form the Massachusetts Policy and Organizing Leadership Training Academy. There's a wealth of knowledge to pass on to the next group of organizers and advocates and the current group of aspiring leaders.
It’s not easy being transparent and Bill Galvin, Secretary of State, has pulled off a triumph in the state wide transparency challenge with his office’s web site that helps public policy advocates decide if and when they should register as lobbyists and how to report their activities and expenses.
Secretary William Galvin has issued a new opinion on the lobbying law which adds clarity to certain key issues that have concerned many non-profits in the past few months. In a January 21, 2010 opinion rendered to attorney Roger Donoghue, Lobbyist Section Director Alan Cote stated unequivocally that a communication with a covered executive or legislative official IS required in order to meet the statutory provisions for registering as a lobbyist. In other words, back-room staff, who never talk with legislators, are not lobbyists.
We know that policymakers make different decisions when they are watched by their constituents. In order to make that policy-making process more transparent, Governor Deval Patrick has filed "