A digital push for more legislative participation

ONE OF THE most well-worn complaints among political watchers in Massachusetts is that the government can be, well, hard to watch. The state Legislature is one of the least transparent lawmaking bodies in the country – exempt from public records laws, with decisions often made in closed committee sessions with little revelation about who voted for or against a given piece of legislation.

Being generally outraged about local government on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media sites may be cathartic, but is perhaps not the most efficient way to push for change. Now a team of volunteers is taking a swing at making online engagement with the Legislature feel a bit more civil, structured, and achievable for individuals and organizations.

The website MAPLE (the Massachusetts Platform for Legislative Engagement) launched this month, focused on encouraging and facilitating public testimony on legislation. The Legislature does collect and post some public testimony already, but the MAPLE group is trying to improve what they see as an imperfect system. A motivating question for the co-creators was whether the online spaces where the public gathers to express views online could “be designed better to allow us to channel our energy for productive improvements for the communities that we touch?”

“It can be difficult at times to understand who our legislators are listening to when they make decisions,” said MAPLE co-founder Matt Victor at a launch event. Victor, a lawyer at the Boston firm Choate, also participated in a panel (moderated by this reporter) featuring Danielle Allen, professor of political philosophy at Harvard; Axios Boston reporter Mike Deehan; and MAPLE co-founder Nathan Sanders, a data scientist.

Sanders, who pushed for an environmental protection law regulating sewage reporting, said he felt inspired by the successful outcome after years of lobbying. But, he said, “I also got to see how hard it is to get people to mobilize in that way, how hard it is to help them understand how they can have their voice heard in the somewhat arcane process that we have in our state and other states today, and I also got to see what it looks like when you’re sort of shadow-boxing – when not every side of an issue is on the record and sharing their opinions in a public forum.”

MAPLE has been built over the past two years by an entirely volunteer group of developers, project managers, and marketers, Victor said. The site operates as “a nonpartisan, open source, and nonprofit project,” pulling data from the Legislature’s somewhat infamously unwieldy website and moderated by the volunteers.

Some similar sites and programs exist, but geared toward a more corporate and organizational user base. InstaTrac and the LexisNexis program State Net, for instance, are paid legislative tracking tools designed for professionals. MAPLE requires a manual sign up and approval from the administrators, but the program is free to use.

Panelists tied the current state of public engagement directly to the increasing scarcity of local news organizations. 

“We have seen an incredible erosion of local journalism over the last two decades,” Allen said, in part because of social media and the move to digital platforms. “There’s really significant consequences to that, because all of that local journalism was the infrastructure of democracy,” she said, not just from a reporting side but also because public notices about meetings had to be posted in local papers. Part of her hope for MAPLE, she said, is that it helps to fill that infrastructural “vacuum” for the public.

But that means people and organizations would have to use it and it would need to be on the Legislature’s radar. 

That frustration that Sanders expressed is a common one for journalists, Deehan noted. Bills will often cycle through Beacon Hill over and over, never making it out of committees for no clear reason. 

JENNIFER SMITH

FROM COMMONWEALTH

Sticky situation in Somerset: A Select Board race in Somerset could have ramifications for the state’s emerging offshore wind industry as the candidates have different views on the way to deal with some $3.5 million in fines owed by the redeveloper of Brayton Point. Read more.

Let doctors dispense prescriptions: To save patients time and money, a new report says doctors should be allowed to dispense prescriptions they write. The report says Massachusetts is one of only five states that bars doctors from dispensing prescriptions. Read more.

Exodus non-existent: A left-leaning policy center says Beacon Hill’s rush to cut estate and capital gains taxes is an attempt to address an exodus of wealthy residents from the state that doesn’t exist. The center cites data from the period before passage of the millionaire tax that suggests the out-migration of wealthy residents from Massachusetts is low relative to other states. Read more.

No bets on runners: The Massachusetts Gaming Commission rejects a bid by DraftKings to take bets on the Boston Marathon. A key consideration was the fact that DraftKings didn’t contact the Marathon before submitting its request. Read more.

OPINION

New pathways to success: Bob Schwartz, a Harvard expert on workforce issues, says career success is not dependent on a four-year college degree and we should be emphasizing the range of viable pathways to success. Read more.

Bans not a good idea: Susannah Hatch, clean energy director at the Environmental League of Massachusetts, says the state cannot afford to bar companies from bidding on offshore wind procurements even if they are trying to back out of power supply contracts they previously signed. Read more.

FROM AROUND THE WEB

BEACON HILL

Criminal justice advocates are pushing voting rights for prisoners with felony convictions. (State House New Service)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS  

Thirty-six Boston police officers voluntarily resigned from the force last year – with half transferring to positions with the city’s fire department. (Boston Globe)

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Tennessee Republican lawmakers expelled two Black Democratic legislators, in what the Washington Post described as “a historic act of partisan retaliation,” because they disrupted House proceedings last week to protest for gun control legislation following another mass shooting at a school, this one in Nashville. 

EDUCATION

WBUR goes inside a program in Lowell designed to encourage students of color to become teachers.

The “ladies” saga in Easthampton continues, as the chair of the School Committee gives her take. She said she felt insulted by the “ladies” salutation used by a candidate for superintendent but insists that was just one reason why his job offer was withdrawn. (Daily Hampshire Gazette)

TRANSPORTATION

The Boston Herald splashes a big “gotcha” story on its front page, warning that incoming MBTA general manager Phillip Eng presided over a system awash in overtime and pension scandals, but then concedes that nearly all the eye-popping problems it details predated Eng’s 2018 arrival as head of the Long Island Rail Road. 

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

Boston’s top energy and environmental official says competitive energy suppliers are targeting people in neighborhoods like Dorchester and Mattapan, using underhanded practices to trick vulnerable populations into signing up for worse long-term electric rates. (Dorchester Reporter)

More endangered North Atlantic right whales are being seen in Cape Cod Bay and they are staying there longer, a pattern that may be related to climate change. (Boston Globe) 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

A former police officer and city councilor in Methuen is charged with an array of crimes in dual probes. (Eagle-Tribune) The investigation relates to the long reign of former police chief Joseph Solomon, who, according to a city-funded report, should also face criminal charges for conduct that the report called a “textbook case of public corruption.” (Boston Globe)