Marianne Rutter, “Letter: Mass. leaders needed to do more,” Newburyport News, September 22, 2024.

To the Editor:
I, like many Massachusetts voters, was excited for our state to finally have a Democratic governing trifecta (Governor, Senate, and House) again. However, when seeing the productive legislative sessions in other new Democratic trifectas like Michigan or Minnesota, I can’t help feeling disappointed.

As has become the unfortunate norm on Beacon Hill, the House and Senate ran out the clock after midnight on July 31 with a long list of unfinished business, leaving unaddressed many important priorities like economic development, climate change, and bills to address the Steward crisis, as well as many common-sense bills that never advanced far enough to come up for a vote. Massachusetts citizens shouldn’t need to wait until 2025 until these important issues are addressed.

Our Legislature’s over-centralization of power, inertia, and complacency will require deep cultural change (or the shocks of election losses). Even worse is a trend not commonly on view for the average voter: there has been a striking decline in basic deliberation and accountability in the Legislature, with both chambers taking fewer than half the recorded votes they did just a few sessions ago.

In the near term, the Legislature should do something simple: come back into session and finish their work. The economic development bill has important policy components, such as keeping high school seniors out of adult prisons and strengthening our public health infrastructure (both in the Senate bill), and we shouldn’t have to wait until next year to start all over again. The same for climate legislation: Mother Nature doesn’t wait, and neither should the Legislature. We need robust legislation that centers environmental justice and includes a clear plan to transition away from gas.

Going back into session will mean the Legislature will do what it is supposed to: deliberate, legislate, and vote.

Sincerely,
Marianne Rutter