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Poll: Mass. Legislature underwater in court of public opinion
Massachusetts residents highly prize transparency and want to see an audit of the Legislature, the poll found.
Massachusetts residents view the state Legislature in a very negative light and are overwhelmingly concerned with the transparency of the state government, a new poll found.
Just 28% of respondents said that they view the Legislature favorably, compared to 51% who view it unfavorably. A total of 642 residents were surveyed between March 2 and March 5. The poll was commissioned by the Pioneer Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank that focuses on state level public policy.
A total of 87% of respondents said that government transparency is extremely important in achieving the ideals of a democracy.
Massachusetts is known for being one of the least transparent states in the country when it comes to the accessibility of public records. The governor, judiciary, and state lawmakers enjoy broad exemptions for compliance with public records requests. There are no independent statewide audits of compliance with public records law. As such, the burden often falls on individuals making public records requests to contact state overseers if they believe the law is being broken, The Boston Globe recently reported.
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This fall, voters could very likely be presented with a ballot question that would make most records held by the governor’s office and the Legislature public under the existing law. The state Senate recently asked the Supreme Judicial Court for an opinion on the proposed question, saying that it could “violate or intrude upon” their “freedom of deliberation, speech and debate.”
When asked whether they believe lawmakers should be subject to the state public records law, 86% of respondents to the Pioneer Institute poll said that they do believe that. This indicates that the ballot question would easily pass, pollsters wrote in a briefing about the results.
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In 2024, more than 70% of voters approved of a ballot question that gave the State Auditor Diana DiZoglio the power to audit the Legislature. But no such audit has taken place in the many months since, leading to a prolonged confrontation between DiZoglio and leaders on Beacon Hill. DiZoglio is also feuding with Attorney General Andrea Campbell over the audit attempt, and the matter is now in front of the state’s highest court.
The poll found that 83% of respondents think that the Legislature should drop its opposition to the audit. Pollsters noted that even 67% of respondents who hold a “very favorable” view of the Legislature still believe that it should be subject to DiZoglio’s audit.
The poll asked respondents about the system by which residents can request Statements of Financial Interest for political candidates and public officials. Massachusetts requires that those seeking financial statements submit a photo ID, and the state notifies public officials of the identity of the person seeking their information. Most other states do not do this, according to the Pioneer Institute.
The survey found that 67% of respondents believe that the financial information of officials should be available online without a photo ID requirement. In addition, 54% of respondents believe that public officials should not be given the names of the people requesting their financial information.
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“This poll demonstrates that the Legislature’s unwillingness to submit to the will of the voters when it comes to agreeing to an audit by the State Auditor, its failure to streamline the process citizens have to go through to access officials’ financial information, and its penchant for exempting itself from state laws are not sitting well with Massachusetts residents,” Pioneer Institute Director of Government Transparency Mary Connaughton said in a statement.
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