Beacon Hill Roll Call
Volume 51 – Report No. 38
September 14 – 18, 2026
Copyright © 2026 Beacon Hill Roll Call. All Rights Reserved.
THE HOUSE AND SENATE: During the week of Sept. 14-18, the House met for a total of 17 minutes and the Senate met for a total of one hour and 40 minutes.
On November 3, or prior to that for voters who take advantage of early voting between October 17-30, all voters will have the opportunity to vote on nine ballot questions that will become law if approved by the majority of voters.
To get on the ballot, the groups backing each ballot question were required to collect and submit at least 74,574 signatures last fall. The Legislature had until May 5, 2026 to act on the proposed law. The Legislature did not act on any of the proposals by its May 5 deadline. At which point supporters were required to collect another 12,429 signatures by July 1, 2026 in order to get their question on the ballot. All nine groups gathered sufficient signatures to get their question on the 2026 ballot.
Secretary of State Bill Galvin has issued an 88-page book via the U.S. mail and online with details about each question. If you would rather not read the entire 88-page book, Beacon Hill Roll Call will be presenting a report on each ballot question over the next several weeks prior to the election.
BALLOT QUESTION 1 – Here is a look at Question 1:
QUESTION 1: MAKE RECORDS OF THE LEGISLATURE AND THE GOVERNOR PUBLIC RECORDS- This question asks voters if they approve of a proposed law that would make most records held by the Legislature and the governor’s office public records and available to the public under the Massachusetts Public Records Law. Exemptions include communications between legislators and their constituents, if they are a request by the constituent for assistance in obtaining government-provided benefits or services.
OFFICIAL ARGUMENTS: Here are the official arguments, gathered by the secretary of state, from each side of the question:
IN FAVOR: “Massachusetts deserves open government. Good government groups rank our state the least transparent in the nation. We’re one of only two states where both the governor’s office and the Legislature claim a blanket exemption from the public records law. Every city, town and state agency must follow that law, but the politicians on Beacon Hill exempted themselves.
Question 1 puts the Legislature and the governor’s office under the same public records law as everyone else. It protects constituent privacy, and the Secretary of Administration and Finance has certified that it has no cost to taxpayers.
In 2024, 72% of voters said yes to auditing the Legislature. Beacon Hill is still fighting that vote — but Question 1 will give you and every taxpayer the ability to access public records directly.
You have a right to see what your government is doing with your hard-earned taxpayer dollars. Please vote ‘Yes’ on Question 1.”
AGAINST: “The proposed law includes overly broad and poorly defined exemptions. It would exempt from public disclosure documents related to the development of public policy, but only during policy development. These records would become public once the policy is developed. This limited and temporary exemption will chill open communications by lawmakers, raising significant constitutional concerns, particularly around legislative speech and debate protections.
The narrow protection for constituent communications creates serious privacy risks. By only exempting correspondence tied to benefits or agency interaction, the law leaves vulnerable to public disclosure all other general constituent communications, such as emails and letters from citizens expressing personal political views, sharing sensitive local grievances or criticizing lawmakers. This lack of comprehensive privacy protection will negatively affect civic engagement and deter residents from contacting their elected officials.
Ultimately, this measure creates a flawed framework that fails to deliver genuine accountability while actively compromising constituent privacy.”
WHAT YOUR VOTE DOES: A “Yes” vote is in favor of making most records held by the Legislature and the governor’s office public records and available to the public under the Massachusetts Public Records Law.
A “No” vote is against making most records held by the Legislature and the governor’s office public records and available to the public under the Massachusetts Public Records Law.
For more information and details on each bill, roll call attendance, and other relevant information, please visit the Wakefield Daily Item at www.localheadlinenews.com.