Understanding the State House
Massachusetts lawmakers file more bills each session than almost any state in the country. Yet the state ranks last in passing legislation year after year. In 2023, FiscalNote named Massachusetts the least effective legislature of all fifty states, introducing 10,508 bills and enacting only 21. Meanwhile, states like California, Hawaii, and others, with large Democratic majorities, passed more than four times as many.
The reason is that the State House system is deliberately set up to keep power in the hands of a corrupt few. In the Massachusetts Legislature, the Speaker and Senate President decide which bills live and die, in private, with no public record. Committee votes are secret. Amendments are withdrawn under pressure and threats of removal of committee chairmanships. Popular bills with majority co-sponsors are blocked in committee or have been sent into study for literal decades without ever reaching a floor vote.
Massachusetts is the only state in the country where all three branches of government have declared themselves exempt from public records law. The Center for Public Integrity gives the state a D+ and Open States gave an F, citing inaccessibility and a lack of vote data. Three consecutive House Speakers were convicted of federal crimes.
Evan is running for State Representative because the statehouse is designed to fail us. Corrupt politicians are protecting bad policies while preventing popular bills that can improve our lives from ever passing. The concentrated power, secrecy, and corruption that sent three state house leaders to prison are what’s keeping Medicare for All stuck in committee, rent stabilization illegal statewide, and climate legislation sent to study. Fixing Beacon Hill is not separate from fighting for housing, healthcare, climate justice, and workers' rights. It is necessary to achieve any of these goals. Evan believes the government should serve working people, and not the entrenched elite, and they will fight to make this possible.