Pols & Politics: Sunlight may be breaking through on Beacon Hill this legislative term

A sliver of sunlight may have completely pierced through the dark opaque cover over Beacon Hill Lawmakers negotiating major policies these past scant months have held historically closed-door meetings in general view and the contingent of legislators negotiating the yearly budget seems to be open to hashing out their differences at least partly in the open Sen Michael Rodrigues a Westport Democrat who serves as the chief budget writer in the Senate mentioned keeping conference committees groups of six lawmakers tasked with hammering out bills open is new territory for us We re going to learn as we go he informed reporters this past week Rodrigues and his House counterpart from the North End Democratic Rep Aaron Michlewitz opted against voting to make yearly budget talks private a rare move in a building where conference committees have routinely retreated behind closed doors to deliberate The decision could be part of an inter-branch debate about transparency in regime that has jumped to the forefront because of an ongoing legislative audit and long-held beliefs that the Massachusetts Legislature is one of the largest part secretive branches of leadership in the country Rodrigues reported the intention was to keep the budget deliberations open The next meeting has not yet been scheduled We will adequately post and let members of the press and colleagues know when our next meeting will be convened he explained Budget negotiators were not the only group to expose themselves to society scrutiny this year A group of Beacon Hill pols who are working through competing House-Senate versions of internal rules that govern the relationship between the two branches has also held populace conference committee meetings That flock of lawmakers held its majority of latest meeting earlier this month where the two lead negotiators started debating proposals over the ability to remotely participate in committee hearings during a question-and-answer session with reporters It was an extremely uncommon moment of open governing body that offered a direct view into how top lieutenants to House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka hash out contentious differences Rep Mike Moran a Brighton Democrat who serves as House majority leader even appeared to change his position on remote participation during the scrum with reporters The House s original rules package sought to require lawmakers physical presence during hearings and only granted remote participation privileges to members of the general Senate Democratic leadership originally bristled at that idea What I m saying right now is we would agree to open remote anytime anyplace anywhere We just need people to show up he narrated Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem in front of the press Creem did not appear to initially catch on until a nearby staffer pointed out that Moran was changing his position in the midst of the conversation At the end of the exchange Moran explained it was lawmakers intention to hold the next conference committee meeting For those who have covered or worked at the State House for years it was a fascinating exchange that piqued hopes of more populace debates Senate lawmakers included language in their internal rules package that would require the first meeting of a conference committee to be society something another Spilka lieutenant revealed would provide more insight into the legislative process Super PAC backing Josh Kraft ready to shuttle more cash into mayoral race A super PAC backing Josh Kraft is planning to spend another million on television and digital ads attacking Mayor Michelle Wu in the next two months on top of the million it s already published spending on similar advertising The Your City Your Future super PAC disclosed the new spending last week ahead of a -second ad it published this past Thursday that highlighted what the PAC sees as failures of the first-term mayor The new ad is the first TV and streaming hit disclosed by the PAC The facts of Mayor Wu s record on traffic schools and affordability speak for themselves a spokesperson for the super PAC declared in a declaration This is the first in a series of ads highlighting how Mayor Wu s choices are holding Boston back YCYF is committed to providing voters with the facts on Mayor Wu s record and we believe that when they have those facts voters will choose to move in a new direction Time and time again Bostonians have seen Mayor Wu won t listen or deliver progress for the city Josh Kraft will The spokesperson declared the super PAC will be reporting an additional on TV and digital advertising through July The PAC in a separate disclosure filed last month with state regulators shared spending million on digital advertisements television streaming and radio hits and billboards opposing Mayor Wu The -second advertisement circulated last Thursday was dubbed She Ignored Us and will be running across broadcast cable and streaming video through July the PAC explained The ad hits Wu over her spending on a White Stadium rehab which has taxpayers on the hook for roughly million and partially benefits a professional women s soccer unit bike lanes and their purported impact on worsening traffic congestion and residents school closures Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill Boston HeraldMayoral candidate Josh Kraft speaks to the media as anti and pro Wu imigrant protestors meet in City Hall Plaza on March Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill Boston Herald