The Case for Independent, In-house Research Services
Empowering Democracy
Independent Research Services Can Revitalize the MA Legislature
The Massachusetts State House is an outlier among state legislatures nationwide in inefficiency, lack of accountability and diversity. There are many reasons for this dysfunction. One reason is that individual legislators have little to no access to independent professional expertise and assistance for researching policy and writing bills. The Massachusetts legislature is the only legislature in the nation without a professional, non-partisan research, bill-drafting, or fiscal analysis body within the legislature. A previous legislative research bureau was defunded in 1992 and its enabling legislation was repealed in 2011. As a result, bills are often written by special interest lobbyists. Also, the scattered research that is conducted in the State House is ultimately controlled by the leadership, legislators who are elected by fewer than 1 percent of Massachusetts voters.
Leveling the Playing Field
Independent Research Services Will Empower Our Legislators
The reestablishment of professional, non-partisan, and independent research services would enable our elected representatives to independently evaluate policy alternatives, draft high-quality legislation, and anticipate the fiscal impact of bills. With these resources, rank-and-file legislators would be better equipped to stand up to leadership and powerful special-interest lobbyists in order to meet the needs and policy preferences of those they represent: we, the people.