BOSTON (AP) — Key branches of government will remain exempt from Massachusetts' open records requirements after a panel looking into the matter failed to reach any conclusions.
A 2016 overhaul of the state's public records law, designed to enhance transparency, created a special commission of House and Senate members to study whether the Legislature, the court system and governor's office should be covered by the law.
The Boston Globe reports the commission ended its deliberations without issuing a final report.
Mary Connaughton, director of government transparency for the Boston-based Pioneer Institute, calls it an "epic failure that weakens our democracy."
Senators on the panel issued some recommendations on their own, including that written testimony submitted to legislative committees be made public and votes taken by committees on bills be posted on the Legislature's website.
(© Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)