SAUGUS — State Rep. Donald Wong (R-Saugus) is against new legislation that seeks to continue the live streaming of both informal and formal House of Representatives sessions, saying that it limits transparency in state government.
The order Wong is opposing, House Bill 3930, would also authorize House committee chairs to hold hearings allowing for both in-person and virtual testimony from the public on pending legislation.
Wong’s gripe, he said, is that the bill doesn’t include additional reforms he is seeking to add to the proposed rules package. Now that the state has reopened, he is also calling for more transparency in how legislative sessions are conducted, he said.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, the House has been operating under emergency rules which allow for members to participate in formal sessions as well as cast roll-call votes remotely. That COVID-era change has been extended until Oct. 1, in a recent vote which Wong also opposed.
“It is unfair for legislators to continue operating under a different set of rules now that the rest of the state has already re-opened,” said Wong.
One of the reforms that Wong supported was attempting to extend the time requirement for all copies of bills to be made available to both the members and the public — currently, the bills need to be made available 24 hours prior to debate. The Saugus lawmaker supported a reform aimed at extending that timeframe to 48 hours prior to debate. The measure failed, with the reform only gaining 39 votes out of the 158 that were cast, according to his office.
During floor debate, Wong also supported an amendment requiring all committee polls to be open for a minimum of two hours. He said this would give legislators time to properly review the bills being polled and to make a more informed decision when casting their votes. The amendment failed on a 124-35 vote.
One of the few amendments Wong supported that did pass allows for any member serving on active reserve military duty to participate remotely in a formal session, subject to the requirements and limitations of federal law and regulation.
