This article originally appeared in the Boston Globe on March 18, 2024 and was written by Matt Stout.  

Below is Common Cause Massachusetts executive director Geoff Foster’s comment on Governor Maura Healey’s decision to not disclose her whereabouts last month when she took a four-day trip out of state.

The debate around Healey’s actions highlights a wider issue, said Geoff Foster, executive director of the good government group, Common Cause Massachusetts: All three branches — the governor’s office, the Legislature, and the judiciary — enjoy a blanket exemption from the state’s public records law. Massachusetts, in fact, is the only state where that’s the case.

“It’s important that we balance the reality that threats of political violence are at an all-time high, but so too is public distrust in government,” Foster wrote in an email. “It’s past time that we take another look at ways to strengthen the public records law which already includes reasonable exclusions related to policy development and personal privacy.”

 To read the full article, click here.