State Senator Scott Brown

Legislative Issues

My legislative agenda has a clear goal: to restore people’s faith in government by introducing transparency, accountability and reform. The ongoing economic crisis and several recent scandals have shaken the foundation of our state government. In the coming months we will make many hard decisions and take many tough votes, but the people of the Commonwealth must be able to trust their elected officials to act in their best interest.

The bills I filed for the 180th Legislative Session focus specifically on good government reforms, improving business competitiveness and holding the line on taxes and spending, as well as continually working to strengthen public safety and education. It is these issues, along with the failing economy, that require our immediate attention if we are to keep people from leaving the state.

The events of the past year have shown that our government is in great need of ethics reform. I have filed a bill to hold our public officials accountable by removing their chairmanship and placing the salary of a legislator or official charged with a felony into an escrow account until their case is adjudicated. I have also filed legislation to ban convicted felons from acting as lobbyists in the Commonwealth.

In order to encourage more competition, I have introduced a campaign finance reform bill which includes a “use it or lose it” clause that restricts the amount any one candidate can maintain in their campaign account during non-election years. I am also seeking to close two common loopholes in the pension system by filing a bill requiring elected officials to work at least 6 months in a year to get credit for that year. This bill also eliminates the ability of an elected official with a certain number of years of service to be eligible for an added pension benefit if they fail to win re-election.

In these tough economic times we must be cognizant of the increasing difficulty of doing business in Massachusetts. I have filed legislation to create a 2 percent sales tax rebate on domestically produced goods that are labeled as “Made in the USA.” I also filed bills to protect employers when responding to inquiries about former employees and increase the flexibility of businesses to contract with each other as independent contractors. I have also taken steps to ease the burden of the mortgage crisis by filing a bill creating a state clearing house for properties in danger of foreclosing, to be sold.

In addition, I remain committed to abolishing the nursing home tax and protecting our loved ones from dangerous predators. I filed legislation in response to the Haleigh Poutre case to disqualify any person under investigation for the abuse of a relative from acting as that person’s health care proxy. I also re-filed several bills to close loopholes in current sex offender laws and the sex offender registry board and filed a new bill to reform the Criminal Offender Register Information System (CORI).

These are just a few of my proposals for this session. We face challenging times ahead in the Commonwealth, but with challenging times there are opportunities to address the many problems that have put our state in this situation and make common sense decisions to benefit the people of Massachusetts. As always, I will continue to work hard for my constituents and if you ever have any opinions or concerns, please contact me. Knowing what’s important to you helps me serve you better.

Click on the Legislative Issues below for more information.

Good Government

Education

Veterans

Environment

Transportation

Housing

Health Care

Consumer Protection