Legislators' Records on Clean Elections
Below are the results of a series of votes on Clean Elections taken in the Massachusetts
Legislature in 2001-02. You will also find contact information for the elected officials, so you can let them know your how you
feel about their voting record on Clean Elections. Senators and Representatives who have been newly elected since 2002 are not
included in this list.
A plus sign (+) represents a vote to support public financing and keep
faith with citizens who passed Clean Elections by a margin of 2 to 1.
A negative sign (-) represents a vote to break faith with voters on the Clean
Elections Law.
NV stands for "no vote," meaning the legislator did not cast a vote on
that item.
Clean Elections Votes in the State Senate
On June 13, 2001, the Senate voted 36 yeas to 2 nays in support of
the Lees/Rosenberg Amendment, which made changes in the voter-approved law that Mass. Voters for Clean Elections
supported. We supported this amendment because it preserves the core integrity of what voters approved in
1998.
On February 14, 2002, the Senate voted 17 yeas to 19 nays to approve
amendments to Clean Elections identical to the Lees-Rosenberg Amendment, which passed by a vote of 36-2
in June, 2001.
On February 14, 2002, the Senate voted 19 yeas to 18 nays to approve
an amendment that would limit the Clean Elections system to the two candidates who had qualified as of January 25,
2002.
On June 13, 2002, the Senate voted 34 yeas to 3 nays to approve $9.6
million to qualifying Clean Elections candidates, and send a negatively-worded, non-binding ballot question to
the voters on Clean Elections.
In June 2003, the State Senate repealed the Clean Elections Law. Because this was
done on a voice vote, each Senator did not go on the record with his/her official position. To try to determine their
positions, the Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities surveyed State Senators. Click here to see the results.
Clean Elections Votes in the House
On May 1, 2001,the House voted 96 yeas to 59 nays to grossly
underfund the voter-approved Clean Elections Law. This vote (#28 on FY 2002 Budget, H4100) establishes the tax form check-off and
voluntary contributions as the only source of further funding for Clean Elections.
On February 15, 2002, the House voted 70 yeas to 77 nays to release
$23 million from the already-existing Clean Elections Fund for participating candidates.
On February 15, 2002, the House voted 80 yeas to 67 nays to limit
funding for Clean Elections in the 2002 election cycle to $6 million and divert $17 million to human service
programs. On this vote, House Speaker Tom Finneran lobbied 9 members (6 Republicans and 3 Democrats) to
change their votes after the roll call had ended, providing the margin of victory.
On February 15, 2002, the House voted 55 yeas to 92 nays for a series
of technical and modest changes sponsored by Clean Elections supporter Rep. Jay Kaufman and about 20 others.
On February 15, 2002, the House voted 86 yeas to 61 nays to limit the
Clean Elections system to the two candidates who had qualified as of January 25, 2002 and send a
negatively-worded, non-binding ballot question to the voters on Clean Elections.
On May 16, 2002, the House voted 49 yeas to 102 nays to fully fund
state employees' contracts without taking money from the Clean Elections account. By voting 'no,' members agreed
to raid $22.5 million from the Clean Elections fund to pay state workers' contracts.
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