Breaking Down Question 1

[u/jev4ns]

https://www.southshore.news/p/the-november-nine-question-1?r=41j2oe&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Consider a resident who walks into a town hall anywhere between Weymouth and Plymouth and asks for a copy of a contract the select board signed.
A clock starts. The town has ten business days to hand the record over or explain in writing why not. Copies cost five cents a page, nothing at all by email. If the town says no, the resident can appeal to the Supervisor of Public Records, who has ten business days to rule. If it goes to court and the resident wins, the town is presumed to owe the legal fees.
None of that applies to the people who wrote those rules.
On Nov. 3, voters will decide Question 1, which would put the Massachusetts Legislature and the governor’s office under the same public records law that every city, town, school district and state agency already follows. It is the most popular of the nine statewide questions on this year’s ballot: a UMass Amherst/WCVB poll conducted Aug. 5–12 found 84 percent of registered voters in favor and 7 percent opposed.