Government of Massachusetts facts for kids

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Government of Massachusetts

Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Polity type	Presidential republic Federated state
Constitution	Constitution of Massachusetts
Legislative branch
Name	General Court
Type	Bicameral
Meeting place	Massachusetts State House
Upper house
Name	Senate
Presiding officer	Karen Spilka, President
Lower house
Name	House of Representatives
Presiding officer	Ronald Mariano, Speaker
Executive branch
Head of State and Government
Title	Governor
Currently	Maura Healey
Appointer	Election
Cabinet
Name	9 Executive Agencies
Leader	Governor
Deputy leader	Lieutenant Governor
Headquarters	State House
Judicial branch
Name	Judiciary of Massachusetts
Chief Justice	Kimberly S. Budd
Courts	Courts of Massachusetts
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Chief judge	Kimberly S. Budd
Seat	Suffolk County Courthouse, Boston

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is governed by a set of political tenets laid down in its state constitution. Legislative power is held by the bicameral General Court, which is composed of the Senate and House of Representatives. The governor exercises executive power with other independently elected officers: the Attorney General, Secretary of the Commonwealth, and Auditor. The state's judicial power rests in the Supreme Judicial Court, which manages its court system. Cities and towns act through local governmental bodies to the extent that they are authorized by the Commonwealth on local issues, including limited home-rule authority. Although most county governments were abolished during the 1990s and 2000s, a handful remain.

Massachusetts' capital city is Boston. The seat of power is in Beacon Hill, home of the legislative and executive branches. The Supreme Judicial Court is in nearby Pemberton Hill.

Federal government

Congressional delegation

For Congressional representation outlined in the United States Constitution, Massachusetts elects two senators to the Senate, as well as a number of Representatives to the House of Representatives proportional to the state's population in the US Census. From the 2010 Census, Massachusetts has nine representatives. As of the 2020 election, all these officials have been from the Democratic Party. This makes the Massachusetts federal delegation the largest single-party federal delegation in the United States.

Congressional delegation of Massachusetts
Chamber	District	Official	Party		Term began	Term expires
Senate	At-Large	Elizabeth Warren		Democrat	2019	2025
		Ed Markey		Democrat	2021	2027
House of Representatives	1st	Richard Neal		Democrat	2023	2025
	2nd	Jim McGovern		Democrat
	3rd	Lori Trahan		Democrat
	4th	Jake Auchincloss		Democrat
	5th	Katherine Clark		Democrat
	6th	Seth Moulton		Democrat
	7th	Ayanna Pressley		Democrat
	8th	Stephen Lynch		Democrat
	9th	Bill Keating		Democrat

Federal courts

For federal court cases the State falls within the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Electoral College

Massachusetts has 11 votes in the electoral college for election of the President, which are given on a winner-take-all basis. The state joined the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact in 2009, though the Compact has not yet achieved sufficient national support to be activated.

Executive

Massachusetts has 151 departments or agencies and over 700 independent boards and commissions. The head of the state's Executive Branch is by law the Governor, but it also has two types of executive officials that do not fall in the Governor's control. Constitutional officers are the elected officials specified by the state constitution, while independent agencies are created by statute and the governor exercises only indirect control through appointments.

Constitutional officers

Constitutional officers
Incumbent		Office	Status	Ex officio	Departments	Took office
Officers
	Her Excellency Maura Healey (born 1971)	Governor Since 5 January 2023 (23 months ago) (2023-01-05)	Head of state Head of government	Cabinet Governor's Council Commander-in-chief of the National Guard	Office of Constituent Services Office of Federal-State Relations
	Her Honor Kim Driscoll (born 1966)	Lieutenant Governor	Deputy officer	Cabinet Chair of the Governor's Council	Office of Constituent Services Office of Federal-State Relations	5 January 2023 (23 months ago) (2023-01-05)
	His Honor William F. Galvin (born 1950)	Secretary of the Commonwealth	Chief administrator Keeper of the Seal Registrar of deeds Records officer Chief Elections Officer	Head of the Massachusetts Archives Chair of the Massachusetts Historical Commission	Registry of Deeds Office of Campaign and Political Finance Division of Elections Public Records Division	1 January 1995 (29 years ago) (1995-01-01)
	The Honorable Andrea Campbell (born 1982)	Attorney General	Chief legal officer	—	The Energy and Environment Bureau The Government Bureau The Health Care and Fair Competition Bureau The Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau	18 January 2023 (22 months ago) (2023-01-18)
	The Honorable Deb Goldberg (born 1954)	Treasurer and Receiver-General	Treasurer	Chair of the Massachusetts School Building Authority Chair of the Massachusetts Lottery Chair of the State Board of Retirement	Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission Unclaimed Property Division Veterans' Bonus Division Massachusetts Clean Water Trust	21 January 2015 (9 years ago) (2015-01-21)
	The Honorable Diana DiZoglio (born 1983)	State Auditor	Auditor general	—	Bureau of Special Investigations Division of Audit Operations Division of Local Mandates Municipal Finance Oversight Board	18 January 2023 (22 months ago) (2023-01-18)

Governor's Council

Massachusetts State House in Boston

The Governor's Council consists of eight councilors elected from districts every two years, as well as the lieutenant governor. The council provides for advice and consent for judicial appointments, appointment of certain public officials including notaries public and justices of the peace, pardons and commutations, and certain payments from the state treasury. The governor is the nonvoting president of the council, but is chaired by the Lieutenant Governor in their absence.

• District attorneys and Sheriffs - Independently elected by district

Some executive agencies are tasked by the legislature with formulating regulations by following a prescribed procedure. Most of these are collected in the Code of Massachusetts Regulations.

Cabinet and government agencies

The governor has a cabinet of eleven secretaries. They supervise the state agencies, which are under the direct control of the governor. Nine of the secretaries preside over the executive office of their respective areas.

Legislature

State House interior

The state legislature is formally known as the Massachusetts General Court, reflecting its colonial-era judicial duties. It has two houses: the 40-member Senate and the 160-member House of Representatives. Members of both houses have two-year terms. The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives and controls the flow of legislation. The President is the presiding officer of the Senate.

The General Court is responsible for enacting the state's laws. A bill signed by the governor, or passed by two-thirds of both houses over his or her veto, becomes law. Its session laws are published in the Acts and Resolves of Massachusetts, which are codified as the General Laws of Massachusetts. On June 9, 2017, S&P Global Ratings downgraded Massachusetts' bond rating to AA (the third-highest tier) due to the legislature's inability to replenish the state's rainy day fund in the face of above-average economic growth.

Senate leadership		House leadership
	President ▌Karen Spilka (D - Massachusetts Senate's 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk district)		Speaker of the House ▌Ronald Mariano (D - 3rd Norfolk)
	President pro tempore ▌Will Brownsberger (D - 2nd Suffolk and Middlesex)		Speaker pro tempore ▌Kate Hogan (D - 3rd Middlesex)
	Majority Leader ▌Cynthia Stone Creem (D - 1st Middlesex and Norfolk)		Majority Leader Michael Moran (D - 18th Suffolk)
	Minority Leader ▌Bruce Tarr (R - 1st Essex and Middlesex)		Minority Leader ▌Bradley Jones Jr. (R - 20th Middlesex)

Judiciary

The John Adams Courthouse, home of the Supreme Judicial Court

The judiciary is the branch of the government that interprets and applies state law, ensures equal justice under law, and provides a mechanism for dispute resolution. The Massachusetts court system consists of the Supreme Judicial Court, the Appeals Court, and seven trial-court departments.

Supreme Judicial Court

Judicial power is centered in the Supreme Judicial Court, which oversees the court system. In addition to its appellate functions, the Supreme Judicial Court is responsible for the governance of the judiciary and the bar, makes (or approves) rules for the operation of the courts and, on request, provides advisory opinions to the governor and legislature on legal issues. The Supreme Judicial Court also oversees affiliated judicial agencies, including the Board of Bar Overseers, the Board of Bar Examiners, the Clients' Security Board, the Massachusetts Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee, and Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services.

Appeals Court

The Appeals Court the state appellate court, which means that the justices review decisions made in the Trial Courts. The Appeals Court also has jurisdiction over appeals from final decisions of three State agencies: the Appellate Tax Board, the Industrial Accident Board and the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board. The Appeals Court consists of a chief justice and twenty-four associate justices.

Trial courts

• Superior Court
• District Court
• Land Court
• Housing Court
• Juvenile Court
• Probate and Family Court
• Boston Municipal Court

County government

Only the southeastern third of the state has county governments; in western, central, and northeastern Massachusetts, traditional county-level government was eliminated during the late 1990s. District attorneys and sheriffs are elected by constituencies which mainly follow county boundaries, and are funded by the state budget. Sheriff's departments operate correctional facilities and perform service of process in the county.

Sheriffs

District attorney

District attorneys are elected in 11 districts and serve as a public prosecutor representing the Commonwealth during criminal prosecutions. Most district attorneys are elected within the boundaries of a single county, and the district courts they operate in are within that county. The exception is Hampshire and Franklin Counties and the Town of Athol which make up the Northwestern District; and Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket Counties which make up the Cape and Islands District. Some districts that follow traditional county lines are officially known by a different name than the county, but they may also informally be called by the county name.

Registry of deeds

All counties in Massachusetts have at least one registry of deeds, which is responsible for recording and holding copies of deeds, titles, and other land records within their district. Each registry is run by an elected register of deeds, who serves for 6 year terms. Most counties have one registry, but some are divided into separate districts with their own registry. There are 21 registries.

Municipal government

Boston City Hall

Massachusetts shares with the five other New England states the New England town form of government. All land in Massachusetts is divided among cities and towns and there are no unincorporated areas, population centers, or townships. Massachusetts has four kinds of public-school districts: local schools, regional schools, vocational-technical schools, and charter schools.

Amendment Article 89 (LXXXIX) of the Massachusetts Constitution defines the powers of self-government that municipalities are entitled to. Additional powers, such as the ability to collect certain taxes, are delegated to municipalities under state law. The article requires that General Laws passed by the General Court apply to at least two municipalities. Special Laws that apply to only one municipality must be enacted in response to a home rule petition from that city or town, or with a two-thirds majority in the General Court, or for the purpose of establishing, disestablishing, or modifying municipal boundaries.

Proposition 2½ gives municipalities the right to state payment of municipal costs incurred as a result of any new state mandates implemented after January 1, 1981. Cities and towns can vote to accept a new mandate, or ask the Massachusetts State Auditor to determine the amount of funding owed; if the legislature does not provide that amount then ask the Massachusetts Superior Court for a ruling that grants the municipality an exemption from complying with unfunded mandates.

Elections and politics

Massachusetts is known for its progressive politics, and is a stronghold of American Liberalism and the Democratic Party. In a 2018 Gallup poll Massachusetts was the state with the highest percentage of its population identifying as liberal and the lowest percentage identifying as conservative, at 35% and 21% respectively. This and the high profile of well known politicians from Massachusetts such as the Kennedy family has led to the derogatory political phrase "Massachusetts Liberal".

Ratings and rankings

• 48 out of 50 for transparency of electoral candidate financial conflicts of interest (Pioneer Institute, 2019)
• B- for online access to government spending data (Public Interest Research Group, 2018)
• Corruption, out of 50 (higher numbers are better): 16 for convictions, 22 for convictions per capita, 49 as ranked by reporters, 39 in lacking stringent laws (2015)
• D+ for integrity (Center for Public Integrity, 2015)

Transparency

The state has an open-meeting law enforced by the attorney general, and a public-records law enforced by the Secretary of the Commonwealth. A 2008 report by the Better Government Association and National Freedom of Information Coalition ranked Massachusetts 43rd out of the 50 US states in government transparency. It gave the state a grade of "F", based on the time, cost, and comprehensiveness of access to public records. Access to government records and the actions of the Secretary in enforcing the law became an issue in the 2014 campaign for the office. Incumbent William Galvin cited his previous requests that the legislature revise the Public Records Law to facilitate access. According to the governor, he is exempt from the Public Records Law. A reform law was signed on June 3, 2016 and took effect on January 1, 2017, imposing stricter time limits and lower costs.

See also

• Politics of Massachusetts
• United States Congress
• State governments of the United States (comparison)