Dear Representative Lombardo.
I've been struggling to decode bills passed by the senate and house,
primarily because many of them say things like, "delete lines 147 to
183 inclusive of Chapter X section Y." or "in line 397 strike out the
word 'and' and replace it with the word, 'or' the third time it
appears."
I can find Section Y of Chapter X on the state's website pretty
easily; however, the law as published on the website is in a
proportional font without any line numbers or line-feeds, which means
any line count is entirely dependent on typeface, font size, and
margins.
This makes it very difficult to find lines 147 through 183 inclusive
or where "and" should be replaced with "or".
As a representative, I assume you have access to the actual law with
the official formatting and line numbers, as that is crucial to
understanding the meaning and effects of any legislation put before
you for a vote, and for creating new legislation.
I also assume that there was never any intention to make the process
of making laws secretive or opaque; therefore there should be a way to
get a version of existing law with the appropriate formatting with
line numbers. (or at least in a format where I can easily add my own)
If this is *NOT* the case, I'd very much like for you to put forward a
bill that would require the state to publish laws in a format that is
accessible to the citizens of Massachusetts who want to understand the
effects of legislation that will be applied to them.
Legislation should not be opaque or secretive, it should be accessible
to those who have an interest in their effects, and those who wish to
lobby their representatives about that legislation, rather than having
to wait until it passes to find out what it does.
Thank you for your time on this,
-Milktree
Billerica