Government of Massachusetts - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The form of Massachusetts government is provided by the Constitution

Massachusetts Constitution

The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the fundamental governing document of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the 50 individual state governments that make up the United States of America. It was drafted by John Adams, Samuel Adams, and James Bowdoin during the...

of the Commonwealth

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. The legislative power is exercised by the bicameral General Court

Massachusetts General Court

The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the Colonial Era, when this body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases...

, which is composed of the Senate

Massachusetts Senate

The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state...

and House of Representatives

Massachusetts House of Representatives

The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms...

. The executive power generally is exercised by the Governor

Governor of Massachusetts

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...

, although only after receiving the advice and consent

Advice and consent

Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts, describing a situation in which the executive branch of a government enacts something previously approved of by the legislative branch.-General:The expression is...

of the Governor's Council

Massachusetts Governor's Council

The Massachusetts Governor's Council is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matters such as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutations to the Governor of Massachusetts...

with respect to certain subjects. Several other officers, including the Attorney General

Massachusetts Attorney General

The Massachusetts Attorney General is an elected executive officer of the Massachusetts Government. The office of Attorney-General was abolished in 1843 and re-established in 1849. The current Attorney General is Martha Coakley....

and Secretary of the Commonwealth

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth

The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth is the principal public information officer of the state government of the U.S...

, perform executive functions and are elected independently. The judicial power is reposed in the Supreme Judicial Court

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The SJC has the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Western Hemisphere.-History:...

, which superintends the entire system of courts. Cities and town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

s also act through local governmental bodies that possess only the authority granted to them by the Commonwealth over local issues, including limited home rule
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....

authority. Most county governments were abolished in the 1990s, although a handful remain.

The capital of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

is Boston. The seat of power is Beacon Hill

Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts

Beacon Hill is a historic neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, that along with the neighboring Back Bay is home to about 26,000 people. It is a neighborhood of Federal-style rowhouses and is known for its narrow, gas-lit streets and brick sidewalks...

, which is home to the legislative and executive branches. The Supreme Judicial Court occupies nearby Pemberton Hill.

Legislature

The state legislature is formally known as the General Court of Massachusetts, reflecting its former judicial duties in the colonial era. It is composed of two houses. The Massachusetts Senate

Massachusetts Senate

has 40 members and the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Massachusetts House of Representatives

has 160. All members in both houses face election every two years. Democrats

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

hold a supermajority

Supermajority

A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority . In some jurisdictions, for example, parliamentary procedure requires that any action that may alter the rights of the minority has a supermajority...

in each of the two chambers.
The current President of the Senate is Therese Murray

Therese Murray

Therese Murray is an American state legislator who has served as President of the Massachusetts Senate since March 2007. Murray, a Democrat, is the first woman to lead a house of the Massachusetts General Court...

and the Speaker of the House of Representatives is Robert DeLeo

Robert DeLeo (politician)

Robert A. DeLeo is an American politician from the state of Massachusetts. He is the father of two children, Robbie and Rachele....

. Given the power they hold, the positions of these two leaders are often considered, along with the Governor's, when evaluating the prospects of changing state law.

Executive

There are 151 departments or agencies in Massachusetts, and over 700 independent boards and commissions. The Governor exercises direct control over many of the largest agencies, but only indirect control over independent entities though appointments.

Elected Officials

Office	Official	First elected	Official site
Governor Governor of Massachusetts The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...	Deval Patrick Deval Patrick Deval Laurdine Patrick is the 71st and current Governor of Massachusetts. A member of the Democratic Party, Patrick served as an Assistant United States Attorney General under President Bill Clinton... (D)	2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2006 The Massachusetts gubernatorial election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006. Former US Assistant Attorney General Deval Patrick was elected to a four-year term, from January 4, 2007 until January 6, 2011. In his first elected office, Patrick is the second African-American governor in the United...	http://www.mass.gov/portal/index.jsp?pageID=gov2homepage&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Agov2
Lieutenant Governor Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts The Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts is the first in the line to discharge the powers and duties of the office of governor following the incapacitation of the Governor of Massachusetts...	Tim Murray Timothy P. Murray Timothy P. "Tim" Murray is the current Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. From 2002 to 2007, Murray served as Mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts. He is a Democrat.-Early life and education:... (D)	2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2006 The Massachusetts gubernatorial election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006. Former US Assistant Attorney General Deval Patrick was elected to a four-year term, from January 4, 2007 until January 6, 2011. In his first elected office, Patrick is the second African-American governor in the United...	http://www.mass.gov/portal/index.jsp?pageID=gov2homepage&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Agov2
Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth The Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth is the principal public information officer of the state government of the U.S...	William Galvin (D)	1994 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 1994 The 1994 Massachusetts gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1994. William Weld was elected Governor of Massachusetts for a second term.-Primaries:William Weld ran unopposed for the Republican nomination....	http://www.sec.state.ma.us
Treasurer and Receiver General	Steve Grossman (D)	2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2010 The Massachusetts gubernatorial election of 2010 was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic Governor Deval Patrick was re-elected to a second term. Also competing were the Republican Party nominee, businessman Charlie Baker; independent candidate and State Treasurer Tim Cahill; and...	http://www.mass.gov/treasury
Attorney General	Martha Coakley Martha Coakley Martha Mary Coakley is the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Prior to serving as Attorney General, she was District Attorney of Middlesex County, Massachusetts from 1999 to 2007.... (D)	2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2006 The Massachusetts gubernatorial election of 2006 was held on November 7, 2006. Former US Assistant Attorney General Deval Patrick was elected to a four-year term, from January 4, 2007 until January 6, 2011. In his first elected office, Patrick is the second African-American governor in the United...	http://www.ago.state.ma.us
State Auditor	Suzanne Bump (D)	2010 Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2010 The Massachusetts gubernatorial election of 2010 was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Democratic Governor Deval Patrick was re-elected to a second term. Also competing were the Republican Party nominee, businessman Charlie Baker; independent candidate and State Treasurer Tim Cahill; and...	http://www.mass.gov/sao

Massachusetts Governor's Council
Massachusetts Governor's Council
The Massachusetts Governor's Council is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matters such as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutations to the Governor of Massachusetts...

(elected every two years)
District attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...

s - Independently elected by district
Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

s - Independently elected by district

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

Code of Massachusetts Regulations

The Code of Massachusetts Regulations is the canonical collection of regulations promulgated by various agencies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the state counterpart to the national Code of Federal Regulations ....

Governor's Cabinet

The governor has a cabinet

Cabinet (government)

A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...

of ten secretaries. In general, they supervise the state agencies which are under the direct control of the governor. Eight of the secretaries preside over the "Executive Office of" their respective areas.

Secretary of Housing and Economic Development
- Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation
- Department of Business Development
- Department of Housing and Community Development
- Department of Telecommunications and Cable
- Division of Banks
- Division of Insurance
- Division of Professional Licensure
- Division of Standards
- State Racing Commission

Secretary of Health and Human Services
- Office of Health Services
  - Department of Public Health
    Massachusetts Department of Public Health
    The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is a governmental agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with various responsibilities related to public health within that state...
  - Department of Mental Health
  - Division of Medical Assistance
  - Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction
- Office of Children, Youth, and Family Services
  - Department of Children and Families
  - Department of Transitional Assistance
  - Department of Youth Services
  - Child Abuse Prevention Board
  - Office for Refugees and Immigrants
- Office of Disabilities and Community Services
  - Department of Developmental Services
  - Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission
  - Massachusetts Commission for the Blind
  - Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
  - Soldiers' Home in Massachusetts
  - Soldiers' Home in Holyoke
- Managed Care Oversight Board
- Health Facilities Appeals Board
- Department of Elder Affairs (independent Secretary)
- Department of Veterans' Services (independent Secretary)

Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (Massachusetts)
The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairsconsists of the Department of Agricultural Resources, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Energy Resources, the Department of Fish and Game, the ...
- Department of Agricultural Resources
- Department of Conservation and Recreation
  Department of Conservation and Recreation (Massachusetts)
  The Department of Conservation and Recreation is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. As of May 24, 2011 the Commissioner of the DCR is Edward M. Lambert, Jr...
- Department of Environmental Protection
- Department of Energy Resources
- Department of Fish and Game
  - Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
    Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (Massachusetts)
    The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, sometimes referred to as MassWildlife, is an agency of the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs...
- Department of Public Utilities
- State Reclamation Board

Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development
- Department of Industrial Accidents
- Department of Labor
- Department of Workforce Development

Secretary of Public Safety
- Criminal History Systems Board
- Department of Correction
  Massachusetts Department of Correction
  The Massachusetts Department of Correction is responsible for operating the prison system of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, US Massachusetts houses over 11,500 inmates throughout 18 correctional facilities and employs over 5,000 employees...
- Department of Fire Services
- Department of Public Safety
- Department of State Police
  Massachusetts State Police
  The Massachusetts State Police is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Public Safety and Security responsible for criminal law enforcement and traffic vehicle regulation across the state...
- Department of the Military / Massachusetts National Guard
  Massachusetts National Guard
  The Massachusetts National Guard was founded as the Massachusetts Bay Colonial Militia on December 13, 1636, and contains the oldest units in the United States Army. It is currently headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts and commanded by Major General Joseph C...
- Emergency Management Agency
  Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency
  The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is a Commonwealth of Massachusetts agency. The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is the Agency that coordinates Federal, State, local and private resources throughout the Commonwealth during times of disasters and emergencies.It is...
- Merit Rating Board
- Municipal Police Training Committee
- Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
- Parole Board
- Sex Offender Registry Board
- State 911 Department

Secretary of Administration and Finance
- Office of the Comptroller - Comptroller is appointed by governor for co-terminous term
- Appellate Tax Board
- Bureau of State Office Buildings
- Civil Service Commission
- Department of Revenue
- Developmental Disabilities Council
- Division of Administrative Law Appeals
- Division of Capital Asset Management
- George Fingold Library
- Group Insurance Commission
- Human Resources Division
- Information Technology Division
- Office on Disability
- Operational Services Division
- Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission
- Teachers' Retirement Board

Secretary of Transportation (reorganized in 2009)
- Department of Transportation (independent Board of Directors, but Secretary is CEO)
- Massachusetts Port Authority
  Massachusetts Port Authority
  Massachusetts Port Authority, or Massport, is a port district in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It operates seaports and airports in eastern and central Massachusetts, mainly the Port of Boston. Its headquarters is located in the Logan Office Center, adjacent to Logan Airport in East Boston,...
  
  (Secretary chairs the independent Board of Directors)

Secretary of Education
- Department of Early Education and Care
- Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
  Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
  The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, sometimes referred to as the Massachusetts Department of Education, is the state education agency for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, identified by the U.S. Department of Education. It is responsible for public education at the...
- Department of Higher Education

Secretary of Elder Affairs
- Department of Elder Affairs - part of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services

Secretary of Veterans Services
- Department of Veterans Services - part of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services

Independent agencies and officials

Inspector General - appointed by Attorney General, State Auditor, and Governor for a term of five years
Office of Campaign and Political Finance - director appointed by a commission for a term of six years
Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination
Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination
The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination is the primary agency for civil rights law enforcement, outreach, and training in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...
Commission on the Status of Women
Disabled Persons Protection Commission
Board of Library Commissioners
State Ethics Commission
The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority
The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority
The Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority, referred to coloquially as The Steamship Authority or simply the SSA, is the statutory regulatory body for all ferry operations to and from the Islands from the Massachusetts mainland, as well as being an operator of ferry service...

(Board appointed by five local governments)
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is a public authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that provides wholesale drinking water and sewage services to certain municipalities and industrial users in the state, primarily in the Boston area.The authority receives water from the Quabbin...
Massachusetts School Building Authority
Massachusetts School Building Authority
For over a year, various departments of the Massachusetts Treasurer's office worked diligently with the state legislature to craft and pass a responsible reform plan for the school building assistance program in Massachusetts...

Judiciary

Supreme Judicial Court
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The SJC has the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Western Hemisphere.-History:...

Chief Justice Roderick L. Ireland
Roderick L. Ireland
Roderick L. Ireland was nominated to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts by Governor Deval Patrick on November 4, 2010. Ireland was sworn in as Chief Justice on December 20, 2010. He was previously an Associate Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, appointed in 1997 by...
Justice John M. Greaney
Justice Francis X. Spina
Justice Robert J. Cordy
Justice Margot Botsford
Margot Botsford
Margot Botsford is an American lawyer and jurist from Massachusetts. She was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick in 2007 to serve as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court....
Justice Fernande R.V. Duffly
Fernande R.V. Duffly
Fernande R.V. Duffly is an American lawyer and jurist from Massachusetts. She was appointed by Governor Deval Patrick in December 2010 to serve as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Her appointment comes following the elevation of Roderick L. Ireland as Chief Justice...
Justice Barbara Lenk
Barbara Lenk
Barbara A. Lenk is an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. On April 4, 2011, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick nominated her to to that position and she was confirmed by the Governor's Council on May 4, 2011. She took the oath of office on June 8.-Early life and...

Appeals Court

Massachusetts Appeals Court

The Massachusetts Appeals Court is the intermediate appellate court of Massachusetts. It was created in 1972 as a court of general appellate jurisdiction...

Trial Court

Superior Court
Massachusetts Superior Court
The Massachusetts Superior Court has original jurisdiction in civil actions over $25,000, and in matters where equitable relief is sought. It also has original jurisdiction in actions involving labor disputes where injunctive relief is sought, and has exclusive authority to convene medical...
District Court
Massachusetts District Court
The Massachusetts District Court hears a wide range of criminal, civil, housing, juvenile, mental health, and other types of cases. District Court criminal jurisdiction extends to all felonies punishable by a sentence up to five years, and many other specific felonies with greater potential...
Land Court
Massachusetts Land Court
The Massachusetts Land Court is one of the departments of the trial courts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The court is unique among the courts of Massachusetts and among state courts in general because its subject-matter jurisdiction is limited to disputes involving real...
Housing Court
Juvenile Court
Probate and Family Court
Boston Municipal Court

Chief Justice for Administration and Management
- Commissioner of Probation

Local government

Massachusetts shares with the five other New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

states, plus New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

and New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, a governmental structure known as the New England town

New England town

The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. Without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in other states, but are incorporated, possessing powers like cities in other...

. Only the southeastern third of the state has functioning county governments; in western, central, and northeastern Massachusetts, traditional county-level government was eliminated in the late 1990s.

The incorporation of land

In many other states, a town

Town

is a compact incorporated area; between the towns are unincorporated areas, usually quite large, that do not belong to any town. Such states are completely apportioned into counties, and county governments have significant importance, particularly to those living outside towns, and often perform major functions such as providing police and fire services and operating airports.

In contrast, all of the land in Massachusetts is divided up among the cities and towns and there are no "unincorporated" areas or population centers. (This is generally true of most of the New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

states, and is described at length at New England town

New England town

.) This complicates comparisons with other non-New England states. The U.S. Census Bureau

United States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

considers Massachusetts cities and towns to be minor civil division

Minor civil division

Minor civil division is a term used by the United States Census Bureau to designate the primary governmental and/or administrative divisions of a county, such as a civil township, precinct, or magisterial district...

s, equivalent to townships

Township (United States)

A township in the United States is a small geographic area. Townships range in size from 6 to 54 square miles , with being the norm.The term is used in three ways....

in other states (usually with much weaker forms of government), which do not exist in Massachusetts. Many residents also identify with neighborhoods, villages, or other districts of their towns.

Limits to municipal government

Many Massachusetts towns were established during the British colonial period, long before the existence of an independent United States. The Massachusetts Constitution

Massachusetts Constitution

was written before the end of the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

(1780). This constitution re-established the relationship between the state government and the towns which was originally specified by the charter which was granted to the Massachusetts Bay Company by King Charles I in 1629.

In 1966, the Home Rule Amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution created a limited home rule

Home rule

Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....

mechanism granting certain powers to cities and towns. According to the Amendment:

Municipalities may adopt charters without needing state approval
Municipalities may not regulate elections, collect taxes, borrow money, define civil laws or regulations, define felonies or set imprisonment as a punishment for any offense, or dispose of park land; except as provided by the legislature
Whether or not it has adopted a charter, any municipalities may exercise any power that the legislature has the power to delegate to it, except in cases where the legislature has already acted, explicitly or implicitly. (Given the large number of matters on which the state legislature has acted, this means the actual powers of municipalities to act are in practice quite limited, and sometimes uncertain until tested in court.)

The legislature is prohibited from passing any special laws that affect fewer than two municipalities, except in any of the following circumstances:

Approval of a Home Rule Petition from the municipal government
By two-thirds supermajority and the consent of the Governor
Establishing metropolitan or regional agencies with borders different than existing municipalities
Creation, dissolution, and merger of municipalities, and adjustment of boundaries

Many municipalities seek approval for special legislation giving them desired powers, which may or may not be available to them under the blanket grant of Home Rule, due to potentially conflicting state laws.

The Zoning Act grants substantial zoning

Zoning

Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...

powers to municipalities. The Massachusetts Subdivision Control Law also concerns land use regulation.

Form of government: city vs. town

Notable municipalities by population (2002)
Largest city	Boston Boston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
Largest town	Framingham Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census. -History:...
Smallest city	North Adams North Adams, Massachusetts North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,708 as of the 2010 census, making it the least populous city in the state...
Smallest town	Gosnold Gosnold, Massachusetts Gosnold is a town that encompasses the Elizabeth Islands in Dukes County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 75, making it the least populous town in Massachusetts...

The distinction between a "city" and "town" as defined in Massachusetts law is primarily related to the form of government that the municipality has chosen. A town is governed under the selectmen and Town Meeting

Town meeting

A town meeting is a form of direct democratic rule, used primarily in portions of the United States since the 17th century, in which most or all the members of a community come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government....

or Representative Town Meeting

Representative town meeting

A representative town meeting is a form of municipal legislature particularly common in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont....

form of government. A city has a council or board of aldermen (and may or may not have a mayor, a city manager, or both). This distinction dates to the April 9, 1821, when an amendment to the state constitution was approved that permitted a non-town meeting form of municipal government. Prior to that time, each municipality was authorized to be governed by a Town Meeting only. On February 23, 1822, the Governor approved the act establishing "the City of Boston." The new charter was drafted by Lemuel Shaw

Lemuel Shaw

Lemuel Shaw was an American jurist who served as Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court...

, later Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Supreme Judicial Court

The term Supreme Judicial Court is the shorthand name for the:*Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court*Maine Supreme Judicial CourtIt was also once the name of the Rhode Island Supreme Court....

. The voters of Boston approved the acceptance of the proposed city charter on March 4, 1822.

The state Constitution stipulates that any municipality that has a population under 12,000 cannot adopt "city" form of government and charter; any "town" with less than 6,000 population cannot adopt a Representative Town Meeting charter and form of government. This applies whether or not the municipality has adopted a Home Rule Charter. Other details of city and town government are left to the legislature.

State law defines six possible options for city governments:

Plan A - "Strong mayor" - Mayor and a city council, the councillors being elected at large. Party primaries prohibited.
Plan B - "Weak mayor" - Mayor and city council, the councillors being elected partly at large and partly from districts or wards of the city. Party primaries prohibited.
Plan C - "Commission" - Mayor and commissioners. Party primaries prohibited.
Plan D - "Council-manager"- City council of seven or nine (one of whom is the mayor), and a city manager. Party primaries prohibited.
Plan E - "Council-manager"- City council of seven or nine (one of whom is the mayor), a city manager; members of the counil and the school committee elected at large by plurality. (proportional representation having been repealed in 1951.)
Plan F - "Partisan mayor-council" - Mayor and city council, the councillors being elected partly at large and partly from wards of the city, with political party primaries.

There are also certain operational differences between cities and towns. A "city" has a clearly structured annual budget process, set out in statute, and the legislative body is prohibited from increasing any appropriation above the amount recommended by the mayor or other chief executive. Changes to town by-laws require approval by the Massachusetts Attorney General, but changes to city ordinances do not.

A 1960s amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution

Massachusetts Constitution

created a home rule

Home rule

charter mechanism; in order to exercise jurisdiction beyond the bounds of the home rule charter process, a municipality must petition the General Court for special legislation giving it that authority. As of 2000, 71 municipalities had adopted home-rule charters under the Home Rule Amendment procedure, 13 operated under charters granted by Special Acts of the legislature passed before the Home Rule Amendment, and 19 operated under Special Acts pass after the Home Rule Amendment.

Out of fifty three cities in the Commonwealth, there are now eleven that are legally cities and have city councils, but retained "Town of" in their names. These cities are: Agawam

Agawam, Massachusetts

The Town of Agawam is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 28,438 at the 2010 census. Agawam sits on the western side of the Connecticut River, directly across from the City of Springfield, Massachusetts...

, Amesbury

Amesbury, Massachusetts

Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Though it officially became a city in 1996, its formal name remains "The Town of Amesbury." In 1890, 9798 people lived in Amesbury; in 1900, 9473; in 1910, 9894; in 1920, 10,036; and in 1940, 10,862. The population was 16,283 at...

, Barnstable

Barnstable, Massachusetts

Barnstable is a city, referred to as the Town of Barnstable, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the county seat of Barnstable County. Barnstable is the largest community, both in land area and population, on Cape Cod. The town contains seven villages within its boundaries...

, Braintree

Braintree, Massachusetts

The Town of Braintree is a suburban city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Although officially known as a town, Braintree adopted a municipal charter, effective 2008, with a mayor-council form of government and is considered a city under Massachusetts law. The population was 35,744...

, Franklin

Franklin, Massachusetts

The Town of Franklin is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,635 at the 2010 census.-History:Franklin was first settled by Europeans in 1660 and was officially incorporated during the American Revolution. The town was formed from the western part of the town...

, Palmer

Palmer, Massachusetts

The Town of Palmer is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,140 as of the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, Southbridge

Southbridge, Massachusetts

The Town of Southbridge is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,719 at the 2010 census.-History:...

, Watertown

Watertown, Massachusetts

The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,915 at the 2010 census.- History :Archeological evidence suggests that Watertown was inhabited for thousands of years before the arrival of settlers from England...

, West Springfield

West Springfield, Massachusetts

The Town of West Springfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 28,391 at the 2010 census...

, Weymouth

Weymouth, Massachusetts

The Town of Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, Weymouth had a total population of 53,743. Despite its city status, it is formally known as the Town of Weymouth...

, and Winthrop

Winthrop, Massachusetts

The Town of Winthrop is a municipality in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population of Winthrop was 17,497 at the 2010 U.S. Census. It is an oceanside suburban community in Greater Boston situated at the north entrance to Boston Harbor and is very close to Logan International...

.

There is some misconception that these 11 communities must use an arcane reference "the City Known as the Town of X" as their legal name. How a municipality refers to itself is up to the community. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that what a municipality calls itself doesn't matter: "It is the substance of the thing done, and not the name given to it, which controls". Opinion of the Justices to the Senate, 229 Mass. 600 (Mass. 1918).

Revenues

Local property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...

. The Legislature has authorized local governments to administer the property tax under state supervision, and to set property tax rates locally. A 1980 law, passed by popular ballot and known as "Proposition 2½
Proposition 2½
Proposition 2½ is a Massachusetts statute which limits property tax increases by Massachusetts municipalities. It was passed by ballot initiative, specifically called an initiative petition within Massachusetts state law, in 1980 and went into effect in 1982...

," sets limits on property tax and automotive excise tax rates. There are three parts to the property tax limit calculation.
- Levy Ceiling: A community may not, in any one year, collect more than 2.5% of the total full and fair cash value of all taxable real and personal property in the community.
- Levy (Increase) Limit. The annual increase of the amount collected cannot exceed 2.5% over the previous year, plus the amount corresponding to increased property values.
- New Growth. Each year, the state Department of Revenue calculates a "new growth" figure for each municipality, allowing that community to increase its levy a certain amount beyond the 2.5% limit to account for value-adding improvements in the local property stock, such as the subdivision of farms to high-priced homes.

A municipality is permitted but not required to tax up to the levy limit. If a city or town wants to raise more money than it is allowed under either the ceiling or the increase limit, it must get voter approval for a "Proposition 2½ override" or a "Proposition 2½ debt exclusion." An exception is granted for water and sewer debt. Tax increases voted through a debt exclusion must be tied to a certain cost and expire on a future date; an override increase sets a new benchmark for all future 2.5 percent rises.

Some municipalities have a state-authorized property tax exemption for low-price owner-occupied residences of up to 30%. Other exemptions include hospitals, schools, churches, seniors, veterans, surviving spouses, and blind people

Local income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...

. The Massachusetts Constitution was modified in 1915 to permit a state income tax. However, the constitution requires that "such tax ... shall be levied at a uniform rate." This means that local municipalities may not impose a local income tax.

Local sales tax
Sales tax
A sales tax is a tax, usually paid by the consumer at the point of purchase, itemized separately from the base price, for certain goods and services. The tax amount is usually calculated by applying a percentage rate to the taxable price of a sale....

. The Massachusetts Constitution requires tax rate uniformity, which means that municipal governments may not institute local sales taxes. However, some exceptions have been granted. In 1985, the Legislature granted cities and towns the right to impose sales tax on aviation fuel and hotel/motel occupancy, as a local option.

Local aid. A significant portion of the income of cities and towns comes from the state government's general fund, and is known as "local aid".

Fees. Some municipal fees, such as parking fines and towing fees, are limited by state law.

Unfunded mandates. State laws which place requirements on cities and towns without increasing financial support to cover increased costs are often criticized as "unfunded mandates" and are a controversial issue in local relations. In theory, Proposition 2½
Proposition 2½
Proposition 2½ is a Massachusetts statute which limits property tax increases by Massachusetts municipalities. It was passed by ballot initiative, specifically called an initiative petition within Massachusetts state law, in 1980 and went into effect in 1982...

disallowed unfunded mandates after 1981, and in some cases this has been successfully enforced in court. However, the courts have ruled that the legislature may condition other aid on acceptance of the mandates, partially circumventing the law.

Education

Primary and secondary school attendance is compulsory and free for Massachusetts residents aged 6 – 16.

State law is developed into regulations by the Massachusetts Board of Education

Massachusetts Board of Education

The Massachusetts Board of Education is the state education agency responsible for interpreting and implementing laws relevant to public education in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Public education in the Commonwealth is organized according to the regulations adopted by the BOE, which are good...

to govern local, regional, vocational, and charter schools.

All school districts in Massachusetts must employ a superintendent and business (or finance) manager. Many districts also have assistant or associate superintendents, pupil services directors, special education directors, and other administrators, although these are not required by state law.

Generally speaking, there are three kinds of public schools in Massachusetts, plus independent "charter schools."

Local Schools. Local schools are funded by one municipality. 50% of the municipalities in Massachusetts use local schools for grades Kindergarten through 12. Local schools are administered by the municipality through an elected or appointed school board, and are considered a department of the city or town government. In some cities, such as Cambridge

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...

and Malden

Malden, Massachusetts

Malden is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 59,450 at the 2010 census. In 2009 Malden was ranked as the "Best Place to Raise Your Kids" in Massachusetts by Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.-History:...

, the city charter specifies that the mayor has a permanent seat on the school committee. The capital city of Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

is subject to a special state law which allows the mayor to appoint a school committee of seven. The final budget control for local schools is held by the municipality (Mayor or Town Meeting, respectively), although "town-side" or "city-side" officials have little day-to-day control over School Department operations.

Regional Schools. Any two or more municipalities may combine their public schools into one district; 27% of the municipalities in Massachusetts have K - 12 regional schools, while many other communities are served by local primary Schools and regional secondary schools. Regional schools are administered by a school committee that consists of representatives of the municipalities in the region. Final budget control for a regional district is still held by the voters of its member municipalities, however. Participating mayors and Town Meetings still vote on the bottom line of their share of the regional budget. If municipalities within a school district disagree (e.g., if one town funds 100% of the regional school committee's request, and another funds only 75%), a second round of decisions is taken. If the disagreement persists, registered voters within the regional district's boundaries assemble for a "district meeting," similar to a town meeting, at which a majority vote of attendees prevails. Each member city or town must then adjust its own budget to accommodate the voted assessments.

Vocational Technical Schools. Several regional school districts overlay the "academic" school district system and provide vocational and technical high schools for students from several communities. Vocational/technical schools are administered by a regional school committee. The structure of this committee is established in the regional agreement. Like any regional school committee, vocational committees have final budget control for school spending decisions, but still depend on local authorities for funding.

Charter Schools. Charter schools are publicly funded schools that are subject to different administrative structures from traditional public schools. There are two types of charter schools in Massachusetts. Massachusetts law specifies governance and entities eligible to apply for a charter, or operate a charter school as follows:

Commonwealth Charter Schools. Commonwealth Charter Schools were created as part of Education Reform in 1993. Commonwealth Charter Schools are formed by the approval of a charter that defines its administrative structure. Charter Schools are not subject to the collective bargaining agreements that are negotiated for other public schools. There are 51 Commonwealth Charter Schools in Massachusetts. Commonwealth Charter Schools are administered by a board of trustees of the private entity that received the charter authority to operate the school.

Horace Mann Charter Schools. Horace Mann Charter Schools were defined in 1997. The charter for these schools must be approved by the local school committee and the local union. There are 8 Horace Mann Charter Schools in Massachusetts. A Horace Mann Chater school is run operated and managed by a board of trustees independent of the school committees which approve said schools. The board of trustees may include a member of the school committee. The board of trustees may include a municipal school committee member.

Massachusetts has a school choice law which allows students to attend a school in a district outside their municipality if the other district has space and approves.

Kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) students may also attend private schools. Private schools are not state-funded and generally charge tuition

Tuition

Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...

. Many are parochial school

Parochial school

A parochial school is a school that provides religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrower sense, a parochial school is a Christian grammar school or high school which is part of, and run by, a parish.-United Kingdom:...

s operated by subdivisions of the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

.

"Such attendance shall not be required of a child ... who is being otherwise instructed in a manner approved in advance by the superintendent or the school committee." -- Chapter 76, Section 1.

School Funding

The cost of operating public schools comes from two sources: local government, funded primarily by the property tax, and payments from the state Legislature (out of the state general fund), calculated to provide more aid to economically weaker school districts and thereby equalize educational opportunity across the state. These "Chapter 70" payments are in addition to separate local aid payments to town and city governments' general funds.

Cities and towns are required by state law to spend a minimum amount on education.

When a student transfers to a charter school, a certain amount of funding is transferred along with them.

School Construction

School construction and renovation projects fall under the budgetary and land use powers of the municipalities rather than the school boards.

The growing abolition of county government

By the 1990s, most functions of county governments (including operation of courts and road maintenance) had been taken over by the state, and most county governments were seen as inefficient and outmoded. The government of Suffolk County

Suffolk County, Massachusetts

Suffolk County has no land border with Plymouth County to its southeast, but the two counties share a water boundary in the middle of Massachusetts Bay.-National protected areas:*Boston African American National Historic Site...

was substantially integrated with the city government of Boston more than one hundred years ago, to the extent that the members of the Boston city council

City council

A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...

are ex officio the Suffolk County Commissioners, and Boston's treasurer and auditor fulfill the same offices for the county. Thus, residents of the other three Suffolk County communities (Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop) do not have a voice on the county commission, but all the county expenses are paid by the city of Boston.

The government of Nantucket County, which is geographically coterminous with the Town of Nantucket, is operated along similar lines — the town selectmen (executive branch) act as the county commissioners.

Mismanagement of Middlesex County

Middlesex County, Massachusetts

-National protected areas:* Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge* Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge* Longfellow National Historic Site* Lowell National Historical Park* Minute Man National Historical Park* Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge...

's public hospital in the mid 1990s left that county on the brink of insolvency, and in 1997 the Massachusetts legislature stepped in by assuming all assets and obligations of the county. The government of Middlesex County was officially abolished on July 11, 1997. Later that year, the Franklin County

Franklin County, Massachusetts

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 71,535 people, 29,466 households, and 18,416 families residing in the county. The population density was 102 people per square mile . There were 31,939 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile...

Commission voted itself out of existence. The law abolishing Middlesex County also provided for the elimination of Hampden County

Hampden County, Massachusetts

-Demographics:As of the census of 2004, there were 461,228 people, 175,288 households, and 115,690 families residing in the county. The population density was 738 people per square mile . There were 185,876 housing units at an average density of 301 per square mile...

and Worcester County

Worcester County, Massachusetts

-Demographics:In 1990 Worcester County had a population of 709,705.As of the census of 2000, there were 750,963 people, 283,927 households, and 192,502 families residing in the county. The population density was 496 people per square mile . There were 298,159 housing units at an average density...

on July 1, 1998. This law was later amended to abolish Hampshire County

Hampshire County, Massachusetts

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 152,251 people, 55,991 households, and 33,818 families residing in the county. The population density was 288 people per square mile . There were 58,644 housing units at an average density of 111 per square mile...

on January 1, 1999; Essex County

Essex County, Massachusetts

-National protected areas:* Parker River National Wildlife Refuge* Salem Maritime National Historic Site* Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site* Thacher Island National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...

and Suffolk County on July 1 of that same year; and Berkshire County

Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Berkshire County is a non-governmental county located on the western edge of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,219. Its largest city and traditional county seat is Pittsfield...

on July 1, 2000. Chapter 34B of the Massachusetts General Laws allows other counties either to abolish themselves, or to reorganize as a "regional council of governments", as Hampshire

Hampshire County, Massachusetts

and Franklin

Franklin County, Massachusetts

Counties have done. The governments of Bristol

Bristol County, Massachusetts

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 534,678 people, 205,411 households, and 140,706 families residing in the county. The population density was 962 people per square mile . There were 216,918 housing units at an average density of 390 per square mile...

, Plymouth

Plymouth County, Massachusetts

Plymouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of 2010, the population was 494,919. Its county seats are Plymouth and Brockton...

, and Norfolk

Norfolk County, Massachusetts

-National protected areas:* Adams National Historical Park* Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area * Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site* John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site-Demographics:...

Counties remain substantially unchanged. Barnstable

Barnstable County, Massachusetts

Barnstable County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, consisting of Cape Cod and associated islands. As of the 2010 census, the population was 216,902...

and Dukes

Dukes County, Massachusetts

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 14,987 people, 6,421 households, and 3,788 families residing in the county. The population density was 144 people per square mile . There were 14,836 housing units at an average density of 143 per square mile...

Counties have adopted modern county charters, enabling them to act as efficient regional governments. Dukes County in particular has a strong regional planning agency known as the Martha's Vineyard Commission.

District attorney

District attorney

In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...

s and sheriff

Sheriff

A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....

s are elected by constituencies that mostly, but not entirely, follow county boundaries; they are funded by the state budget.

Police

Many municipalities have their own police departments, as do many Massachusetts colleges and universities. Though most county governments have been abolished, each county still has a Sheriff's Department which operates jails and correctional facilities and service of process

Service of process

Service of process is the procedure employed to give legal notice to a person of a court or administrative body's exercise of its jurisdiction over that person so as to enable that person to respond to the proceeding before the court, body or other tribunal...

within the county.

The Massachusetts State Police

Massachusetts State Police

The Massachusetts State Police is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Public Safety and Security responsible for criminal law enforcement and traffic vehicle regulation across the state...

have statewide jurisdiction, including full criminal law enforcement, Highway Patrol

Highway patrol

A highway patrol is either a police unit created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways, or a detail within an existing local or regional police agency that is primarily concerned with such duties.Duties of highway patrols or traffic...

and traffic enforcement, investigation, and special air, marine, and tactical response. They share concurrent jurisdiction with municipal and institutional departments, and have primary jurisdiction in towns that have no local police force. State police divisions ("Troops") are dedicated to the Massachusetts Turnpike

Massachusetts Turnpike

The Massachusetts Turnpike is the easternmost stretch of Interstate 90. The Turnpike begins at the western border of Massachusetts in West Stockbridge connecting with the Berkshire Connector portion of the New York State Thruway...

and Logan International Airport

Logan International Airport

General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport is located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts . It covers , has six runways, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. It is the 19th busiest airport in the United States.Boston serves as a focus city for JetBlue Airways...

, and since 1992 the state police have had primary responsibility for the state capital building, facilities of the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and DCR

Department of Conservation and Recreation (Massachusetts)

The Department of Conservation and Recreation is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. As of May 24, 2011 the Commissioner of the DCR is Edward M. Lambert, Jr...

parks. State police also have sole authority under state law for investigating homocides, except for Boston, Worcester, and Springfield.

Though fully deputized in 175 cities and towns, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Police is a police force which has primary jurisdiction on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority property and vehicles in each of the 178 cities and towns within the MBTA District. The department has grown to an authorized strength of 266...

have primary responsibility for MBTA facilities and commuter railroads statewide, and share enforcement duties (such as writing tickets for parking in bus stops) with local and state police, especially in remote areas and on Massport property. The Massachusetts Environmental Police

Massachusetts Environmental Police

The Massachusetts Environmental Police is a Massachusetts statewide police agency who is the primary enforcement agency of the Commonwealth’s boating and recreational vehicle laws and regulations and is responsible for registering boats, all terrain vehicles and snowmobiles in Massachusetts...

are also independent of the State Police.

A number of federal police agencies also operate in Massachusetts, subject to the limits and jurisdiction of federal law, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Bureau of Investigation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...

and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

Fire

Fire protection is generally also provided by municipal fire departments. Massport has its own fire department. Massport Fire Rescue provides fire protection on agency property. Fire departments have mutual aid agreements, such as the Massachusetts Metro Fire District in Greater Boston

Greater Boston

Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston and that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...

, which facilitate emergency response across department boundaries.

Water and sewer

Water and sewer districts are generally operated at the municipal level, providing retail service to residential and business customers, and making provisions for sewage treatment and acquiring water from wells, rivers, or wholesaler. Some local water districts have been consolidated across municipal boundaries and some operate at the sub-municipal (village) level. Running water and sewer service is not necessarily available to all buildings, especially in low-density areas; building owners in these areas must obtain their own water and dispose of their own sewage.

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority

Massachusetts Water Resources Authority

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is a public authority in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that provides wholesale drinking water and sewage services to certain municipalities and industrial users in the state, primarily in the Boston area.The authority receives water from the Quabbin...

provides wholesale water and sewer services to many cities and towns, mostly in Greater Boston

Greater Boston

, in cooperation with DCR

Department of Conservation and Recreation (Massachusetts)

watershed land management. Combined sewers in some areas are being separated to reduce water pollution.

Federal government

Subsequent to the 1990 national census, and the 1991 change in allocation of United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

districts among the states, Massachusetts has ten seats. Until 2010, they have all been Democratic

Democratic Party (United States)

. Massachusetts has one Democratic and one Republican United States Senators, and had the largest single-party delegation in Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

(twelve Democrats) until the election of Senator Scott Brown

Scott Brown

Scott Brown is a United States senator.Scott Brown may also refer to:-Sportsmen:*Scott Brown , American college football coach of Kentucky State...

(R).

Criminal law

Voting rights of prisoners
Current prisoners convicted of felonies may not vote. However, Massachusetts does not prohibit former prisoners convicted of felonies from voting.

Capital punishment: Massachusetts does not have a capital punishment

Capital punishment

Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...

statute. However, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts explicitly authorizes the Massachusetts Legislature (General Court) to enact statutes providing for capital punishment. Since the abolition of capital punishment in the Commonwealth, attempts have been made by supporters of capital punishment to reestablish it in Massachusetts; however, these attempts have failed in the Legislature.

Conspiracy. A law school professor has said that the state's conspiracy law ios broader than most other states in the nation. It does not require a direct act. If a felony were discussed, it would constitute conspiracy though no one took any overt action.

Open standards

Beginning in 2003 Massachusetts became one of the first states specifically to address so-called open formats for its state government digital documents and address the importance of being able to read electronically stored public documents long after the application that created them was no longer supported or available. The effort was part of a wider effort by the state to standardize on an overall Enterprise Technical Reference Model (ETRM), an effort that was also announced in 2003.

However the process by which the standardized format issue was addressed by a small group of state information-technology (IT) employees, working behind closed doors according to a 2006 legislative report²³ and possibly with favored technology suppliers according to media reports, was found to be ill-advised if not illegal. The IT employees involved worked for Eric Kriss

Eric Kriss

Eric Arthur Kriss is a musician and business executive who served as Secretary of Administration and Finance in Massachusetts Governor Romney's cabinet , and as assistant A&F secretary under Governor William Weld...

, the state's then Secretary for Administration and Finance, an appointee of then Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican. The legislative committee involved—known as the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight—was controlled by the majority Democratic Party.

The committee had actually begun investigating the ETRM in 2003 when it was first announced because Kriss said at the time that

"Effective immediately, we will adopt… a comprehensive Open Standards, Open Source policy for all future IT investments…."

The committee not only immediately expressed concerns about the cost of the ETRM effort and the new Open-Standards/Open-Source (OS/OS) policy but questioned what Kriss meant by "we". As part of the governor's office, Kriss arguably had no constitutional or legal authority to put his department in charge of public records (which are the responsibility of a separate Massachusetts constitutional officer) and clearly had no constitutional authority for legislative- and judicial-branch public records. The legislative committee also questioned the process by which the ETRM would be developed.

Various versions of the ETRM were released between 2003 and 2005 but they received very little publicity because of their very technical nature and the fact that the involved IT employees had not tried to dictate procurement policies that crossed into other non-IT departments, departments under the authority of separate constitutional officers, or departments reporting to the legislature or judiciary. Specifically, none of the first few ETRMs mentioned document formats other than to say that they were an issue that should be addressed in a future ETRM.

But following a proposed open format standards meeting (link previously included in this article but no longer available on mass.gov site) held by Kriss on June 9, 2005, the standardization issue boiled over into a battle about what the term "open standards" meant. On August 31, 2005, Kriss' department released a revised draft of the ETRM (version 3.5) that explicitly endorsed the OASIS

Oasis

In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source...

OpenDocument

The Open Document Format for Office Applications is an XML-based file format for representing electronic documents such as spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents....

format developed by Sun (JAVA) Microsystems along with following three other "standard" formats: HTML, Adobe (ADBE) PDF and TXT.

Specifically not listed were any standards associated with Microsoft (MSFT) Office document-production applications even though Microsoft was the leading supplier of such applications to the state. "Standard" is in quotes above because PDF was no more a "standard" at the time than Microsoft's Office formats. The August 2005 release of the ETRM noted that the new "standards" would not go into effect until January 2007.

The effort to freeze Microsoft out of such procurements was possibly part of a multiple-year process that began in 2002 with a study²⁴ by a state-sponsored group called the IT Commission. The IT Commission was "facilitated" by IBM (IBM) consulting employees under contract and included a Sun employee but no Microsoft employee. IBM uses ODF in one of its less popular Lotus products or at least did so at the time. Procedurally, it would seem logical that Microsoft should have been represented on the commission or all vendors should have been barred.

In addition to the relevant official state documentation on the subject noted below, there is very good contemporaneous reporting of the non-public dealings about ODF between Sun and state IT employees on ZDnet.²⁵ One of the sentences about what appears to be a Sun-ODF effort to manipulate the definition of open standards was this information from David Berlind of ZDnet in October 2005:

"Although it isn't clear what Massachusetts' test for openness was back in the early 2005 timeframe, it is clear that "the test" was officially revised... by the time (the latest Massachusetts' Enterprise Technical Reference Model) ETRM was ratified on Sept. 23..."

Why (and how) the test was revised was answered in 2006 in a Post-Audit and Oversight Committee report titled "Open Standards, Closed Government". The information about a flawed process developed by Berlind was confirmed in the legislative report, which said that August 2005 version of the ETRM (3.5) was put together by a "kitchen cabinet", which not only failed to give outsiders such as Microsoft a reasonable chance to comment on or react to its plans but also froze out all other relevant Massachusetts IT groups, including the ones involved with aiding the disabled and those in charge of public records.

The legislative report lays out how this small IT group called the Information Technology Division (ITD)—remember despite all the surrounding publicity about the open standards issue in Massachusetts, this IT group is actually one department in one part of one branch of the Massachusetts government—took numerous steps to try to manipulate the document-preparation application procurement process. The legislative committee concluded that the group was:

"… not aware of the cost of the ETRM, the impact it could have on the state's public records, limitations on IT accessibility for persons with disabilities, that the agency excluded key governmental and advocacy groups, and that the proposal was issued in violation of state law."

The above is the summary; the details involve dozens of findings and recommendations and almost 100 footnotes. In particular, in terms of access for the disabled, the committee found:

1. "ITD released the ETRM despite public testimony that the OpenDocument Format ("ODF"), an ITD approved open standard, may impair IT accessibility for thousands of workers with disabilities. ITD, the Massachusetts Office on Disability and advocates from the disability community testified that the ODF may not be compatible with assistive technology, such as screen readers and voice recognition software, required by persons with disabilities.

2. "After seven months of negotiations, the Information Technology Division still has not completed a Memorandum of Understanding between state agencies and the Massachusetts Office on Disability to ensure accessibility of IT applications.

3. "The Committee learned that the state has had a history of accessibility problems with IT applications, including the state's human services website and the state's main website, Mass.gov."

Today as in 2005 the issue of document format standards is, as it should be, a minuscule part of Massachusetts's ETRM (now in its fifth version²⁶). The exclusive ODF bias supposed to have gone into effect in January 2007 was stopped by the legislative committee's actions. Kriss—most likely coincidentally—left his position in October 2005, only a month after releasing ETRM 3.5. New IT management in state government gave Microsoft a chance to make the "open standard" formats list (which it did when OOXML was accepted as a standard by the ECMA in 2006) and it gave Sun a chance to make ODF handicapped accessible (and thereby stay on the list).

Massachusetts ETRM currently considers HTML, ODF, OOXML, PDF, RTF and Text to be acceptable document formats for public documents. The issue of accessibility for the disabled is now a key part of the IT procurement process. The issue of constitutional authority was never specifically settled but given the breadth of acceptable "open standard" formats, the issue is apparently moot.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Legislature

Executive

Elected Officials

Governor's Cabinet

Independent agencies and officials

Judiciary

Local government

The incorporation of land

Limits to municipal government

Form of government: city vs. town

Revenues

Education

School Funding

School Construction

The growing abolition of county government

Police

Fire

Water and sewer

Federal government

Criminal law

Open standards

See also

External links