Government of Massachusetts

Massachusetts has 151 departments or agencies and over 700 independent boards and commissions.[1] 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.[2]

Constitutional officers

Constitutional officers
Incumbent		Office	Status	Ex officio	Departments	Took office
Officers
	Her Excellency Maura Healey (born 1971)	Governor Since 5 January 2023 (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 (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 (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 (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 (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 (2023-01-18)

Governor's Council

Main article: Massachusetts 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.[3] The governor is the nonvoting president of the council, but is chaired by the Lieutenant Governor in their absence.

Massachusetts Governor's Council

District	Councilor	Party
Chairperson, at-large	Kim Driscoll	Democrat
District 1	Joseph Ferreira	Democrat
District 2	Vacant	--
District 3	Marilyn M. Petitto Devaney	Democrat
District 4	Christopher A. Iannella	Democrat
District 5	Eileen R. Duff	Democrat
District 6	Terrence W. Kennedy	Democrat
District 7	Paul DePalo	Democrat
District 8	Tara J. Jacobs	Democrat

• 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.

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.[7]

Senate leadership		House leadership
	President ▌Karen Spilka (D - 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk)		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)

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.

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.[11][12] Although most county governments have been abolished, all counties still have a sheriff's department which operates correctional facilities and service of process in the county.

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.[17]

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.[18]

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.[19] 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".

The state has an open-meeting law enforced by the attorney general, and a public-records law enforced by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22] According to the governor, he is exempt from the Public Records Law.[20] A reform law was signed on June 3, 2016 and took effect on January 1, 2017, imposing stricter time limits and lower costs.[23]

• Outline of Massachusetts
• Index of Massachusetts-related articles
• Politics of Massachusetts
• Law of Massachusetts
• Law enforcement in Massachusetts
• Judiciary of Massachusetts
• Courts of Massachusetts
• United States Congress
• United States congressional delegations from Massachusetts
• List of United States senators from Massachusetts
• Massachusetts's congressional districts
• List of United States representatives from Massachusetts
• State governments of the United States (comparison)

• Organizational structure of the Government
• Center for Public Integrity; Global Integrity; Public Radio International (2011). "Massachusetts". State Integrity Investigation: Keeping Government Honest. USA.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Government of Massachusetts.

• Official website
• Massachusetts at Ballotpedia
• Massachusetts legal materials - Legal Information Institute