Critics of the Legislature’s productivity ignore a key legal distinction setting Mass. apart from nearly all other states
Sponsored by The Boston Foundation The Best of CommonWealth Beacon OPINION The golden dome of the State House. Critics of the Legislature’s productivity ignore a key legal distinction setting Mass. apart from nearly all other states September 6, 2026 By James DiTullio Even-numbered years are always memorable on Beacon Hill, with a flurry of activity to get bills over the legislative finish line. As I write this, conference committees are working to deliver major bills to the governor’s desk before the end of the 2025-26 legislative session. As attention turns to the big pieces of legislation awaiting final action, an accompanying narrative invariably gets a good airing: Massachusetts has the least productive legislature in the country, with lawmakers who pass few bills across the state’s two-year legislative session. It is easy to see how that storyline can spark the ire of voters and the scorn of opinion writers. But it is a fundamentally f...