Government Should Work for You. That Starts With Transparency.

Government exists to make people’s lives better.

While the Massachusetts legislature leads on issues such as reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ rights, children’s mental health, gun safety, and maternal health, it is also true that it has been slow to respond to voters’ demands for rules reform.

I understand voters’ frustration, and I share it. Transparency is essential for good government — it is how we know those in government are working on the things that matter to us, and it is the foundation for building trust between voters and those elected to serve them.

As your state representative, I have been fighting to expand transparency within the legislative process and make it more understandable. I made my committee votes public upon request years before it was required, successfully supported additional rules reforms this session, and am encouraging voters to support the public records ballot question this fall.

Over the last five years, the legislature passed reforms that make committee votes and testimony public, require public summaries of bills and conference reports, provide longer public notice for hearings, and ensure timelier action on legislation. These steps will make the legislative process more transparent, accessible, and effective. While we have made progress, more work remains.

Growing up in public housing, I found that decisions were often made about families like mine without asking what we needed or giving us confidence that anyone in power truly understood our lives. We lived with the consequences of choices that we were never part of making. It made me feel invisible.

That is why I model transparency in my work through weekly newsletters, frequent office hours, and community forums. I continue to push for reform in a system that needs to change, even when it does not move as quickly as we would like.

The goal of transparency is to show people whether those they elected are doing the work they promised. Even in a system where change takes time, I have a record of delivering on those promises.

I took on the health insurance industry so you and your doctor, not insurance companies, determine what medicine you should take. I fought against harmful chemicals in consumer products, because families deserve protection from preventable exposure. I expanded reproductive rights so decisions are made between patients and doctors, not politicians and ideology. I fought against the Trump Administration’s anti-vax ideology, ensuring Massachusetts children’s healthcare is guided by science.

Each of these fights required standing up to special interests with far more money and access than the people affected by their outcomes. That is why transparency matters: it ensures government serves people before profits and communities before corporations.

My opponent — Evan C. MacKay ’19 — agrees with me on many issues I have led on, including the need for legislative reform. The difference is that I have not just talked about these priorities, but I have spent decades building coalitions, navigating the legislative process, and delivering meaningful change.

Transparency also requires honesty in campaigning and accurately representing your record and your opponent’s so voters can make decisions based on the facts. It means being truthful about who you are as a candidate, including where you live and what you do. My family, my employment, my voting history, and my party registration have all been public record.

Unfortunately, my opponent has apparently tried to distract voters from learning more about their record by repeatedly misrepresenting my record. For example, I have always been a strong supporter of same-day voter registration and have a record of voting and fighting for it, contrary to claims from my opponent that suggest otherwise. I will be voting for it on the ballot this fall and encourage you to do the same.

Transparency is not only about what you say; it is also about what you leave out. My opponent’s descriptions of who they are and their experience have failed to highlight an important part of that story: for much of the past eleven years, they have primarily been a student living in Harvard housing. Being a student is not a problem, but voters deserve a complete and accurate picture of a candidate’s background, experience, and circumstances.

The same pattern extends beyond their experience. When asked at a recent debate hosted by the Cambridge Day about their previous registration as a Republican — which they credited to the closed primaries in Florida, where they grew up — MacKay did not mention that they remained registered as a Republican for at least five years after moving to Cambridge. Similarly, MacKay did not explain why they failed to vote in the 2024 general election that returned Donald Trump to power, despite speaking frequently about the harms of his administration and voting in that year’s Democratic primary.

Government exists to make people’s lives better. I have a proven record of fighting for greater transparency, advancing progressive policies, and delivering results that improve lives. Someone like me, who grew up in poverty, was never expected to have a seat in the halls of power. But I do, and my lived experience is why I continue to fight for those too often left out.

State Representative Marjorie C. Decker is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School.

This piece is part of a special feature asking the candidates in the Sept. 1 Democratic primary for the 25th Middlesex District to weigh in on one of the defining issues of the race: government transparency and legislative accountability. Read the companion piece by challenger Evan C. MacKay ’19 here.