BOSTON – Ahead of the unanimous passage of what they said was the first Massachusetts public records overhaul in more than four decades on Wednesday, a key lawmaker in the House of Representatives said the measure would increase transparency without adding an unfunded mandate on cities and towns.
"As a former local official and someone who pays a lot of attention to municipal government, I don't view anything in this bill as an unfunded mandate," said Rep. Stephen Kulik (D-Worthington), vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. "Any public agency, including cities and towns, have responsibilities inherent to provide public access to the documents of what they do."
BOSTON — The Democratic-controlled state Senate on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of An Act Relative to Healthy Youth (S 2048), a measure to require school districts that provide sex education lessons to formulate those lessons based on the Massachusetts Health Curriculum Framework.
The bill, which passed the Senate 32-6, does not force school districts to provide sex education, but requires those that do to provide students with "medically accurate, age-appropriate" material. Under the bill, curricula consistent with material in the Massachusetts Health Curriculum Framework is automatically presumed to be in compliance with this requirement.
