Q&A #6: New Officeholders

"Josh D" asks:

In your opinion, which MA pol(s) has/have hit the ground running since being elected/reelected last fall in terms of fulfilling campaign promises and/or getting started on worth-while initiatives? Are they any that have been disappointing for the same reasons?

It's a great question, but still too early to really say much. A few observations. Steve Grossman has done a good job showing that he's serious about his key pledge, getting banks to push more capital toward in-state businesses -- whether he'll be successful remains to be seen. Suzanne Bump has looked serious about restaffing the Auditor's office, which was a crucial, if largely unstated, question given her key early support from outgoing boss Joe DeNucci. We'll see whether she makes a major push for her stated goal of getting a law passed allowing her to audit the legislature; that was always an uphill battle at best, and an interesting test of whether she'll risk her relationships with the budget-writers by appealing to public opinion on that issue.

You've got to be impressed with many of the new Republican state reps, who are already seeming more relevant than the GOP has looked in years. In recent years there's been a divide between those who primarily wanted to not piss off the Democratic leadership, so as to get some district needs met and tinker with legislation around the edges; and those who wanted to throw bombs as a real opposition party regardless of the consequences. It seems like this new group may be more sophisticated and ambitious. They've been able already to forge some bipartisan efforts, and also make some principled stands -- like Dan Winslow's bill on collective bargaining.

I'd also say that some of the new local Boston legislators, like Nick Collins, Carlos Henriquez, and Russell Holmes, seem to me like they're doing the right thing, keeping their heads down, getting good committee assignments, and learning their stuff. Meanwhile in the senate, by the nature of the beast and the size of the turnover, a bunch of promising newbies have very nice committee assignments that will allow them to be heard from as things start heating up with the new session.