WESTFIELD – State Senator Don Humason recently
received a Massachusetts Public Service Award from Common Cause, a leading
advocacy group for transparency and openness in government, for his work on
recently passed legislation that updates the state’s public records law.
“I appreciate this award from Common Cause in recognition of
the hard work that I had the honor of sharing in with my fellow conferees,”
said Senator Don Humason. “At the end of the day, our work resulted in a
sensible, balanced update to an outdated law that was over forty years old.”
Humason was one of three Senators appointed to the
Conference Committee that was tasked with crafting final legislation based on
differing version of the bill passed by the Senate and the House of
Representatives. The Governor signed the Committee’s bill into law on June 6,
2016.
"We were delighted to honor Senator Humason and the
other conferees for their terrific work on the public records bill. Senator
Humason was an advocate for transparency from the start and was a pleasure to
work with as part of the conference committee. Kudos to him and to the other
conference committee members who made such a great bill possible," said Pam
Wilmot, Executive Director of Common Cause.
Senator Humason received the award at Common Cause’s annual
event, entitled Building a More Perfect Democracy. Senators Lovely and Lewis,
who rounded out the Senate’s Conferees, also accepted awards at the event.
Additional recipients at this year’s event included economist and Nobel
Laureate Paul Krugman, former Executive Director of the State Ethics Commission
Peter Sturges, and Janis McQuarrie, a citizen activist and long-time member of
Common Cause. Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis also spoke during
the event.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan grassroots organization
dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create
open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest;
promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all
people to make their voices heard in the political process.
Senator Humason represents the 2nd Hampden and
Hampshire District, which consists of the cities of Agawam, Easthampton,
Holyoke, Westfield, and parts of the city of Chicopee; and the towns of
Granville, Montgomery, Russell, Southampton, Southwick and Tolland.
The Senator maintains a district office for the convenience
of his constituents and encourages them to contact him at his district office
at 64 Noble Street in Westfield, Massachusetts 01085, (413) 568-1366; or his
Boston office, State House, Room 313A, Boston, Massachusetts 02133, (617)
722-1415. His email address is Donald.Humason@MASenate.gov.
Pam Wilmot, Executive Director of
Common Cause, and State Senator Don Humason
