Yesterday, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed into law the much-awaited ethics, lobbying and campaign finance reform bill (Ethics Law), aimed at improving government regulation and oversight in these areas. The new Ethics Law increases penalties for public officials who accept improper gifts or violate Massachusetts ethics laws, closes a loophole in the current state campaign finance law that allowed politicians to circumvent campaign finance limits, and broadens the definition of lobbyists. The new law further amends the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law, and provides state officials increased authority to regulate and enforce ethics laws.
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