To the editor:

Since we took office on January 7, we’ve initiated a sweeping set of reforms that promise to change the culture of the Massachusetts State Senate and make it more accessible, more open, and more transparent in its procedures.

Some consider these changes long overdue. We share their instinct – the time is ripe for action.

We have spent the last weeks on our Commonwealth Conversations Tour, a series of eight days of regional meetings and forums held all across the state.  We left Beacon Street for Main Street, bringing the State House to the people.  For some, this is a radical notion; for us, it just made common sense.

Rather than sitting in conference rooms stuffed with special interests, we are going to where people really talk about this stuff — school auditoriums and town halls, substance abuse centers, and small businesses.

From the Berkshires to Cape Cod, people have turned out by the thousands to make their voices heard.  We could not be more pleased with the level of public engagement.

We have heard from residents on issues from affordable housing, substance abuse, economic development, energy costs, education, criminal justice reform, and many more.  We plan to take what we have heard from our constituents back to the Senate to help craft an agenda that will work for all the people of the Commonwealth.

And we’re already benefitting from the insight and talent of their remarks, the passion of their commitment, and the innovative quality of their ideas.

It’s a simple but vital idea – engage the people in the process and the process will ignite with creativity and vibrancy.

Not only is this good for making a more transparent body but it also enhances the capacity of the Senate to do more – to tackle more issues, to develop more creative approaches, and to produce more effective legislation.   In other words, this tour will help make the Senate more skillful, more efficient, and more innovative.

How do you summarize all of this? Collaboration and shared leadership.  The days of information control and top-down authority are giving way to open communications platforms and democratization of decision making.

That’s what we seek for the Massachusetts State Senate:  A more open, transparent, collegial, and collaborative body, ready to engage the people of our Commonwealth.  In the coming days, weeks, and months, we will continue to rethink the ways we engage with voters, revisiting old rules and policies to free up the flow of information both on and off Beacon Hill, and working hard to expand openness and transparency in state government.

We thank all of those who participated in these events across our Commonwealth: the small businesses and organizations we visited for making time for us, the people who deliver services to those in need, and the residents who attended public forums.

With your help and commitment, the Senate is ready to go to work on continuing to move Massachusetts forward.

Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst), state Senate president

Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester), Senate minority leader

Michael Rodrigues (D-Westport), Chairman, Senate Commonwealth Conversations Tour