Massachusetts Pulls Church Financial Scrutiny Bill
11/17/2005

A bill before the Massachusetts’ legislature that would have subjected churches to greater state scrutiny of their financial records was pulled from the debate calendar on the last day of the 2005 legislative session after lobbying by a coalition of church leaders convinced House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi to permit further debate by the public.

The Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw, III, SSJE, Bishop of Massachusetts, and the Hon. Byron Rushing, a Democrat member of the legislature and co-chair of the diocesan General Convention deputation, and other concerned church leaders met to voice their concerns over the bill with Speaker DiMasi on Nov. 16. Speaker DiMasi later said he decided to put off the vote until next year’s legislative session in deference to concerns from the church leaders.

Bill S2267, “An Act Relative to Charities in Massachusetts,” was introduced in response to the sexual abuse scandals surrounding the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston. The bill would require churches to submit annual financial reports and statement of assets to the Commonwealth’s Attorney General. On Aug. 9, the Rt. Rev. Roy Cederholm, Suffragan Bishop of Massachusetts wrote to the clergy of the diocese urging them to enlist their parishioners in a lobbying effort to block the Bill. the rest