On Nov 2nd 2021 88k+ Boston voters voted YES on 1 for a better budget! City Councilors will see increased input in the budget process this this coming FY 2023 budget season, and as the charter amended reads, advocates from our coalition are working to create by City ordinance an independent Office of Participatory Budgeting with an external oversight board, to create and oversee an equitable and binding decision-making process open to all Boston residents by Fiscal Year 2024. Organizations who endorsed this campaign can sign up here for a one on one follow up information session. Individuals who want to stay in the loop should sign up here.
The charter amendment proposal that is now Question 1 was first filed by Boston City Councilor Lydia Edwards and passed in the City Council in 2020. The proposal was then amended and refiled in 2021, where it passed unanimously (13-0) in the City Council.
Mayor Kim Janey signed the amendment, allowing it to go to Attorney General Maura Healey to review for legality and constitutionality.
In June, Attorney General Healey certified the charter amendment, forwarding the proposal to Boston’s Election Commission to be included in November’s ballot.
All leading Boston Mayoral Candidates voted for the charter amendment, including acting Mayor Kim Janey, Councilor Andrea Campbell, Councilor Anissa Essabi-George and Councilor Michelle Wu.
Efforts to reform Boston’s budget process have a long history in Boston’s civil rights struggles, where leaders have fought for all neighborhoods to get a fair share of the budget.
This current campaign was activated after the racial justice uprisings of 2020, where calls for police accountability exposed deeper problems with Boston’s budgeting system.
Most Importantly, residents from all 23 Boston neighborhoods are calling for a better budget process. We All Want Transparency, Accountability And Democracy In How Our Tax Dollars Are Spent.
