"Present" Vote Sends Message to Spilka

Sen. John Keenan has served in the Senate since 2011 and is a former rival of Karen Spilka.

State  House News Services

One Democrat, Sen. John Keenan, didn't join his party colleagues in voting to reelect Karen Spilka as Senate president Wednesday, in what was otherwise a landslide victory for the five-term leader of that chamber.

"I voted 'present' today in the roll call for the election of a Senate President because changes are needed," Keenan wrote in a statement posted on X Wednesday afternoon.

Spilka was reelected to lead the Senate on a 34-5-1 vote during Wednesday's inaugural session of the 194th General Court. All five Republicans voted for Minority Leader Sen. Bruce Tarr, while Keenan, a Democrat, did not cast his vote for either option.

"We have had significantly fewer roll calls, routinely missed deadlines, failed to adopt joint rules, waived rules, passed bills beyond the end of formal sessions with limited opportunities for members to participate fully, and have often been at odds with our partners in the House of Representatives," Keenan's statement said.

He continued, "We have been less transparent and less connected with what the residents of the Commonwealth rightly demand and deserve from the Massachusetts State Senate."

Spilka used her inauguration speech to propose a number of rule changes to make the flow of legislative work more efficient and transparent, after a session that she called "historically productive" but was criticized in the press and public for missing deadlines and leaving important work until the last minute.

She said she was "committing to a series of changes that will build upon the Senate's commitment to an open and transparent process of legislating."

Those changes included committing to posting Senate Ways and Means Committee summaries of big bills, moving up the reporting deadline for committees to recommend bills to hasten the legislative process, and call on joint committees to make public testimony available to the public.

Asked by reporters after Wednesday's swearing-in about Keenan's vote, Spilka again pointed to transparency-minded reforms she hopes to make. She can directly influence Senate procedures, but joint processes that are ruled by both the House and Senate may be more difficult to change.

"He certainly has the right to do what he wants, but I again go back to all of what the Senate has accomplished and how we have been leaders in transparency, and we'll continue to be and evolve and make some changes. And some I laid out, and I'm sure there will be others," she said.

Keenan concluded his statement saying that he appreciated Spilka's work and congratulated her on her reelection, but added that he "trust[s] that my vote will highlight the need for improved governance in the Senate, and to this end look forward to working with Senate President Spilka."

Keenan and Spilka were both among a number of Democrats who jockied for votes among their colleages in late 2017 when President Stanley Rosenberg gave up the lofty perch as the Senate opened an Ethics Committee investigation into whether he violated any Senate rules in connection with the activities of his husband, who was accused of sexually harassing men with business before the Legislature and meddling in Senate affairs.

Spilka was victorious in the 2018 Senate leadership battle and became president of the Senate on July 26, 2018. If not for a vote of the Senate two years ago to scrap the eight-year term limit on the presidency, Spilka would have be required to step down as president in July 2026, just days before the end of formal business for the 194th General Court.

Keenan was one of three Democrats who voted in 2023 to keep a term limit in place for the Senate president.