DeLeo breaks silence on Chinese food banquet: ‘People need to consume’

House Speaker Robert DeLeo broke his silence Thursday on a lavish taxpayer-paid Chinese food dinner party for House lawmakers in April, announcing, “People have to devour.”
“Food is furnished not best for the legislators however for the personnel,” DeLeo said of reps who worked into the night on budget deliberations that day, and the House lifestyle is to feed them. “I can’t consider whilst it wasn’t finished.”
The $4,745 takeout order from the Hong Kong Dragon in Winthrop — the speaker’s district — was put on the House P-card, consistent with credit score card information obtained by the Herald. DeLeo defended it as part of House commercial enterprise.
“At some factor, you understand, people ought to devour,” DeLeo stated while attending a Joseph P. Kennedy II Citizens Energy event in Revere. “It makes existence simpler in terms of trying to get things accomplished. There’s no want to break for an extended period of time.
“Many times the breaks may be as quick as a half of hour, generally it’s 45 minutes or so, and you realize humans truly can’t exit and get back due to the fact I try and be as punctual as I can so that we will flow the court cases alongside,” DeLeo delivered. “So this is the overall cause of why we offer meals to again no longer simplest representatives however the body of workers as nicely.”
DeLeo didn’t bite while requested approximately the Legislature — along with the governor’s workplace and judiciary — being exempt from public statistics laws.
“I think that we follow each law that we’ve got available proper now on the books,” the speaker said. “I assume we additionally retain to take a glance in phrases of how it could be improved.
“But I assume proper now, in phrases of what the Legislature does,” he delivered, “I suppose we do everything in compliance with the prevailing legal guidelines.”
The exemptions make Massachusetts the best kingdom inside the nation with such blanket safety.
DeLeo has denied numerous facts requests — steadfastly defending the Legislature’s exemption. Notably, he has refused to speak about non-disclosure agreements, protecting public officials who’ve been accused of sexual harassment.
The order protected General Gau chicken, sesame hen, rice, noodles, and different dishes from Hong Kong Dragon for the late-night time finances debate.
Massachusetts changed into the final state within the united states of America, for the 2nd year in a row, to approve a budget for the modern-day 2020 monetary year. The price range sooner or later exceeded on July 22.
State Rep. James Hawkins (D-Attleboro), who has co-signed a bill calling for a look at of a decline in local journalism, said he does now not again scrapping the Legislature’s exemption to public records laws.
“I’m not going there,” he stated. “Transparency is a totally specific discussion and it isn’t in that invoice.”
He did say “perhaps” to the concept that establishing up the books in the House to the public information laws might be worth debating, however, he said he disagrees with connecting the local journalism bill and transparency.
“I’m operating on train stations rotting, human beings living in tents in Attleboro, high taxes on seniors and pushing for training,” Hawkins introduced. As for the exemption: “I didn’t need to head there.”