| Even as House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo formally unveiled an ethics-overhaul package yesterday that he said would help restore public confidence in Massachusetts government, poll results indicated that large numbers of state residents remain skeptical that political leaders can improve the climate on Beacon Hill.
"Public officials must live up to the expectations that people have for us," DeLeo said as he unveiled a weighty package of measures that would tighten ethics and campaign finance rules.
But a new poll of Massachusetts voters found that expectations are low, with 41 percent of those surveyed believing new ethics and lobbying laws would probably have little or no effect on the way state government works.
The 400 voters surveyed also said they thought the level of ethics and honesty in Massachusetts government has dropped over the past decade, and only 12 percent rated the level of ethics as good or excellent, according to the poll commissioned by the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service at Suffolk Law School and set to be released today. |
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