Massachusetts 2035 · 09 / 10

Government

You will get answers within 24 hours and see where your tax dollars go

The moonshot

Build an Open, AI-Native Government

We will build one clear front door to government, open the spending records, and put every major service and permit on a public clock. Use AI to help residents and staff, with named people accountable for decisions, errors, and results.

The opportunity

A picture of 2035

A resident checks a permit, finds the person responsible, and sees the decision deadline on her phone. A taxpayer can follow a housing or apprenticeship dollar from the budget to the result. An official explains a missed target in public.

What we can build on

Massachusetts can build on existing institutions and platforms, including CTHRU and MyMassGov, rather than start every service again. Local performance-management models offer practical ideas for connecting activity to outcomes.

The gap to close

An online form is not a completed service, and a spending dashboard is not an independent audit. Residents need understandable answers, reliable case handling, and a way to see whether public work delivered its stated goals.

The work starts here.

Top three key initiatives

Open the books and show what each dollar bought

Build a searchable public spending-and-outcomes layer over existing systems. Let residents follow departments, vendors, contracts, projects, payments, and delivered results. Show publication dates, corrections, and documented exceptions for protected information.

Work toward near-real-time visibility where source systems permit it. Keep financial audit and oversight independent: a dashboard makes evidence accessible, but does not itself prove spending was lawful, efficient, or effective.

MassAssist: one clear front door, all day and night

Develop a multilingual chat-and-voice assistant for service navigation, forms, appointments, and case status. Start with a measured pilot covering a small set of high-volume services, then expand what works through the state's existing identity and service infrastructure.

Set a 24-hour standard for a substantive answer or a named human response with a resolution plan. Preserve phone and in-person access. Human officials remain accountable for benefits, legal determinations, appeals, and consequential decisions.

Put permitting on a visible clock

Give complete applications a published review sequence, decision deadline, and accountable owner. Start with suitable housing, laboratory, advanced-manufacturing, and infrastructure categories. Coordinate agency work through one intake instead of repeated requests for the same information.

Make delays and their causes visible. Propose statutory changes where required; use default approval only where lawful and appropriate. Speed comes from removing needless work and resolving issues early, not hiding incomplete environmental or safety reviews.

The supporting work

Grade officials on the goals they control

Create public scorecards with transparent measures, independent methodology, and a right to explain context or correct errors. Start with the executive leadership responsible for this vision, then invite broader adoption.

Give the public usable data

Provide documented interfaces and downloadable records, with accessibility and privacy built in. Invite civic builders, researchers, and journalists to test the numbers and create independent tools.

Make one login useful across services

Work toward integrating the top 25 services. Share data only where authorized, avoid making people repeat information unnecessarily, and keep access options for residents who cannot use a smartphone.

Track dedicated revenue all the way to delivery

Show how earmarked funds, including education and transportation revenues, are allocated, spent, and evaluated. Distinguish an authorization, an appropriation, a contract, and a payment.

Make accountability last

Seek a Government Accountability and Transparency Act that establishes reporting duties, service standards, independent review, and durable funding. Let willing municipalities join common tools while preserving their legal responsibilities.

The path to 2035

Proposed milestones. Expand against evidence, delivery, and public value.

2027
Start with a few services and visible results
Launch a StateScore prototype and a 90-day MassAssist pilot. Publish the baseline for permit decisions, service completion, and resident satisfaction. Show initial spending-to-outcome links for this vision's first projects.
2029
Make joined-up service normal
Pursue the top-25-service integration goal through MyMassGov. Expand effective language and accessibility support. Publish initial official scorecards and agency responses, with clear methods and independent review.
2031
Make the system durable
Publish dependable data interfaces and establish reporting in law where needed. Audit assistant accuracy, procurement value, and access. Track whether simpler service actually reduces time and cost for residents.
2035
Be the government people trust
Aim for simple transactions completed in minutes, substantive answers within 24 hours, and visible accountability for complex cases. Residents can follow public spending, understand decisions, and challenge errors without needing an insider.

Questions & answers

Will AI give people wrong answers about their rights?

Limit the assistant to tested functions, use authoritative information, record provenance, and route uncertain or consequential cases to people. Maintain appeal routes and service alternatives. Publish error rates and correct harmful failures promptly.

Will scorecards become partisan theater?

Publish definitions, datasets, revision history, and independent review. Separate results an official controls from broader economic conditions. Allow correction and context without allowing targets to be quietly rewritten after performance is known.

Is this just another expensive portal?

Use existing systems where they work and retire duplication deliberately. Budget the full cost of integration, security, maintenance, and human support. Fund expansion only when pilots improve completed services, access, and cost, rather than simply increasing chatbot use.

Show the results.

The public scorecard

These are the measures we would publish to judge progress.

Completed services
Answer and resolution time
Permit turnaround
Error and appeal outcomes
Spending traceability
Resident satisfaction
Operating cost per completed service