(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) President Tom Schatz today sent the following letter to Sen. Marc Pacheco (D-Taunton) praising his leadership on the oversight of the OpenDocument mandate in Massachusetts:

Dear Senator Pacheco:

On behalf of the 23,283 members and supporters of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) in Massachusetts, I am writing to applaud you for your leadership in pursuing an open, competitive, and fair procurement process.

Your role in challenging the Massachusetts Information Technology Division (ITD) for moving ahead with its ill-advised OpenDocument mandate is a case of doing what is right, rather than doing what is expedient or popular.  I urge you to “hang tough” in your efforts in this matter.

The lack of a cost-benefit analysis in this proceeding casts doubt on official assurances that the policy will not burden taxpayers.  The OpenDocument mandate was developed behind closed doors, without the proper input of government agencies and concerned groups.  You were right on target in the report from your Committee on Post Audit and Oversight, which said the ITD displayed a “deliberate disregard for public process” in deciding the policy.  This type of non-competitive, unaccountable practice is a disservice to the taxpayers of Massachusetts.

If there were more public servants like you, our government – at all levels – would be more efficient, our taxes would be lower and our democracy would be stronger.  Again, thank you for leading this effort.

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.