Sunlight may be breaking through on Beacon Hill

A sliver of sunlight may have finally pierced through the dark, opaque cover over Beacon Hill.

Lawmakers negotiating major policies these past few months have held historically closed-door meetings in public view, and the contingent of legislators negotiating the yearly budget seems to be open to hashing out their differences at least partly in the open.

Sen. Michael Rodrigues, a Westport Democrat who serves as the chief budget writer in the Senate, said keeping conference committees — groups of six lawmakers tasked with hammering out bills — open is “new territory for us.”

“We’re going to learn as we go,” he told reporters this past week.

Rodrigues and his House counterpart from the North End, Democratic Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, opted against voting to make yearly budget talks private, a rare move in a building where conference committees have routinely retreated behind closed doors to deliberate.

The decision could be part of an inter-branch debate about transparency in government that has jumped to the forefront because of an ongoing legislative audit and long-held beliefs that the Massachusetts Legislature is one of the most secretive branches of government in the country.

Rodrigues said the “intention” was to keep the budget deliberations “open.” The next meeting has not yet been scheduled.

“We will adequately post and let members of the press and colleagues know when our next meeting will be convened,” he said.

Budget negotiators were not the only group to expose themselves to public scrutiny this year.

A group of Beacon Hill pols who are working through competing House-Senate versions of internal rules that govern the relationship between the two branches has also held public conference committee meetings.

That flock of lawmakers held its most recent meeting earlier this month, where the two lead negotiators started debating proposals over the ability to remotely participate in committee hearings during a question-and-answer session with reporters.

It was an extremely uncommon moment of open government that offered a direct view into how top lieutenants to House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka hash out contentious differences.

Rep. Mike Moran, a Brighton Democrat who serves as House majority leader, even appeared to change his position on remote participation during the scrum with reporters.

The House’s original rules package sought to require lawmakers’ physical presence during hearings and only granted remote participation privileges to members of the public. Senate Democratic leadership originally bristled at that idea.

“What I’m saying right now is, we would agree to open, remote — anytime, anyplace, anywhere. We just need people to show up,” he told Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem in front of the press.

Creem did not appear to initially catch on until a nearby staffer pointed out that Moran was “changing his position” in the midst of the conversation.

At the end of the exchange, Moran said it was lawmakers’ “intention” to hold the next conference committee meeting

For those who have covered or worked at the State House for years, it was a fascinating exchange that piqued hopes of more public debates.

Senate lawmakers included language in their internal rules package that would require the first meeting of a conference committee to be public, something another Spilka lieutenant said would provide more insight into the legislative process.

Super PAC backing Josh Kraft ready to shuttle more cash into mayoral race…

A super PAC backing Josh Kraft is planning to spend another $1 million on television and digital ads attacking Mayor Michelle Wu in the next two months, on top of the $1.4 million it’s already reported spending on similar advertising.

The “Your City, Your Future” super PAC disclosed the new spending last week, ahead of a 30-second ad it released this past Thursday that highlighted what the PAC sees as failures of the first-term mayor. The new ad is the first TV and streaming hit released by the PAC.

“The facts of Mayor Wu’s record on traffic, schools, and affordability speak for themselves,” a spokesperson for the super PAC said in a statement. “This is the first in a series of ads highlighting how Mayor Wu’s choices are holding Boston back.

“YCYF is committed to providing voters with the facts on Mayor Wu’s record, and we believe that when they have those facts, voters will choose to move in a new direction. Time and time again, Bostonians have seen Mayor Wu won’t listen or deliver progress for the city. Josh Kraft will.”

The spokesperson said the super PAC will be reporting an additional $989,000 on TV and digital advertising through July.

The PAC, in a separate disclosure filed last month with state regulators, reported spending $1.4 million on digital advertisements; television, streaming and radio hits; and billboards opposing Mayor Wu.

The 30-second advertisement released last Thursday was dubbed “She Ignored Us,” and will be running across broadcast, cable and streaming video through July, the PAC said.

The ad hits Wu over her spending on a White Stadium rehab, which has taxpayers on the hook for roughly $100 million and partially benefits a professional women’s soccer team; bike lanes and their purported impact on worsening traffic congestion; and public school closures.