Most local legislators will forgo pay raises
By TOM BENNER
Patriot Ledger State House Bureau
BOSTON - Most South Shore lawmakers say they will refuse a $3,258 pay raise or donate the money to charity, with others reserving judgment until they check with their wives.
House Speaker Thomas Finneran said yesterday he would let the 160 representatives decide whether to accept the raise, which will increase their annual base salary by 6.5 percent, from $50,123 to $53,381.
It appears the overwhelming majority will decline.
‘‘Most of the members of the Legislature seem to be recognizing there is a lot of sacrificing that needs to be made, and we're willing to do our part,'' said freshman state Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Hanson.
All but one of the 40 senators decided Tuesday to decline the raise, citing the state's budget crunch. The exception was Worcester Democrat Guy Glodis.
In addition to base salaries, legislators who serve as committee chairmen receive stipends of $7,500 to $15,000. Leadership positions pay an additional $25,000 to $36,000.
Most senators receive stipends, but in the much larger House, only a minority earn extra pay.
In addition to their state salaries, about half of legislators have outside income.
Finneran, a Mattapan Democrat, was clearly irked by the controversy surrounding the pay increase. He bristled at the suggestion that House members should feel pressure from the Senate or from Gov. Mitt Romney and Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, who are serving without pay.
Finneran said House members bring important real world experience to their jobs and deserve fair pay for tackling tough problems.
‘‘Whatever the level of compensation is, it should be sufficient so that those types of decisions are not left to idle, wealthy, bored people,'' Finneran said. ‘‘It's always better if you have serious people with the flesh and blood problems that every ordinary person has.''
Finneran also pointed out that most House members agreed to work eight unpaid days last year as the state's economy worsened. The furlough cost members $1,800 or more in pay, he said.
Finneran said he is still discussing his pay increase with his wife and has not decided whether he will refuse the extra money. As speaker, Finneran makes an additional $35,000 over the base salary for lawmakers.
Many South Shore legislators plan to donate the money to charities in their districts, particularly the organizations that stand to be hit by state spending cuts, instead of returning the money to the state's general fund.
‘‘If the money is left in the general fund, we have no way of knowing if any of that money is going to benefit towns in our district,'' said freshman state Rep. Susan Williams Gifford, R-Wareham.
State Rep. Kathleen Teahan, a Whitman Democrat, said she will not take the raise. ‘‘I think I earned it, and under different economic times I would take it,'' she said. ‘‘But we have a horrific financial situation, and we all need to be chipping in to help.''
Most Democratic lawmakers took issue with Romney's and Healey's decision to use part of their waived salaries to boost the pay of their top aides to $150,000.
‘‘He didn't give it back to the treasury, he doled it out to his own administration,'' said state Rep. William Galvin, D-Canton. ‘‘So what help is that to a $2 billion deficit?''
A number of legislators said the money is better off going back into the state's general fund than to charities. The total cost of the legislative pay raise to the state will be $651,599 this year.
‘‘I don't buy into the give-it-to-charity' thing,'' said state Sen. Robert Hedlund, a Weymouth Republican. ‘‘The appropriate thing to do, given the financial straits, is to reject it outright.''
Still others call the decision a personal one, and remain undecided about forgoing the income.
State Rep. Ronald Mariano, D-Quincy, noted that he lost $2,000 last year when he joined most legislators in a voluntary's furlough.
‘‘I haven't made up my mind,'' Mariano said. ‘‘It's probably the worst time in the world to be getting a pay raise in the face of the state budget.''
State Rep. Thomas O'Brien, D-Kingston, said he is undecided about the raise. ‘‘I'm obviously going to have a lengthy discussion with my family. We did take a furlough last year, and that was not easy to do.''
A constitutional amendment approved by voters in 1998 automatically adjusts lawmakers' pay up or down every two years according to changes in the state's median household income.
The amendment requires the governor to determine how much the household income has changed the past two years.
On Monday, Romney said the state's household income increased 6.5 percent between January 2001 and December 2002.
Romney, who made millions as a venture capitalist before being elected governor, said no lawmaker should feel pressure from the actions of other lawmakers or from his decision not to accept a salary.
‘‘In my own case, my financial circumstances were very different than most people who faced that decision. So my action in no way should be seen as trying to force the issue for anyone else,'' he said. ‘‘It's very much of an individual decision.''
Romney called the decision of most senators to reject the pay increase ‘‘courageous.''
All but one of the 40 senators decided Tuesday to decline the raise, citing the state's budget crunch. The exception was Worcester Democrat Guy Glodis. 
