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Panel Recommends Hefty Pay Hikes For Top Elected Officials

Massachusetts State House
wikipedia.org

State legislators in Massachusetts are reacting cautiously to the report from an advisory commission that recommended large pay hikes for all the state’s top elected officials.

   A spokesman for House Speaker Robert Deleo said the report is being reviewed.  Democratic State Rep. Angelo Puppolo of Springfield concedes it is a not a good time to talk about pay raises when the state is facing a large projected budget deficit that may require mid fiscal year spending cuts

   " Timing-wise, I think it is not the best time to do this."

    The lame duck legislature and Gov. Deval Patrick would have to act on the commission’s recommendations before January or the raises could not take effect for years because of the state’s conflict-of-interest law. Governor-elect Charlie Baker said he would veto a pay raise bill.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.