Ex-Senate prez gets new title – plus $35G!
Chandler now ‘emerita’
State Sen. Harriette Chandler has been named Senate president emerita — a post that comes with a $35,000 stipend.
As president, the Worcester Democrat had been paid at an annual rate of a little more than $160,000, and new Senate President Karen Spilka’s annual pay will be just under $160,000, up from about $148,000, according to the treasurer’s office.
The first order of business for the Democrat-controlled Legislature at the January
2017 start of the twoyear session was to pass a controversial package of pay raises for committee chairs and legislative leaders. Stanley C. Rosenberg, who resigned from the presidency in December, helped steer the pay raise bill into law over Gov. Charlie Baker’s veto.
The $62,500 base pay of lawmakers is tied to increases and decreases in the median income of Massachusetts residents, but the stipends offered for different positions in the Legislature mean their takehome pay can far exceed that of the average Bay Stater.
As Senate president, Chandler received an $80,000 stipend under the new law, and she took the additional $20,000 for office expenses, including her commutes from Worcester. An Ashland Democrat, Spilka qualifies for $15,000 in expenses.
After she resigned from the presidency on July 26, Chandler was appointed vice chairwoman of the Education Committee and chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Steering and Policy, and attained the new position of Senate president emerita. That last position, which was not specifically included in the pay raise law, will earn the Worcester Democrat $35,000 as it is considered a floor leader position, according to a spokesman.
The Senate Committee on Ways and Means chair, which carries a $65,000 stipend, was held by Spilka but is now officially listed as vacant. Spilka has said Vice Chairwoman Sen. Joan Lovely would oversee and review all legislation moving through Ways and Means for the remainder of 2018, but without serving as chair.