The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance wasted no time following the start of the new year by calling out State House leaders in the Legislature for their scheduled 11% base pay raise and stipend increase.

In 2017, lawmakers set up a scheme of scheduled, automatic pay increases that would go through without a legislative vote. The latest raise was announced at 11%. At the same time they’re accepting their pay bump, the Speaker and Senate President still have not publicly indicated if they will accept the will of the voters who passed the audit the legislature ballot question, which is indisputably set to go into effect on Monday, January 6.

“State House elected officials should not be receiving an automatic 11% pay raise. Not many workers in Massachusetts get that kind of a pay bump automatically. Legislative leaders set up a system in 2017 so that they don’t have to vote for any future pay raises. If lawmakers care about transparency, they should vote on their new pay raise,” stated Paul D. Craney, spokesperson for Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.

“Before the legislature accepts their pay raise, they should accept the results of the audit the legislature ballot question. This legislative session should not start with lawmakers further enriching themselves and then rejecting the will of the voters. It’s a broken legislative system at the State House and their actions over the next week will demonstrate how corrupt it’s becoming,” concluded Craney.