C-Mass. Republican Legislators Chime in Against Pay Raise

Kudos to Representatives Lew Evangelidis of Holden, Karyn Polito of Shrewsbury and Todd Smola of Palmer for rejecting a pay raise. Although this increase was built into the Constitution with an added amendment and is scheduled to take place every two years, the timing is quite inappropriate. Rep. Smola was quoted in yesterday's (Jan. 9, P.B4) Boston Globe as saying "It seems ironic that Beacon Hill is preparing to make additional budget cuts that will hurt our cities and towns while accepting a raise in pay at the same time."

Given the economy, people, even legislators have to contend with personal finances and some may be in better circumstances than others, making it more feasible for them to go without the money, however certain Republican legislators in Central Massachusetts are making the good judgment to forgo that raise. This speaks highly of them and they deserve to be commended. In Friday's Telegram & Gazette (Jan. 9, p.A4) Representative Evangelidis expressed his compassion and concerns for those currently suffering as well as for those who could potentially lose their jobs. "I cannot in good conscience accept this legislative pay raise at a time when state revenues are rapidly declining. Every day on the news, and everywhere I go, I hear so many stories of families having difficulty making ends meet. There are also projections that there is an expectation that over 100,000 jobs could be lost in Massachusetts." According to Rep. Polito, in the same T & G article, EMC is on the verge of laying off 600 employees.

To read "Will pols accept raise?" by Steve LeBlanc of The Telegram & Gazette, (Jan. 9, p.A1) click on the link below.
http://www.telegram.com/article/20090109/NEWS/901090654/1116/NEWSREWIND
To read "Two dozen lawmakers to reject pay raise" by John C. Drake of The Boston Globe (Jan.9, p.B1) click the link directly below.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/01/09/two_dozen_lawmakers_to_reject_pay_raise/