Mass. House Orders Staff, Not Member, Furloughs

By The Associated Press
Nov 20, 2009, 2:41 PM
3 Comments

BOSTON — House leaders are ordering their staff members to take five furlough days, although lawmakers won’t have to take them themselves.

House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Minority Leader Bradley Jones of North Reading said in a statement Friday furloughs for the 540 staffers will save the state $620,000.

They also highlighted other recent cuts, including discontinuing reimbursement of Massachusetts Bar fees and staff business cards, capping franking privileges and reducing cleaning costs.

But this week lawmakers rejected Gov. Deval Patrick’s request for authority so he could cut both legislative and judicial budgets himself.

The furloughs don’t apply to the 160 House members because their salaries are set by constitutional amendment. They can only be reduced voluntarily.

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PJ

Why didn’t they get rid of the two fake holidays: Evacuation Day and Bunker Hill Day?
J. Mark

What great leaders we have in the legislature that call on their staffs to sacrifice for the greater good but are unwilling to do so themselves!
Michael Andrus

And just what exactly are the lawmakers going to get accomplished without their staffs on these furlough days? We all know these folks can’t even get themselves a cup of coffee, never mind get any work done without staff. What a joke.