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Conference back40::soapbox

Title:	Soapbox. Just Soapbox.
Notice:	No more new notes
Moderator:	WAHOO::LEVESQUEONS

Created:	Thu Nov 17 1994
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	862
Total number of notes:	339684

717.0. "Court KO's pay-raise repeal vote" by CSLALL::SECURITY () Tue Apr 30 1996 20:25

    In an 11th hour decision that means money in the wallets of lawmakers,
    the state's highest court ruled unanimously yesterday that a ballot
    question to slash legislative pay is unconstitutional.
    
    Two top legislative leaders immediately predicted the advisory Supreme
    Judicial Court ruling means voters will not get to vote on the proposal
    to cut legislators' pay in half.  Advocates of the ballot question just
    as quickly disagreed. 
    
    "It is the end of the matter for this initiative petition at this
    time," declared Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham in an opinion
    echoed by House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran.
    
    In the highly technical ruling, the seven judges concluded that two
    sections of the petition-though not directly related to the pay
    cut-were unconstitutional, thus invalidating the entire question. 
    
    In it's complex decision, the court said the question was invalid
    because it would alter another law, the term-limits statute, passed by
    voters in 1994.  It was too soon, the judges said, to amend that 1994
    law by another ballot vote.
    
    But tax-cut advocate Barbara Anderson, a leader of the Coalition for a
    Pay Raise Repeal, pledged to continue the fight.
    
    "The major point the SJC is making here is simply wrong," she said.
    "They have misinterpreted the Constitution."
    
    The petition is aimed at canceling out a pay hike lawmakers voted
    themselves in late 1994. In what some opponents contended was "quid pro
    quo", the salary hike was secretly tacked onto a capital gains tax bill
    proposed by Gov. William F. Weld.
    
    Nearly overnight, lawmakers' base pay leapt from $30,000 to $46,410
    annually, with legislative leaders' pay ranging up to $81,410.
    
    Anderson's petition would slice the new salaries in half-part of an
    effort to get lawmakers to work only half the year.
    
    To get the question onto the ballot, her group collected 87,904 voter
    signatures. Those signatures were later certified, and Attorney General
    Scott Harshbarger cleared the question as constitutional.
    
    That put the ballot question before the legislators themselves, but a
    vote was delayed to seek an advisory court ruling.
    
    Both Birmingham(D-Chelsea), and Finneran(D-Mattapan) said that because
    of yesterday's decision they would not put the ballot question to a
    legislative vote by today's deadline for house and senate action.
    
    Anderson said she would file a technical correction to the initiative
    petition  and ask the secretary of state to let her collect another
    10,821 signatures, the final step needed to put the question on the
    ballot.
    
    But Birmingham, Finneran, and Weld contend Anderson can't proceed.
    
    "The highest court in the state has said this is what the state law
    means," Weld said. "There's no appeal from this."
    
    Anderson said if she didn't succeed this year, she'd try again in 1998.
    
    Birmingham and Finneran, meanwhile, said they would work toward
    altering the method of hiking legislative pay.
    
    Birmingham acknowledged there was "something inherently problematic",
    about lawmakers voting on their own pay. "It makes us seem venal," he
    said. "It makes us seem greedy."
    
    Weld said if the question had been drafted differently, it probably
    would have passed constitutional muster. He said he would have
    preferred it go to the ballot box.
    
    "Irrespective of what position you take on it, I think that would have
    been good for democracy," he said.
    
    
    Copied from the Boston Herald, Tuesday April 30, 1996.
    Author -Connie Paige

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
717.1		CSLALL::SECURITY		`Tue Apr 30 1996 20:28`	11
	This isn't only a Massachusetts issue. It's unreal that these people can elect to give themselves whatever wage they see fit. Personally, I think they should only be paid the average American wage, to prevent people from getting into politics for money purposes. During the pay-freeze for Federal employees some months ago, some said the folks in Washington DC shouldn't have been paid, either, until they resolved the issue. discuss
717.2		DELNI::SHOOK	It Takes a Village (Idiot)	`Wed May 01 1996 04:17`	4
	don't be so surprised. this is, after all, the people's republic of massachusetts!
717.3	very hard problem	GAAS::BRAUCHER	Welcome to Paradise	`Wed May 01 1996 10:06`	5
	Well, the question is, WHO should set the payscales of elected representatives ? Somebody has to do it. bb
717.4		MKOTS3::JMARTIN	Madison...5'2'' 95 lbs.	`Wed May 01 1996 10:30`	2
	Seems to me like 46K is the average of what an American makes. Are the legislators considered full time?
717.5		SUBSYS::NEUMYER	Your memory still hangin round	`Wed May 01 1996 10:35`	7
	What has been reported is that the 'decision' is not the last word. It was only an advisory statment from the SJC. The sponsers of the bill will do some finetuning of the language and go forward with the petition. ed
717.6		RUSURE::EDP	Always mount a scratch monkey.	`Wed May 01 1996 11:52`	13
	Re .4: > Seems to me like 46K is the average of what an American makes. Ha ha ha ha ha! That's not even the average of what United States residents make. Try $30K or under. -- edp Public key fingerprint: 8e ad 63 61 ba 0c 26 86 32 0a 7d 28 db e7 6f 75 To find PGP, read note 2688.4 in Humane::IBMPC_Shareware.
717.7		NOTIME::SACKS	Gerald Sacks ZKO2-3/N30 DTN:381-2085	`Wed May 01 1996 11:56`	3
	A more relevant figure would be what the average Mass worker makes. It's got to be higher than the average U.S. worker, but it's still less than $46K.
717.8		DYPSS1::OPPER	Nattering nabob of negativism	`Wed May 01 1996 12:35`	5
	U.S. Census median family money income (dol.), 1993 (1993 dollars): 36,950 (U.S.) Could not find Mass. numbers.
717.9		NOTIME::SACKS	Gerald Sacks ZKO2-3/N30 DTN:381-2085	`Wed May 01 1996 13:09`	2
	That's family income. Presumably many legislators live in two-wage-earner households.
717.10		RUSURE::EDP	Always mount a scratch monkey.	`Wed May 01 1996 14:06`	10
	Re .8, .9: And it is median, not average. -- edp Public key fingerprint: 8e ad 63 61 ba 0c 26 86 32 0a 7d 28 db e7 6f 75 To find PGP, read note 2688.4 in Humane::IBMPC_Shareware.
717.11		NOTIME::SACKS	Gerald Sacks ZKO2-3/N30 DTN:381-2085	`Wed May 01 1996 14:10`	1
	Eric, Mrs. Zebrowski would have loved you.
717.12		PENUTS::DDESMAISONS	person B	`Wed May 01 1996 14:19`	6
	>Eric, Mrs. Zebrowski would have loved you. gerald, unbelievable - i was just trying to remember her name, so that i could tease you, and i couldn't think of it. that was driving me crazy. thanks.
717.13	long div.	GAAS::BRAUCHER	Welcome to Paradise	`Wed May 01 1996 14:25`	5
	What's the GDP - 4 terrabucks ? Pop. is mebbe 250 megahumans. So that's $16K per ? bb
717.14		NOTIME::SACKS	Gerald Sacks ZKO2-3/N30 DTN:381-2085	`Wed May 01 1996 14:29`	1
	250 megafolx includes lotsa megakids.
717.15		TEXAS1::SOBECKY	It's complicated.	`Thu May 02 1996 00:35`	19
	Here in Mass we have the best politicians that money can buy ;) Where else could you have the following scenario.. Billy Bulger, President of the Mass Senate for years, arguably the most powerful politician in Massachusetts. Now President of UMASS.... His brother Whitey Bulger (Oh, Whitey, where are you today??), leader of the Winter Hill Gang, a member of the Boston 'underground', who was under investigation for income tax evasion because he had no visible means of income, when ALL OF A SUDDEN, LORD Be PRAISED, Whitey wins the Massachusetts Megabucks Lottery!!! Now he has a source of income! Go figure. Only in America.
717.16		ALPHAZ::HARNEY	John A Harney	`Thu May 02 1996 07:09`	10
	re: .15 Well, I have no love for the Bulger family, but you ought to at least know the facts. Nobody is claiming Bulger bought the ticket and magically won. It is well known that he bought a share of an already-won ticket. And currently, his portion of the proceeds are being withheld from the ticket-holder's annual check. \john
717.17		PENUTS::DDESMAISONS	person B	`Thu May 02 1996 08:05`	3
	.16 oh, but that's so much less exciting, john. now you've rooned it.
717.20		CSLALL::SECURITY		`Thu May 02 1996 16:40`	3
	Whitey supposedly muscled his way into a share of that ticket. Billy's bumb offspring was heartily rejected by Hub voters a couple of months ago, so the legacy may be over.
717.22		TEXAS1::SOBECKY	It's complicated.	`Mon May 06 1996 17:08`	6
	re .16 Yeah, I knew he didn't magically win..I just wonder how much he paid for the ticket and who he bought it from.
717.23		NOTIME::SACKS	Gerald Sacks ZKO2-3/N30 DTN:381-2085	`Mon May 06 1996 17:11`	1
	Why would I want to court Ken Olsen's pay-raise repeal vote?
717.25	leau => l'eau = water	WAHOO::LEVESQUE	sparkle someone else's eyes	`Tue May 07 1996 08:14`	1
	lieu