As he had signaled earlier in the week, Governor Charlie Baker late Thursday confirmed he will veto an $18 million pay raise package for legislators, judges, scores of court clerks, their assistants, and other court personnel across the Commonwealth.
Baker offered no sharp criticism of the pay hikes and instead praised the Democrat-dominated Legislature, expressing hope that his veto would not disrupt their strong working relationship.
“Lieutenant Governor [Karyn] Polito and I are deeply thankful for our collaborative relationship with the Legislature that has produced positive results for the people of Massachusetts,’’ Baker said. “And while we disagree on the issue of compensation, we are optimistic that we will continue to work together to carry out the responsibilities entrusted to us by the people of Massachusetts.
“One of those core responsibilities is the responsible custody of the people’s tax dollars, and we will veto this legislation because given the current fiscal outlook for the state, now is not the time to expend additional funds on elected officials’ salaries,’’ he said.
The governor’s statement came several hours after the Senate voted 31-9 in support of the 18-page pay raise bill and a day after the House approved the measure in an equally lopsided vote, 116-44.
The veto-proof majorities all but guarantee the raises will become law. And because the package includes raises for judges, it is protected from an initiative petition repeal effort, since the state Constitution excludes judicial compensation as a subject for ballot questions.
Baker is expected to formally issue his veto on Friday. Lawmakers will return to Beacon Hill for expected override votes next week.
Massachusetts legislators are barred by a 1998 constitutional amendment from raising their base salary, now set at $62,500; those salaries are instead tied to the state’s median household income and are reviewed every two years. This month, lawmakers received a 4.19 percent increase in their base pay, which increased to $62,547.
The raises now under consideration are actually increases in “leadership stipends’’ that have not changed since they were put in place 33 years ago.
For example, Senate President Stan Rosenberg and House Speaker Robert DeLeo — who have engineered the bill’s lightening swift enactment — would see their stipends jump from $45,000 to $80,000 above their base salaries.
In addition, DeLeo, who lives in Winthrop, would receive an extra $15,000 for travel expenses, as would all other legislators who live within 50 miles of the State House. Rosenberg, whose residence is in Amherst, would get $20,000, as would his colleagues who live more than 50 miles from Beacon Hill. (These payments would take the place of existing stipends for office expenses and per-diem travel.)
DeLeo and Rosenberg had obtained an informal opinion from the State Ethics Commission that said legislators were not violating the state’s conflict-of-interest law by voting on the raises. On Thursday the Senate rejected an amendment by Senator Donald F. Humason, a Republican from Westfield, that would have delayed the pay raise until the next Legislature took office in January 2019.
Frank Phillips can be reached at frank.phillips@globe.com.
