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’Exorbitant’ Gov. Deval Patrick has increased his office payroll by $1.1 million.

... as pols warn of cuts to state services

Gov. Deval Patrick has hiked his office payroll by $1.1 million since taking charge, a 33 percent jump over what former Gov. Mitt Romney paid his staff in 2006, a Herald review found, even as a top House lawmaker now warns of deep cuts to key state services.
State records show that Patrick has nearly quadrupled the number of employees in the governor’s office making more than $100,000 a year, with 11 top advisers and lawyers making six figures compared to three during Romney’s final year.
Overall, the governor’s office budget jumped to $4.4 million this year compared to $3.3 million in 2006.
“These increases seem exorbitant given the fact that they’ve sounded the alarm about the potential deficit,” said Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei (R-Wakefield), referring to Patrick administration projections of a $1.3 billion gap in fiscal 2009.
“How can they make the case to cut other people’s budgets when their own budget is exploding?” Tisei added.
State Rep. Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop), chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, warned the state must prepare for significant cutbacks.
“I’m hoping the dire predictions turn around, but I’m preparing myself for the worst,” DeLeo said in a recent interview. “We have to look where we can find cost savings and efficiencies.”
Top aides to Patrick questioned the validity of the comparison to Romney’s budget, especially since he was leaving office in 2006 and spent more than 200 days out of state to explore a presidential run. In 2003, they said, Romney paid his staff $4.2 million, much closer to the compensation currently being paid by Patrick.
Patrick’s chief of staff, Doug Rubin, also said the increased payroll this year will help fund critical reform initiatives.
“We have made investments in areas like civic engagement and education, where we feel we can really make some big changes and reforms to the way state government runs right now,” Rubin said. “These are significant investments that will benefit the taxpayers.”
The new initiatives have led to at least six new hires in the governor’s office this year. Patrick is also spending $450,000 to increase staff in his Washington, D.C., office, an expense the Democrat-dominated Legislature granted in a supplemental budget passed this fall.
The increase in spending comes as the state is facing significant financial distress. In the current fiscal year, the state has borrowed at unusually high levels - $1 billion so far - to keep up with its bills. Officials also are expecting extremely small revenue growth in Fiscal 2009.
That could mean deep cuts in services unless lawmakers agree to raise taxes, which appears highly unlikely.
“As we speak right now, I have yet to hear of an appetite for any new taxes,” DeLeo said.
“We have to make sure we tighten our belts,” he said. “It’s going to be very difficult to talk about any expansions at all.”
Given the financial constraints, Republican lawmakers have sharply questioned the $450,000 spent for the Washington, D.C., office, especially since the state already has a powerful congressional delegation on Capitol Hill.
But Rubin said the new hires will work closely with the delegation to generate more federal aid for Massachusetts.
“We have made targeted investments that we think will actually bring more money back to the state,” he said.
Part of Patrick’s payroll growth from 2006 is due to the fact that neither Romney nor former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey accepted salaries because of their substantial personal wealth. That accounts for about $265,000 of the increase, with Patrick taking a salary of $140,000 and Lt. Gov. Tim Murray earning about $125,000 a year.

http://bostonherald.com/news/regiona...46#articleFull

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Posted by: MtBiker

A fucking Washington Office!?! Un-fucking-believable. He sucks.

Six new positions and four times as many staffers making $100,000. Gear up tax payers, the governor needs your money to make more "investments".

Don't blame me, I voted for Muffy.

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Posted by: dcs2244

Quote:

Originally Posted by MtBiker Don't blame me, I voted for Muffy.

Ditto.

Stay tuned for Deval's new reality show: "Welcome back, Dukaka".

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Posted by: SinePari

Democrats in office? Their personal financial playground. One term and SEE YA!

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