HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 5010

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

——————

INITIATIVE PETITION OF 

                                                                  OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY.

                                                                  BOSTON, JANUARY 3, 2018.

Timothy Carroll

Clerk of the House of Representatives

State House

Boston, Massachusetts 02133

     Sincerely,

WILLIAM FRANCIS GALVIN

Secretary of the Commonwealth.

AN INITIATIVE PETITION.

    Pursuant to Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth, as amended, the undersigned qualified voters of the Commonwealth, ten in number at least, hereby petition for the enactment into law of the following measure:

        FILED ON: 2/4/2026

 SECTION 1. The purpose of this act is to establish legislative stipends that provide reasonable compensation linked to performance, promoting transparent and efficient lawmaking and the people’s right to full and effective representation in the general court.

 SECTION 2. Chapter 3 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking out section 9B, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, and inserting in place thereof the following new section:

 SECTION 9B

 (a) Definitions

 “Group 1 legislative leaders” shall mean the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives.

 “Group 2 legislative leaders” shall mean the chair of the senate committee on ways and means, the chair of the house committee on ways and means, and the floor leader of each of the two leading political parties in the senate and house of representatives.

 “Group 3 legislative leaders” shall mean the assistant floor leader and the second assistant floor leader of each of the two leading political parties in the senate and house of representatives, the third assistant floor leader of the minority party in the senate and the house of representatives, the vice chair of the senate committee on ways and means, the vice chair of the house committee on ways and means, the ranking minority member of the senate committee on ways and means, and the ranking minority member of the house committee on ways and means.

 “Group 4 legislative leaders” shall mean the senate chairs and the house chairs of eligible committees.

 “Eligible committees” shall mean committees established by the joint rules of the senate and house of representatives to which more than 50 bills are referred by the senate and house of representatives before March 1 of the first year of a biennial session of the general court.

 “Public mark-up session” shall mean a meeting of a legislative committee open to the public, for which notice has been publicly posted not less than 10 days prior to the time of such meeting, at which members of the committee may propose amendments to bills referred to the committee.

 “First year compliance” shall mean, for each eligible committee, both (1) the committee, by the certification date specified in subsection (c)(1), has held a public hearing and a public mark-up session on each bill referred to it before November 1 of such year; and (2) every report made by the committee has been approved by a vote of a majority of the members eligible to vote at a public meeting at which a quorum of such members was present.

 “Second year compliance” shall mean, for each eligible committee, both (1) the committee, by the certification date specified in subsection (c)(2), has held a public hearing and a public mark-up session on each bill referred to it before April 15 of such year; and (2) the committee has made a report on each such bill approved by a vote of a majority of the members eligible to vote at a public meeting at which a quorum of such members was present.

 “Compliance percentage” shall mean, for each of the first year and the second year of a biennial session of the general court, the percentage of eligible committees that have achieved first year or second year compliance.

 “Base compensation amount” shall mean the compensation amount calculated pursuant to Article CXVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution.

 (b) Additional compensation

 Subject to the terms of this section and subject to appropriation, the following additional regular compensation shall be paid to members of the senate and house of representatives:

 (i) Group 1 legislative leaders shall each receive for each regular annual session additional regular compensation equal to no more than 75% of the base compensation amount, subject to the adjustment in subsection (d)(iii).

 (ii) Group 2 legislative leaders shall each receive for each regular annual session additional regular compensation equal to no more than 50% of the base compensation amount, subject to the adjustment in subsection (d)(iii).

 (iii) Group 3 legislative leaders shall each receive for each regular annual session additional regular compensation equal to no more than 33% of the base compensation amount, subject to the adjustment in subsection (d)(iii).

 (iv) Group 4 legislative leaders shall each receive for each regular annual session additional regular compensation equal to no more than 33% of the base compensation amount, subject to the adjustment in subsection (d)(iv).

 (v) Senators who are Group 2 or Group 3 legislative leaders and are members of one or more eligible committees shall each receive for each regular annual session further additional regular compensation equal to no more than 20% of the base compensation amount.

 (vi) Senators who are Group 4 legislative leaders and are members of more than one eligible committee shall each receive for each regular annual session further additional regular compensation equal to no more than 20% of the base compensation amount.

 (vii) Senators and representatives who are not Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, or Group 4 legislative leaders and are members of one or more eligible committees shall each receive for each regular annual session additional regular compensation equal to no more than 20% of the base compensation amount.

 (viii) Senators who are not Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, or Group 4 legislative leaders and are members of more than four eligible committees shall each receive for each regular annual session further additional regular compensation equal to no more than 20% of the base compensation amount.

 (ix) No senator shall receive additional regular compensation for service in more than 2 positions and no representative shall receive additional regular compensation for service in more than 1 position.

 (c) Certification by clerks

 (i) On the third Monday in December of the first year of a biennial session of the general court, the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives shall jointly examine the records of each eligible committee. If, as of that date, such committee has met the definition of first year compliance, the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives shall so certify jointly.

 (ii) On the last Friday of May of the second year of a biennial session of the general court, the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives shall jointly examine the records of each eligible committee. If, as of that date, such committee has met the definition of second year compliance, the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives shall so certify jointly.

 (iii) On each of the dates specified in subsections (c)(i) and (c)(ii) of this section, the clerk of the senate and the clerk of the house of representatives shall jointly calculate the compliance percentage for each of the first year and the second year of a biennial session of the general court.

 (d) Payment of additional compensation

 (i) Except as otherwise provided in this section, each member of the general court shall be paid that member’s compensation for each session on a bi-weekly basis. Compensation shall include any amounts a member is entitled to pursuant to Article CXVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution, this section, section 9C or as otherwise established by law.

 (ii) Each Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, and Group 4 legislative leader shall be paid 50% of that member’s additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (b)(i), (b)(ii), (b)(iii), or (b)(iv) of this section on a bi-weekly basis.

 (iii) Each Group 1, Group 2, and Group 3 legislative leader shall be paid 50% of that member’s additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (b)(i), (b)(ii), or (b)(iii) of this section, multiplied by the compliance percentage for the applicable year of a biennial session of the general court, in the last bi-weekly payment in such year.

 (iv) If the eligible committee of which a Group 4 legislative leader serves as chair has been certified as meeting the definition of first year or second year compliance, such member shall be paid 50% of their additional regular compensation pursuant to subsection (b)(iv) of this section for the applicable year of a biennial session of the general court in the last bi-weekly payment in such year.

 (v) Each member of the general court who serves in a position for which additional regular compensation is paid pursuant to this section for a period less than an entire biemiial session of the general court shall receive such additional regular compensation prorated for the time of that member's service in that position.

 SECTION 3. This act shall take effect on January 6, 2027.

FIRST TEN SIGNERS

CERTIFICATE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.

Honorable William Francis Galvin

Secretary of the Commonwealth

One Ashburton Place, Room 1705

Boston, Massachusetts 02108

RE: Initiative Petition No. 25-37: An Act to Reform and Regulate Legislative Stipends  

Dear Secretary Galvin:

 In accordance with the provisions of Article 48 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution, I have reviewed the above-referenced initiative petition, which was submitted to me on or before the first Wednesday of August of this year.

 I hereby certify that this measure is in proper form for submission to the people; that the measure is not, either affirmatively or negatively, substantially the same as any measure which has been qualified for submission or submitted to the people at either of the two preceding biennial state elections; and that it contains only subjects that are related or are mutually dependent and which are not excluded from the initiative process pursuant to Article 48, the Initiative, Part 2, Section 2.

 In accordance with Article 48, I enclose a fair, concise summary of the measure.

Sincerely,

INSPECTOR GENERAL,

Attorney General.

Summary of 25-37.