In this economy, it’s always nice to have a second income, and many in the Legislature do.

A CommonWealth review of financial disclosures filed with the state Ethics Commission found nearly three-quarters of the state’s 200 lawmakers reported some outside income and 23 of them checked the highest level – $100,000 or more. Half of the members of the $100,000 club had private law practices; three reported earning $100,000 apiece from two jobs. Overall, the number of six-figure earners was up 28 percent over 2009.

Forty-five legislators, including those pulling in the six-figure salaries, earned as much or more in outside income as they made as full-time senators or representatives. Fifty-six lawmakers did not report any outside income in 2010.

The two most powerful lawmakers on Beacon Hill reported small amounts of outside income. House Speaker Robert DeLeo reported earning between $1,000 and $5,000 from his law practice while Senate President Therese Murray earned $5,500 serving as a member of the Board of Trustees at Eastern Bank.

House Ways and Means Chairman Brian Dempsey of Haverhill reported income of more than $100,000 from his insurance business, while Senate Ways and Means Chairman Stephen Brewer of Barre said he earned less than $15,000 from a cleaning business.

The base salary for a state legislator is $61,133 a year, slightly less than the median household income in Massachusetts of $64,057. (The per capita income in Massachusetts is $33,460, according to the 2010 Census.) Lawmakers receive an additional $7,200 for expenses and many also are paid $7,500 to $15,000 for serving as either a chairman or vice chairman of a committee. Only five other states pay more for their full-time legislature than Massachusetts and most have strict limits on outside earnings.

“It just reflects that some people are not full-time,” says former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, one-time president of the watchdog group Common Cause. “It’s a classic Massachusetts special, we got it both ways. That’s the problem with the one-party system. . . You can’t be in the attorney general’s office and have a private practice. It’s only in the Legislature that we allow people to have it both ways. That’s where the double-standard is.”

Rep. Thomas Calter of Kingston, who reported earning more than $100,000 last year as the CEO of a management consulting firm, said his outside work helps him understand what’s going on outside the world of politics. “It’s the only way for me to be truly effective,” he said. “I leave it up to my constituents to make the determination to whether I’m being effective or not and as to whether my other career is an asset to them or a liability. They get a chance to formally weigh in on that every two years.”

State Rep. Daniel Winslow, who earned at least $100,000 from each of two separate law firms last year, says “we effectively already are a part-time Legislature” with minimal formal sessions or meetings on Beacon Hill. But Winslow, like other high earners who spoke to CommonWealth, said he is neither sorry for nor embarrassed by his income.

“They’re both part-time jobs if you’re willing to work an 80-hour week,” Winslow, a Republican from Norfolk and former judge, says of his legislative and legal professions. “In my case, I actually campaigned on that issue. I said I’d be a citizen-legislator. I felt that I wanted to be able to do what I thought was right regardless of my personal circumstances.”

Winslow is also preparing to file a bill later this month that would alter the reporting levels on the Statements of Financial Interest, which haven’t been updated since 1978. Currently, the officials have to report income, holdings, home value, and mortgages in increments up to the highest level of $100,000 or more. Winslow’s bill would require reporting increments up to $500,000.

State Rep. Eugene O’Flaherty is House chairman of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, the panel that makes many of the rules and regulations governing lawyers. O’Flaherty is one of six of the 10 House members on the committee who earned more than $100,000 last year as lawyers but he sees no conflict between his chairmanship and outside employment.

“I was very honest, upfront with my constituents,” says O’Flaherty, a Chelsea Democrat. “It hasn’t been an issue in my career with my constituents. All of them know I have a law practice. Each lawyer [on the committee] has their own ethical obligations. I’m cognizant of the rules and regulations of my practice.”

Freshman state Rep. Christopher Markey of New Bedford pulled in more than $100,000 from his law practice last year before being elected but says his outside earnings will drop considerably this year because of the demands of his legislative job. He says he still does some outside legal work but will not begin to approach six-figures in billing.

“I’m spending less time [as a lawyer] but I’m still being paid as a state rep,” he says. “I don’t think there’ll be a significant decrease in pay.”

While some critics point to the outside earnings as evidence that a lawmaker’s job is part-time, others say it’s a reason to increase the pay of legislators and restrict outside income to eliminate potential conflicts. In California, for instance, full-time legislators earn nearly $100,000 but are restricted in how much and how they can earn money outside the legislature.

“We have been concerned in general about the potential for conflict for lawyer-legislators,” says Pamela Wilmot, executive director of the Massachusetts chapter of Common Cause. “We would have to pay the Legislature more to get rid of second jobs.”

According to the filings:

• The $100,000 club includes Rep. Thomas Conroy of Wayland, who is running for the US Senate and works at the Marsh & McLennan consulting firm; Sen. Richard Ross of Wrentham, a funeral director, and Sen. Daniel Wolf of Harwich, the CEO of Cape Air.
• 56 lawmakers have a spouse on the public payroll at the local, state, or federal level;
• 28 representatives and eight senators receive some type of additional taxpayer-supported income from a job working as an appointed or elected local official or professor at a state college;
• 18 legislators report owning no residential property and another 12 report having no mortgage;
• Of the 182 legislators who report owning a home, only one reported the value at less than $100,000, the maximum reporting level. The median value for a home in Massachusetts is $357,600, according to the Census.

For the third consecutive year, CommonWealth is posting nearly 400 Statements of Financial Interest online, including those of all 200 legislators, constitutional officers, cabinet members, Supreme Judicial Court justices and court administrators, district attorneys, county sheriffs, and selected top appointed officials.

The disclosures are public records, but access to them is restricted. They are available only by requesting individual copies in person or by mail, showing identification, and paying a $1 fee for each one requested. The official whose disclosure is requested is notified who is asking for it, making Massachusetts one of just a handful of states that notify officials.

The Ethics Commission waived the $1-per-disclosure fee for CommonWealth this year as a public service, but would not commit to waiving the fee if the magazine wanted to obtain the thousands of other disclosures on file.

State Rep. Carolyn Dykema, a Democrat from Holliston, said she filed a bill that would require the Ethics Commission to post the financial forms online so anyone can access them for free. In a tight economy, she said it’s a matter of resources as well as transparency.

“During last year’s election it took forever for people to get copies” from the Ethics Commission, says Dykema, who reported no outside income last year. “It made no sense. It just seems like it was one more inefficient way to do business. This would add value rather than pushing paper around. It just seemed like a no-brainer.”

Browse the latest state ethics filings on CommonWealth’s Full Disclosure page.