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Staking their ground as defenders of an already frayed social safety net, Beacon Hill lawmakers voted over the summer to override hundreds of Gov. Mitt Romney’s budget vetoes, restoring spending for everything from legal assistance programs to school breakfasts. One veto, however, remained untouched by lawmakers, though it was an item near and dear to their hearts: a $1.2 million increase legislators had proposed for operation of the state Senate, which was facing a $2 million budget gap.
Since overrides must begin in the House, taking a pass on this one raised the question of whether Speaker Thomas Finneran was hanging his freshly minted counterpart, Senate President Robert Travaglini, out to dry.
budget woes, but Travaglini said not to.
Travaglini pours cold water on that theory. “We chose not to seek an override,” says the East Boston Democrat, referring to the 40-member Senate. “It’s our problem and we’ll deal with it.”
Part of the problem is political. Senators surely would have preferred to be spared the ordeal of laying off their own staff, as they would have been had Romney signed off on the higher appropriation. But once the governor vetoed the money–Romney declared that every part of state government must make sacrifices–pushing an override at a time when social service programs were suffering painful cuts would have been an embarrassment for legislators. “Given the budget crisis that’s going on in the state, I don’t think [an override vote] was ever really entertained,” says Sen. Robert O’Leary, a Barnstable Democrat.
But the alternative has proven to be a wrenching ordeal for the Legislature’s upper chamber, and not least for its new leader. Travaglini has eliminated 23 jobs that fell under the jurisdiction of his office, which includes the Senate personnel office, legislative education office, and court officers for the branch. His fellow senators have had to let longtime staffers go and figure out ways to get their office workload done with fewer hands on board.
Even though Travaglini has cast votes on such weighty matters as the death penalty and spending for critical education and health services, the reductions in the Senate budget–and staffing levels–have assumed a singular significance for him.
“It’s been the most difficult exercise I’ve been confronted with in my tenure as an elected official,” says Travaglini. “I had a personal relationship with a significant portion of these people that were unfortunately asked to leave.”
When it was revealed in July, the budget shortfall became the focus of a tense back-and-forth between Travaglini and his predecessor, Thomas Birmingham. Travaglini’s office claimed that the problem was created by Birmingham, who left office in January, midway through last fiscal year. Birmingham shot back a letter to senators, telling them he had fully briefed Travaglini on the Senate’s budget woes.
If there’s a silver lining, say some senators, it is that Travaglini has used the episode to equalize budgets for all members. There had been wide disparities in senators’ budgets, with some members allocated more than $300,000 to staff their offices, while others received less than $200,000, according a Boston Globe report.
“I hate to see people laid off,” says Sen. Jack Hart, a first-term Boston Democrat whose office budget had been among the lowest. But he credits Travaglini for bringing “some parity” to office allocations.
“It’s about fairness, it’s about equity, it’s about changing the way we do business,” says Travaglini, who has pledged to bring a more open style of leadership to the Senate.
But one of the ways Travaglini has always done business is by placing friends and allies in jobs. While others may rail against patronage, the one-time precinct captain for Boston mayor Kevin White has always been one of its proudest defenders, a fact that lends great irony to the Grim Reaper role he has had to assume.
“Most people here are in the business of helping people,” says one Senate staffer. “They don’t like laying people off, especially Trav.”
“I’m not going to offer any apologies for being a resourceful individual,” Travaglini says of his reputation for finding work for loyalists–such as Anthony Marmo, his 85-year-old former campaign manager, who, the Globe reported, was on the Senate payroll, collecting $400 a month for helping out in Travaglini’s district office.
“Tony Marmo is a good individual,” says Travaglini, sadness creeping into his voice. “He’s one of the ones we had to lay off.”
Then, ever resourceful, the Senate president adds, “We’ll see if we can be helpful to Tony in another way.”
