Unity seen as path to power for suburbs

A new caucus in the state House of Representatives wants Beacon Hill to pay more attention to the suburbs.

"Suburban legislators have a lot of common interests," said state Representative Alice H. Peisch, a Wellesley Democrat and cochair of the non partisan Suburban Legislative Coalition. "The groups that we've had in the past have been more regionally based. We thought it would be useful to coalesce around a number of issues that affect all of the suburbs."

Formed in January, the alliance of about 40 lawmakers has drawn up a modest list of initiatives for the legislative session. Their goals include making it easier for municipalities to acquire surplus state land; providing more local control over affordable housing; streamlining how Beacon Hill handles bill affecting particular communities ; and allow ing municipal employees to join the state health insurance pool.

But the top priority for the caucus is increasing state aid for schools. Under the state's complex formula, the subsidy ranges from less than 10 percent to as much as 90 percent of local operating budgets. The coalition wants the state to foot at least 17.5 percent of the tab.

"Towns are not able to afford the costs of schools," said state Representative James B. Eldridge, an Acton Democrat and the other cochair of the suburban caucus. "They are going to tax overrides, which are not passing, and then they have to cut their budgets and cut programs."

The caucus hopes to counter the power of urban districts, whose lawmakers have long been influential in the Legislature. For example, of the top 12 Democratic leadership positions in the House, eight are filled by legislators from cities. Only the House majority leader, John H. Rogers of Norwood, and assistant majority leader Lida E. Harkins of Needham represent exclusively suburban districts.

"Historically, the Boston area tends to consume more of the state's resources because the top echelon of the Legislature is from the area," said George Serra, chairman of the political science department at Bridgewater State College.

But in recent years, suburban lawmakers have moved into key positions. In the Senate, Therese Murray of Plymouth chairs the Ways and Means Committee and is a leading candidate for Senate president, should Robert E. Travaglini of Boston step down.

In the mid-1980s, a group of suburban lawmakers joined with municipal officials to form the Suburban Coalition. Legislators later dropped out as the organization came to be run by and for local officials.

Regional lawmakers have already formed local caucuses, representing the western suburbs, Southeastern Massachusetts, and Central Massachusetts, for example. Members of the Suburban Legislative Coalition want the clout of a broader alliance.

"We wanted to organize and make the point that the perspective of suburbs in the entire state need to be taken into account," said Eldridge.

Representative Mary E. Grant, a Democrat from Beverly, said the organizers of the coalition are from the House Class of 2002, when she, Eldridge, Peisch, and Barbara A. L'Italien of Andover were first elected as the state was cutting local aid.

"That's what we've known as legislators, seeing local aid cut," said Grant. "It gets hard when your revenues don't rise with your costs."

Robert Preer can be reached at preer@globe.com.