Politics

Mass. Secretary of State Bill Galvin turns down 20% pay raise

The longtime secretary is the only constitutional officer who rejected the extra cash.

Secretary of State Bill Galvin Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

February 1, 2023

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Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin will decline the 20% pay raise he’s due under a several-years-old law, making him the state’s only constitutional officer to turn down the hefty salary bump.

“No, not at this time,” Debra O’Malley, a spokesperson for Galvin, told The State House News Service this week when asked if the longtime Brighton Democrat will take the boost that would have put him at an annual salary of $225,107.

Twenty percent pay raises for the state’s upper echelon of elected leadership are in order this year under a 2017 law that links salaries to fluctuations in state wages over the prior eight quarters, according to the publication.

Last month, the Massachusetts treasury determined the six constitutional officers were up for a 20.1% bump.

Galvin’s fellow Democrats, Gov. Maura Healey, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Attorney General Andrea Campbell, Auditor Diana DiZoglio, and Treasurer Deborah Goldberg have all said they will take the raise.

Healey, who took office in January, is poised to make $37,185 more than her predecessor Gov. Charlie Baker’s $185,000 salary, ballooning her base salary to $222,185.

(Notably, the change means the governor of Massachusetts’s pay will surpass the salary of the mayor of Boston, at least until 2026, when the mayor’s pay is slated to bump to $250,000 under a measure that bumped salaries for the mayor and city councilors passed in November. Still, with a $65,000 housing allowance, the governor’s total compensation comes out higher at a yearly total of $287,185.)

With the raises, Driscoll will make $198,000, up from $165,000 for her position; Campbell will make $222,639, up from $185,378; and DiZoglio will make $229,377. All three women took office last month.

Meanwhile Goldberg, an incumbent re-elected in November, will make $227,662 this year. She was paid $189,560 in 2022.

The constitutional officers are not the only ones on Beacon Hill getting a hefty pay raise, either.

Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano are also slated to receive sizable pay bumps, with increases of $25,000 that put their annual compensation to over $203,000.

The raises arrive as economists warn the nation is likely on the precipice of a recession, as consumer spending slows amid continuing inflation. Nationally, unemployment rates are low, though several large companies including Google and Amazon have recently let thousands of employees go.

Last month, Wayfair, one of Boston’s largest employers, announced it cut 1,750 jobs, including 937 Bay State-based workers — its second round of layoffs in the past six months.

Healey, who campaigned on a vow to lower the commonwealth’s cost of living, has pledged to put forth a plan to provide taxpayers some form of relief, but so far, has not released details of her proposal.