Monday, January 14, 2013

Impressive attendance by South Shore legislators in 2012

BOSTON — The South Shore’s legislative delegation on Beacon Hill compiled an impressive record of showing up for roll call votes last year. Every one of the local politicians had a voting attendance record of 92 percent or higher, and nearly half had perfect attendance.

“For legislators, anything above 90 percent is generally recognized as good attendance,” said Michael Kryzanek, executive director of the Minnock Center for International Engagement at Bridgewater State University. “What you don’t want is legislators ignoring votes because they don’t want to go on the record on an issue.”

Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry, D-Dorchester, whose district includes part of Milton, missed 15 roll call votes last year, the most of any local legislator. The House held 194 roll call votes and the Senate held 179 during 2012.

Forry missed four votes on July 25 because she had to take her newborn daughter to the hospital. She returned to the office later in the day with her daughter in tow, she said.

“I show up and work hard doing what I can to help small business. I had my daughter Nora on July 1 and was back in the office July 9,” said Forry, chairwoman of the Legislature’s committee on small business.

“Things happen in every occupation,” Kryzanek added. “You miss an important meeting because of illness, jury duty or for any number of reasons.”

Forry said the other votes she missed were quorum calls which she likened to taking attendance. She said she was in the State House for those votes but didn’t get to the House chamber in time for them.

Rep. James Murphy, D-Weymouth, missed 12 roll call votes last year. He said he missed just two days of work last year, once because he was sick and another because of a family emergency. There were six roll call votes on each of those days.

“I take pride in my voting record and in my job,” he said.

The worst attendance record in the House for 2012 belonged to Rep. Harold Naughton, D-Clinton, who missed 98 roll call voters for a 49 percent record. But Naughton had a good reason: he was on active duty in Afghanistan as a captain in the Army Reserve.

The second and third worst records were held by Reps. Charles Murphy, D-Burlington, who missed 81 votes for a 58 percent record, and Harriett Stanley, D-West Newbury, who missed 60 for a 69 percent record.

Charles Murphy was in his final year on Beacon Hill. He announced in June he would leave the House after a falling out with Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop in which he was thrown off the speaker’s leadership team.

Stanley’s absences were because of an illness.

State Sens. John F. Keenan, D-Quincy, and Brian A. Joyce, D-Milton, were among the local legislators who tallied 100 percent voting records in 2012.

“One of the most fundamental responsibilities as a legislator is to participate, which means attending sessions and casting votes,” Keenan said. “It can be challenging at times. Those who don’t have perfect attendance have legitimate reasons.”

Joyce and Keenan were also among several local legislators who did not seek reimbursement for their travel to and from the State House during 2012. They both could have claimed $10 roundtrip.

Among the most controversial of legislative perks, the so-called “per diem” travel and meals allotment is a holdover from the days when legislators were also farmers or tradesman who traveled into the State House infrequently. “It’s hard to justify being paid to go to work,” said Kryzanek, “On the other hand we’re not talking about a huge amount of money.”

Forry, who lives in Dorchester, collected $1,670 in per diems, $10 for each of the 167 days she spent at the State House last year.

Vinny deMacedo, R-Plymouth, collected the most in travel reimbursement of any local legislator last year, $4,752. He was paid $36 for each of the 132 days he spent on Beacon Hill.

During the two-year legislative session that started this month, the base pay for legislators is $60,032. That does not include stipends, which the large majority of House members and all of the Senate members receive. The stipends range from $7,500 to $35,000 a year.

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