Charlie Baker reticent on gov councilor raises

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/07/charlie_baker_reticent_on_gov_councilor_raises

Charlie Baker reticent on gov councilor raises
Friday, July 10, 2015
Matt Stout

The Baker administration says it wants to keep the obscure Governor’s Council, but wouldn’t say whether Gov. Charlie Baker will veto the $10,000 councilor raises that lawmakers slipped into the budget — a move political watchers say puts him in a tight spot after he disavowed lawmaker pay hikes last winter.

Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who chairs the Governor’s Council, praised the archaic board yesterday as a “check and balance” and “longtime tradition,” echoing comments she made when running for office.

But she and Baker both declined to directly address the pay raise, which the Herald reported was quietly tucked into the $38.1 billion budget lawmakers just passed.

It would give the part-time councilors a nearly 40 percent pay hike to $36,025 a year.