BOSTON (AP) — Members of the newly sworn-in state Legislature will earn a little less money over the next couple of years, because of a drop in the state’s median household income.
Gov. Deval Patrick and other constitutional officers will also get a small pay cut.
In a letter Thursday to state Treasurer Steven Grossman, Patrick certified that the median household income in Massachusetts, as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau and average weekly wages, decreased by 1.8 percent over the last two years.
A 1998 amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution ties increases or decreases in the base pay of legislators to median household income.
The 1.8 percent reduction means the annual base pay for state representatives and senators, which had been $61,133, will fall about $1,100 in the two-year session that began on Wednesday.
Many legislators, however, earn bonuses of up to $7,500 for committee chairmanships or floor posts.
They are also entitled to per diem payments for travel to and from their districts to the Statehouse.
This will be the second consecutive legislative session in which base pay has been reduced, a reflection of the slumping economy in recent years. It fell by 0.5 percent, or $307, in 2011 after a corresponding drop in household income.
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