"Pension boost aids lawmakers; Loophole may cost taxpayers an extra $3m" by Sean P. Murphy, Globe Staff | May 3, 2009
More than 52 legislators were awarded a full year of pension credit for as little as one day of work in a calendar year.... most of these lawmakers collect[ed] pensions in their 40s.... [and] are now lobbyists....
Almost all former legislators took advantage of the provision, both Democrat and Republican, but a few declined the extra boost, including Thomas M. Finneran, the former Democratic House speaker. By doing so, Finneran left about $31,000 on the table.
The law that opens the door for the so-called one-day pension boost is ambiguous. It says elected officials "shall be credited with a year of creditable service for each calendar year during which he served." An opinion issued by former attorney general Francis X. Bellotti in 1976 said one day of service in a year was sufficient to qualify.
Bellotti, in a telephone interview, last week said his opinion was "a straight statutory interpretation of what the language meant," without regard to politics. "It didn't come out of thin air," he said.
--more--"No, we know EXACTLY WHERE IT CAME FROM, pffffftttt!!!!!
