Who Gets Paid?

The Speaker appoints every committee chair and controls $5.3 million in annual stipend pay. Here's who gets it — and how they vote.

Stipend amounts from MA General Law Chapter 3, §9B. Independence score weighted by vote margin and bill substance.

Stipend Pay vs. Independence Score

Each dot is a Democratic House member. Higher = more stipend pay from the Speaker. Further right = more independent voting.

Committee Leadership — Stipend Recipients
Committee Role Representative Stipend Independence Score Votes Against Speaker
Ways and Means Chair Michlewitz $97,201 0.0% 0
Bills in the Third Reading Chair Walsh $44,862 5.9% 11
Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets Chair Finn $44,862 4.7% 11
Health Care Financing Chair Lewis $44,862 5.1% 24
Post Audit and Oversight Chair Mahoney $44,862 0.8% 2
Rules Chair Galvin $44,862 6.4% 14
Steering, Policy and Scheduling Chair Honan $44,862 3.4% 11
Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity Chair Farley-Bouvier $22,431 2.7% 9
Aging and Independence Chair Stanley $22,431 6.4% 15
Bills in the Third Reading Vice Chair Ashe $22,431 8.4% 19
Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets Vice Chair Rogers, J. $22,431 12.1% 47
Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Chair Barrett $22,431 1.9% 4
Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Chair Cusack $22,431 5.9% 13
Climate Action and Sustainability Chair Nguyen $22,431 3.3% 9
Elder Affairs Chair Galvin $22,431 6.4% 14
Ethics Chair Lipper-Garabedian $22,431 0.6% 1
Federal Funding, Policy and Accountability Chair LaNatra $22,431 5.7% 10
Health Care Financing Vice Chair Sabadosa $22,431 7.0% 31
Higher Education Chair McMurtry $22,431 3.9% 9
Housing Chair Murphy $22,431 4.8% 11
Human Resources and Employee Engagement Chair Murray $22,431 3.1% 7
Labor and Workforce Development Chair Livingstone $22,431 2.0% 6
Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery Chair Hunt $22,431 0.0% 0
Municipalities and Regional Government Chair Decker $22,431 3.2% 10
Post Audit and Oversight Vice Chair Scanlon $22,431 1.1% 5
Public Health Chair Chan $22,431 3.5% 7
Public Safety and Homeland Security Chair Domb $22,431 2.8% 9
Public Service Chair Day $22,431 0.0% 0
Revenue Chair Barber $22,431 4.2% 16
Rules Vice Chair Consalvo $22,431 0.0% 0
Steering, Policy and Scheduling Vice Chair Hendricks $22,431 6.7% 15
Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Chair Ryan $22,431 0.0% 0
The Judiciary Chair Fiola $22,431 4.5% 10
Transportation Chair Cabral $22,431 0.0% 0
Veterans and Federal Affairs Chair Madaro $22,431 2.1% 6
Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity Vice Chair Hawkins $7,096 3.4% 8
Aging and Independence Vice Chair Montaño $7,096 0.0% 0
Agriculture and Fisheries Vice Chair Saunders $7,096 1.4% 1
Cannabis Policy Vice Chair Turco $7,096 11.9% 22
Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities Vice Chair Kushmerek $7,096 0.8% 1
Climate Action and Sustainability Vice Chair Ciccolo $7,096 3.9% 10
Elder Affairs Vice Chair Consalvo $7,096 0.0% 0
Ethics Vice Chair Robertson $7,096 25.1% 76
Federal Funding, Policy and Accountability Vice Chair Donaghue $7,096 0.0% 0
Higher Education Vice Chair Lewis $7,096 5.1% 24
Higher Education Vice Chair Vitolo $7,096 2.7% 6
Housing Vice Chair Biele $7,096 4.2% 7
Human Resources and Employee Engagement Vice Chair Armini $7,096 0.6% 1
Intergovernmental Affairs Vice Chair Connolly $7,096 11.0% 71
Labor and Workforce Development Vice Chair Garcia $7,096 0.0% 0
Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery Vice Chair Mendes $7,096 0.0% 0
Municipalities and Regional Government Vice Chair Kerans $7,096 1.1% 2
Operations, Facilities and Security Vice Chair Holmes $7,096 8.9% 59
Public Health Vice Chair Keefe $7,096 3.5% 13
Public Safety and Homeland Security Vice Chair DuBois $7,096 2.5% 7
Public Service Vice Chair Fluker-Reid $7,096 0.0% 0
Revenue Vice Chair Cataldo $7,096 0.0% 0
Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy Vice Chair Higgins $7,096 5.1% 24
The Judiciary Vice Chair Giannino $7,096 0.8% 1
Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development Vice Chair Kilcoyne $7,096 0.0% 0
Transportation Vice Chair Tyler $7,096 1.5% 5
Veterans and Federal Affairs Vice Chair Linsky $7,096 1.6% 4
How this works

The Speaker appoints every chair. Per MA General Law Ch.3 §9B, committee chairs receive stipends ranging from $22,431 to $97,201 on top of the $82,044 base salary. The Speaker nominates all chairs (House Rule 18).

Independence Score measures how often a rep votes against the Speaker, weighted by how close and how substantive each vote was. Unanimous votes and local matters are excluded.

Sources: Roll call data from the MA House Clerk (2018–2026). Committee assignments from malegislature.gov. Stipend investigation by The Boston Globe.