There were no roll calls in the House and Senate last week.

This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call examines the salaries and other benefits received by your state representatives.

Higher base salary for representatives

The base salary for the state’s 160 state representatives rose from $73,655 for the 2023-2024 session to $82,044 for the 2025-2026 session. That’s an 11.39% hike and an additional $8,389 per representative. The estimated price tag for the hikes is $1.34 million.

Under state law, Legislative salaries are up for adjustment in January every two years, either up or down, under a 1998 constitutional amendment. It requires that every two years the salaries of the governor, the other five constitutional statewide officers and the state’s 160 representatives be increased or decreased based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) that measures the quarterly change in salaries and wages. It also requires that the same formula be used to increase or decrease the stipends that 108 representatives receive for their service in Democratic or Republican leadership positions, as committee chairs or vice chairs, and as the ranking Republican on some committees.

General expenses

Each representative also receives an annual general expense allowance of $22,430.96 for members who live within a 50-mile radius of the State House and $29,907.95 for those who live outside that radius.

This separate allowance is taxable as income. It is designed to pay for some of the costs of representatives’ district offices and other expenses including contributions to local civic groups and the printing and mailing of newsletters. Representatives are not required to submit an accounting of how they spend the money, but they are allowed to deduct any expenses, permitted under federal law, from their gross income on their federal and state tax return.

Extra pay

One hundred and eight of the 160 representatives receive an extra stipend, ranging from $7,776.07 to $119,631.81, above the $82,044.31 base salary for their positions in Democratic and Republican leadership, as committee chairs or vice chairs, and as the ranking Republican on some committees.

House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-Quincy, the top Democrat, earns the highest stipend of any representative: $119,631.81. House Minority Leader Brad Jones, R-North Reading, the top Republican, earns an $89,723.85 stipend.

Here are the top five representatives who are paid the highest salaries including the three categories of base pay, stipends and general expense allowance:

Reps. Ron Mariano, D-Quincy, $224,107.08; Aaron Michlewitz, D-Boston, $201,676.11; Brad Jones, R-North Reading, $194,199.12; Michael Moran, D-Brighton, $194,199.12; and Kate Hogan, D-Stow, $179,245.15.

Parking spaces

Legislators are entitled to a parking space inside the State House garage or at the nearby McCormack State Office Building. For 2025, the first $325 in monthly value of the space is a tax-free benefit under federal and state guidelines that apply to all public and private employees, not just legislators. Any value of the space above this amount is treated as taxable income.

The value of the parking spaces in 2025 was determined by the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance to be $477 per month. Based on that figure, legislators would be taxed on the excess $152 monthly by the IRS and the state.

Health insurance

Representatives are eligible to choose from 11 health insurance plans offered by the state’s Group Insurance Commission, which manages the plans for 259,929 individuals — current and retired state workers, as well as certain municipal workers and their dependents.

Representatives elected on or before July 1, 2003, pay 20% of the total premium and the state pays 80%. Those elected to their first term on or after July 1, 2003, pay 25% while the state picks up only 75%. State and federal privacy regulations protect this information and it is not possible to obtain records about which plans individual legislators have purchased. The out-of-pocket monthly premiums paid by representatives for family plans range from $369.98 to $655.62 per month. For individual plans, they pay from $149.82 to $300.64 per month.

Life insurance

Representatives who purchase a health insurance policy from the state are also required to buy the state’s basic $5,000 life insurance policy. The costs for employees are based on age and whether the employee is a smoker or non-smoker. They range from 4 cents per month to $2.49 per month. The same 20/80 25/75 formula used for health insurance also applies to life insurance. Representatives also have the option to buy additional life insurance with a value of up to eight times their salary — up to a maximum of $1.5 million. The full premium for the optional insurance is paid by the representative.

Long-term disability insurance, health care spending

Representatives also have the option to open a Health Care Spending Account (HCSA) and Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP), and to buy long-term disability insurance. The HCSA allows representatives to set aside funds to pay for out-of-pocket health care expenses with before-tax dollars while the DCAP allows them to set aside funds to pay for certain dependent care expenses with before-tax dollars. This participation reduces their federal and state income taxes. The full premium for long-term disability insurance is paid by representatives.

Dental and vision insurance

Representatives are eligible to choose one of two dental/vision insurance plans. Current monthly employee premium costs paid by representatives for family plans range from $15.16 to $20.52, while individual plans range from $4.91 to $6.64. All representatives pay 15% of the premium and the state pays 85%.

Total salary

Here is the total annual salary for local representatives including the three categories of base pay, stipends and general expense allowance.

Rep. Natalie Blais — $134,383.22

Rep. Aaron Saunders — $119,728.33

Rep. Susannah Whipps — $111,952.26

Also up on Beacon Hill Judiciary Committee hearing

The Judiciary Committee held a hearing on several bills, including:

Protect survivors of spousal abuse from alimony payments (S 1236): Would give the courts the authority to terminate alimony payments and deny future alimony petitions if the spouse receiving the payments has been convicted of spousal abuse.

The bill defines “abuse” as including “attempting to cause or causing physical harm, placing a spouse in fear of imminent serious physical harm and causing a spouse to engage involuntarily in sexual relations by force, threat or duress.”

Adults with disabilities and child custody (S 1164): Would prevent a parent’s disability to be considered a negative factor in determining custody or parenting time with a child unless there is specific evidence that there is a link with the parent’s disability and a child’s alleged harm. It must also show that this harm cannot be prevented or alleviated by accommodation.

Digital assets of the deceased (S 1048): Would establish regulations on what happens to a decedent’s digital assets, including social media, email and online accounts.

Supporters said that people are unlikely to specifically designate control over these assets in a will, and companies have a patchwork of different policies on the subject or no policies at all. They noted this often gives companies discretion over whether to provide access to an account, and family members can be left with no ability to retrieve information, particularly in the event of an unexpected death.

Health care surrogate (S 1047): Would create a process for handling the care of incapacitated patients who don’t have a health care proxy. The measure would allow attending physicians to appoint surrogate decision makers and identifies candidates for that role, including the incapacitated patient’s spouse, unless legally separated, parent, adult child or adult sibling.

Under current law, Massachusetts health care providers must go through the difficult process of seeking a judicially appointed medical guardian before even routine decisions about care can be made. Then, after a medical guardian is appointed, some decisions, including those related to transfers to nursing facilities, require additional judicial approval.

A surrogate would not be empowered to make decisions about transferring the patient to an inpatient mental health facility nor be able to make any “extraordinary” decisions about life support, sterilization and abortion. Those decisions would continue to be determined by a court.