Alan Greenblatt is a GOVERNING correspondent.
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You might have missed this story over Christmas. James Marzilli Jr. was a long-time veteran of the Massachusetts legislature. But this year, he decided not to run for reelection to the state Senate after being charged with groping women in Lowell.
So why is he in the news now? Marzilli is seeking to double his state pension as a result of losing his seat. The Boston Globe explains:
In a request submitted to the state Board of Retirement, Marzilli, a 50-year-old liberal Democrat with 23 years of local and state service, cites a state law that allows elected officials under age 55 with more than 20 years of creditable service to boost their pension if they fail to win reelection.
If Marzilli's request seems like a textbook demonstration of chutzpah, what it really does is highlight an underlying problem with the law.
"They get an additional pension if their constituents get sick of them and throw them out? Am I hearing that right? Only in Massachusetts," said Barbara Anderson, executive director of Citizens for Limited Taxation. "Enough with the pension nonsense."
GOVERNING Politics is the place for news and analysis on campaigns and elections. If there's a ballot measure in California, a legislative election in Alabama, a mayoral election in Anchorage or a governor's race in Rhode Island, GOVERNING Politics probably is writing about it. We love everything about state and local politics, from polls and campaign ads to policy debates and demographic trends.
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