WESTFIELD – On Tuesday afternoon, Boston’s FOX25 News published an investigative story about Massachusetts lawmakers. Lead by FOX25 investigative reporter Eric Rasmussen, he found that legislators in the commonwealth were charging taxpayer’s for their commute to the Boston State House.
As lawmakers voted in favor of receiving a multi-million dollar raise and ending the per diem program, that meant that the legislators would no longer be able to keep their travel reimbursement, which went into effect on Jan. 4 this year. Lawmakers would receive anywhere from $10 to $100 a day, depending on the length of their commute.
FOX25 discovered that there was more than $8,000 that legislators took from taxpayers and now the State Treasurer’s office is trying to take that money back.
Sen. Don Humason. (WNG File Photo)
With this investigation including lawmakers across the state, it also affects legislators in this local area in Sen. Don Humason and Rep. Nick Boldyga.
Humason, a Republican, noted that he voted against the pay raise and change in per diem’s, as Democrats pushed for the move.
However, Humason said that it was made unclear to him as to when the change would go info effect this year and said that the Democrats changed the language at some point to have the law go into effect on Jan. 4.
“I inadvertently applied for per diem’s that I was already being paid for,” said Humason.
The Senator who covers 11 communities in Western Mass, also voiced his frustration about this investigation as he believed he was a constant advocate for people against the pay raise and change of the per diem.
State Representative Nicholas Boldyga. (WNG file photo)
“I did the right thing,” said Humason. “I spoke on the floor against it, I spoke publicly against it.”
According to the Mass lawmakers commuting list, it shows how much each legislator claimed for their travel reimbursement. Here is what both Boldyga and Humason have claimed since the new law was effective on Jan. 4:
| 2017 | Representative | Boldyga, Nicholas A | $66.00 | 1/6/2017 | 2 | $132.00 |
| 2017 | Representative | Boldyga, Nicholas A | $66.00 | 1/13/2017 | 2 | $132.00 |
| 2017 | Representative | Boldyga, Nicholas A | $66.00 | 1/20/2017 | 2 | $132.00 |
| 2017 | Representative | Boldyga, Nicholas A | $66.00 | 1/27/2017 | 3 | $198.00 |
| 2017 | Representative | Boldyga, Nicholas A | $66.00 | 2/3/2017 | 1 | $66.00 |
| 2017 | Senator | Humason, Donald F | $66.00 | 1/6/2017 | 2 | $132.00 |
| 2017 | Senator | Humason, Donald F | $66.00 | 1/13/2017 | 1 | $66.00 |
| 2017 | Senator | Humason, Donald F | $66.00 | 1/20/2017 | 2 | $132.00 |
| 2017 | Senator | Humason, Donald F | $66.00 | 1/27/2017 | 3 | $198.00 |
The Westfield News attempted to reach out to Rep. Boldyga and ask for his comment on the matter, but he failed to respond to our inquiries.
