Republicans facing near extinction in state Senate

There is a reason that former Senate President Billy Bulger, who ruled that body for 18 years, always wanted a significant number of Republicans in his Democratic-controlled Massachusetts Senate.

That way he could better discipline, unify and control his Democrats by holding up Republican opposition, real or imagined, to Democrat policy in the 40-member upper branch of the Legislature.

Also, a feisty Republican opposition, whatever the issue, made for a lively debate even though the GOP minority would always lose unless, of course, Bulger wanted to hand them an occasional victory. The Democrats have controlled the Senate for 60 years, and the House for even longer.

Now the situation in the Senate borders on the absurd since the Republican presence in the chamber has all but disappeared, along with opposition and debate.

A healthy debate was good for all the senators. They could show their constituents and the public that they were on the job. It was also good for the body politic because differences were publicly aired

Not anymore. Republicans on Beacon Hill, especially in the Senate, have become all but extinct. And, ironically, this will make the role of Democrat Karen Spilka, the Senate president, harder, not easier.

One former Republican senator recalls Bulger, who wanted a few Republicans around, asking him if he needed campaign help warding off a Democratic challenger.

“I can campaign for you, or against you. Whatever you want,” Bulger offered.

There have been five Senate presidents since Bulger. While Republicans have been able to win the governor’s office (Bill Weld, Paul Cellucci, Mitt Romney, Charlie Baker) they have failed miserably in making inroads in the Legislature. There are only 31 Republicans in the 160-member House.

Democrat control of the Legislature is so entrenched — and the job of legislators made so financially attractive — that nobody, Republican or Democrat, rocks the boat.

Legislators are protected from casting hard votes that can be used against them. There are no roll calls, only unrecorded voice votes. There is no debate. Everything is decided behind closed doors. Whatever legislation has been agreed upon in the offices of Spilka and House Speaker Robert DeLeo is rubber-stamped.

In addition, a lot of what the Legislature does goes undetected because newspapers have cut back so drastically that much of what takes place at the State House and in the Legislature goes uncovered. The politicians know it.

Social distancing and working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic has made things worse. Now everything is done remotely and if it were not for a very few reporters the public would be totally in the dark.

Some Democrats were jubilant when two Democrats unseated two Senate Republicans in a pair of special elections last week. Rep. John Velis of Westfield and Susan Moran of Falmouth won Senate seats previously held by Republicans.

Those victories cut Republican representation in the 40-member Senate from six to four, the lowest it has ever been. Soon, it could be cut to three, if one of the four remaining Republicans is, as expected, defeated in November.

While the Republicans in the Senate face extinction, Spilka faces problems as well. She has more Democrats than she knows what to do with. While the base pay for legislators is $61,500, many make up to $100,000 by holding committee chairmanships or leadership positions. Now there are hardly enough extra paying jobs for the many Democrats to go around.

The surplus of Democrats will also make discipline, unity and control more difficult. Senate Democrats have already broken into factions among progressives, loony progressives and a couple of moderates.

There used to be a joke about how the few Republicans in the Senate could caucus in a telephone phone booth. The reality now is that the GOP in the Senate has gone the way of telephone booths.

When the three remaining Republicans in the Senate show up for the opening of the 2021 legislative session, there will be a Senate Republican minority leader, an assistant minority leader and a minority whip, all receiving extra pay for their leadership positions. But there will be nobody to lead.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2ZS0DCr