PUBLIC SESSION
MEETING CONVENED
Committee Chair Josefina Martinez called the meeting to order at 1:32 p.m. Also in attendance were Committee member and Commission Chair Maria J. Krokidas and Committee member and Commission Executive Director David A. Wilson. Committee Chair Martinez, Chair Krokidas, and Mr. Wilson all participated remotely.
REMOTE PARTICIPATION
Committee Chair Martinez announced that the meeting would take place remotely pursuant to An Act Relative to Extending Certain State of Emergency Accommodations regarding the Open Meeting Law, which was signed by Governor Baker on July 16, 2022. Committee Chair Martinez noted that all votes at the meeting would be taken by roll call.
APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES
On the motion of Committee Chair Martinez, seconded by Mr. Wilson, the Committee voted 3-0 to waive the reading and approve the public session minutes of the September 6, 2022 Committee meeting.
| Committee Chair Martinez | Yes |
| Committee Member Krokidas | Yes |
| Committee Member Wilson | Yes |
DISCUSSION
The Commission’s Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Request
At Mr. Wilson’s request, Government Affairs Officer Robert Milt and Chief Financial Officer Alice Wu provided an update on the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget request. Mr. Milt reported that the Fiscal Year 2024 budget request for $3,550,400 was submitted to the Executive Office for Administration and Finance on November 7, 2022. He noted that the budget request is approximately $551,000, or 18%, more than the Fiscal Year 2023 spending level of $2,999,468. Mr. Milt explained that the Fiscal Year 2024 spending increases enable the Commission to retain and attract staff with competitive compensation and benefits, to cover subscription costs associated with the new online learning platform, which will serve approximately 300,000 public employees, and the new legal case management system, and to increase staff capacity through the addition of a new Assistant Agency Counsel position. Mr. Wilson explained that a new Assistant Agency Counsel position would help support possible Commission mediation, pro bono counsel, and legal internship programs. Mr. Milt noted that the request also seeks funding for additional training for Commission staff.
Mr. Wilson commended Mr. Milt and Ms. Wu for their work on the budget and for advocating for ongoing needs of the Commission with the Executive Office for Administration and Finance. Mr. Milt noted that a kickoff meeting to discuss the new legal case management system is scheduled for November 16, 2022.
The consensus of the Committee was to support the Commission’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget request.
The Compensation of Commission Employees as Determined by the Executive Director in Consultation with the Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Wilson stated that there are nine Commission staff members whose salaries are determined by the NAGE Unit 6 Collective Bargaining Agreement salary schedule, the “Unit 6 employees” and nineteen unclassified employees (the “non-Unit 6 employees”) whose salaries are determined by the Executive Director in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer and subject to Commission approval. He said that, since the salaries of the nine Unit 6 employees were increased by 2% on July 3, 2022, he plans to request that the Commission approve similar increases for the Commission employees whose compensation is not set according to the Unit 6 CBA salary schedule at the upcoming Commission meeting on November 17, 2022. Mr. Wilson noted that the Commission has, in recent years, provided cost-of-living increases for all Commission employees, other than the Executive Director, equivalent to those received by the Commission staff paid according to the Unit 6 agreement to ensure pay equity between Unit 6 and non-Unit 6 employees.
Mr. Wilson said that he also plans to request that the Commission approve step equivalent salary increases for the unclassified employees who would receive step increases if they held Unit 6 positions, equal to those step increases, to ensure pay equity between Unit 6 and non-Unit 6 employees, which will range from 1.9 to 3.26%. Committee Chair Martinez asked whether the Commission has provided bonuses to unclassified employees in addition to step increases in the past. Mr. Wilson said that the Commission has provided performance-based merit increases in the form of promotions for employees who are not paid according to the Unit 6 CBA. He explained that promotions and promotion-related salary increases are determined by the Executive Director in consultation with the Chief Financial Officer and are not subject to Commission approval. Mr. Wilson reminded that Commission that all Commission employees, both Unit 6 and non-Unit 6, other than the Executive Director, received a one-time 1.5% bonus last year.
The consensus of the Committee was to support the request for salary increases to be submitted to the full Commission for final approval at its next meeting on November 17, 2022.
The Compensation of the Executive Director
Mr. Wilson, speaking in his individual capacity and not as a member of the Committee or as Executive Director, stated that the Commission’s Personnel Manual provides that the Executive Director’s compensation is determined by the Commission, and that the Audit, Finance and Human Resources Committee may make recommendations to the full Commission on the compensation of the Executive Director. He reported that his salary has been $145,000 since February 16, 2017 when he was appointed as Executive Director, and was based on the salary of the preceding Executive Director as set in Fiscal Year 2014. Mr. Wilson noted that the Executive Director’s salary in 2022 is only $8,684 more than it was over 14 years ago in 2008. He explained that, with an average annual inflation rate of 3.99% since 2017, totaling 21.58%, $145,000 in 2017 has an adjusted-for-inflation value of $176,288 in 2022. Mr. Wilson further explained that $145,000 in 2022 has the purchasing power that $119,199 had in 2017.
Mr. Wilson reported that, in Fiscal Year 2022, the salaries of agency heads at comparable state agencies–the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, the Office of the Inspector General, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, and the Cannabis Control Commission–were $172,000, $188,000, $207,400, and $201,880, respectively. He noted that, since 2017, Unit 6 employees at the Commission who had 14 years of service or more prior to 2017, have received a combined total of 13.179% in cost-of-living salary increases and a one-time 1.5% bonus in 2021. Mr. Wilson also noted that the compensation of the Commission’s three Division Chiefs has increased by an average of nearly 22%, and the compensation of other unclassified staff, some of whom have been employed by the Commission for less than five years, has increased by an average of 18%, during this period. He requested that the Committee support his request for a salary increase and noted that the salary of the Executive Director would appropriately be set between that of the Director at the Office of Campaign and Political Finance–$172,000–and that of the Inspector General–$188,000.
Committee Chair Martinez said that she would like to discuss the salaries at comparable state agencies with General Counsel/Legal Division Chief Eve Slattery before they make a recommendation on the compensation of the Executive Director to the full Commission. She noted that she would like to discuss the compensation of the Executive Director in executive session and have all staff, including Mr. Wilson, leave the meeting during the discussion, excepting Senior Program Coordinator Arthur Xia who would remain present to take the meeting minutes. Following discussion, the Audit, Finance and Human Resources Committee scheduled its next meeting for November 22, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. to discuss the compensation of the Executive Director.
ADJOURN MEETING
At 2:50 p.m., on the motion of Committee Chair Martinez, seconded by Chair Krokidas, the Committee voted 3-0 to adjourn.
| Committee Chair Martinez | Yes |
| Committee Member Krokidas | Yes |
| Committee Member Wilson | Yes |
LIST OF DOCUMENTS USED AT THIS MEETING
- Agenda for the Committee Meeting of November 15, 2022
- Minutes of the Committee Meeting of September 6, 2021 Public Session
Respectfully submitted,
Arthur Xia
Senior Program Coordinator