Populous Portals

What kind of prodigal squanders $1.63 million a year on 63 doorkeepers--to man three doors? A particularly extravagant Roman emperor? Louis XIV? No, this is democratic America, where an individual is not permitted such profligacy. But 200 people are: the state legislators of Massachusetts. The lawmakers' blue-uniformed doorkeepers are called "court officers," but their duties are nebulous. They do, however, have salaries, more than $18,000 annually--nearly as much as the legislators themselves. A few are former representatives, and many more are friends and relatives of lawmakers. Claims Representative Richard Voke of Chelsea: "No one got there other than by knowing someone. Can you imagine," he asks, "stuffing the payroll at a time like this?"

The time is one of governmental austerity in Massachusetts, where a tax-capping measure is forcing draconian cut backs. Yet Governor Ed King has asked for a 29% increase in funding for the doorkeepers. Jokes Voke of the crowded doorsills: "If they keep putting more people on, they won't have any place to stand."

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