Last week I testified at a hearing before the Joint Committee on the Judiciary in favor of two bills that would impact the salaries of CPCS public counsel staff and the hourly rate of compensation paid to private assigned counsel. The first, S.726 – An Act Relative to Assistant District Attorneys and CPCS Attorneys – would increase the annual salaries of CPCS public counsel staff by mandating that the annual salary of fulltime CPCS attorneys and assistant district attorneys be at least equivalent to an Executive Branch Counsel I position, which is currently $56,594. The other H.1246 – An Act Relative to the Appointment of Private Counsel – would increase the hourly rates paid to private assigned counsel to rates that are much more competitive than the current rates, which have not been increased in ten years.
CPCS has always advocated for fair and competitive compensation for both our public staff and the private bar with the our funders. In addition to this testimony on these proposed statutory amendments we continue to work on securing compensation through the budgetary process. Earlier this year, CPCS Chief Counsel Anthony Benedetti testified before the House and Senate Committees on Ways & Means requesting funding that would allow CPCS to increase the salaries of our public staff and the hourly rates of the private bar. In addition, CPCS supported an amendment adopted by the House of Representatives to the FY 2016 budget, which was requested by the Mass Bar Association and which is an important first step in increasing the rate of compensation paid to private assigned counsel. In the next few weeks we will be working with the House and Senate leadership to secure the most advantageous budget for the coming fiscal year through the Conference Committee deliberation process. We believe this two pronged approach has allowed us to continue to inform and educate the legislature on the pressing need for compensation relief for all our attorneys. I will keep you informed as information becomes available.
The links to the legislation can be found here: Bill H.1246 and Bill S.726
Lisa M. Hewitt
General Counsel