How Sweet It Is…

Imagine this…. you are the executive director of the state’s pension fund. You earn over $300K a year (and that is probably more than you really should be making), and you get a $64,000 bonus check–all this while state pension fund lost a billion dollars. All in all not bad, not bad at all.

Despite presiding over a $1 billion loss last year, the executive director of the state’s pension fund will receive a $64,000 bonus on top of his $322,000 annual salary because the fund outperformed the market indexes and many other major state pension funds.

Michael Travaglini, who is already the highest paid state employee, and his two top aides will get a 20 percent bonus under benchmarks set by the nine-member Pension Reserves Investment Management Board in October. The other 23 members of the management staff will get bonuses of 16 percent.

The bonuses are kicking in as Travaglini is campaigning for salary increases of up to 5 percent for the agency’s staff, according to agency documents. But facing questions from the Globe yesterday, the board’s chairman, State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill, pulled the pay increases from the agenda for today’s meeting.

The bonuses and the recommended raises come after the $50.6 billion fund registered a 1.8 percent loss for the 12-month period ending June 30, its first loss in five years. The pension board has noted that its investment returns place it among the top tier of public pension funds around the country.

Cahill did not respond to a Globe request for comment. His spokeswoman, Alison Mitchell, would only confirm that the treasurer had pulled the salary proposal from the agenda. Travaglini did not return calls seeking comment.

Massachusetts Republican Party Executive Director Robert Willington issued the following statement via press release:

Governor Patrick campaigned on a pledge to end the ‘Big-Dig’ culture, and has clearly failed to do so. Only in Massachusetts would the brother of a former Democrat Senate President be rewarded for losing one billion dollars. This loss casts further doubt on the intelligence of the massive borrowing proposed by Governor Patrick. Instead of holding self-congratulatory press conferences, maybe Governor Patrick should hold another one with Treasurer Cahill to explain the billion dollar loss, and why they are asking the taxpayers to contribute another $1.5 Billion to the pension fund this year.

In a time where everyone is making sacrifices, and most of us may not see a 20% bonus check this year (if any at all) because of these tough times, why isn’t anyone on the Hill learning about sacrifice? I guess you have to be someone’s brother in this state to avoid the gauntlet.

Oh, and I love the part about Michael Trav’s campaiging for pay increases of 5%. Hello!?!?!

All In The Family: Trav’s Bro Gets $40K Raise

Must be nice to be the highest paid state worker–who happens to be the brother of Senate President Robert Travaglini–and to get a $40,000 raise on top of it.

The politically connected brother of Senate President Robert Travaglini got a whopping $40,000 pay raise yesterday, pushing his yearly salary as head of the state’s pension system soaring over $300,000.

The Pension Reserves Investment Management Board quietly hiked executive director Michael Travaglini’s pay more than 15 percent from $280,000 to $322,000 a year. Travaglini, whose salary is paid out of the state pension fund, is already the state’s top paid employee, far out-earning the heads of Massport, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, the state police and the University of Massachusetts – none of whom make $300,000 a year.

The chairman of the PRIM board is Treasurer Tim Cahill, a close ally of Travaglini’s powerful lawmaker brother.

Travaglini’s huge raise comes just days after the Legislature overrode an attempt by Gov. Mitt Romney to block lawmakers from approving $10 million in advertising spending by the Lottery, which is overseen by Cahill’s office.

Sources close to Travaglini insisted he goes out of his way to make sure there is no appearance that he somehow gets added perks for being the Senate president’s younger brother.

“I don’t think there was any funny business or undue influence there,” said one State House insider. “Mike never abused that relationship.”

No, I don’t see any impropriety at all… the Senate President’s brother, already the highest paid state employee getting a $40,000 raise… nope, no funny business here.