Secretary of Administration and Finance of Massachusetts

The secretary of administration and finance of Massachusetts is the head of the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, and serves as an advisor to the governor of Massachusetts. Its current secretary is Matthew Gorzkowicz, who has been serving since January 5, 2023.

History

In 1922, the Massachusetts General Court passed legislation creating the department of administration and finance. The department replaced the office of supervisor of administration and assumed many of the duties of the superintendent of buildings, secretary of the Commonwealth, state treasurer, and state auditor. On December 13, 1922, Governor Channing H. Cox nominated four men to the newly created commission of administration and finance. They were:

• Homer Loring, chairman and budget commissioner
• Thomas W. White, commissioner of personnel and standardization
• James C. McCormick, controller
• Robert L. Whipple, purchasing agent

In 1928, due to the commission's increased workload, Governor Alvan T. Fuller chose to separate the positions of chairman and budget commissioner.

The department was reorganized in 1948 and the four-person commission was replaced by a single commissioner. Thomas H. Buckley, the final chairman of the commission, was the state's first commissioner of administration and finance.

In 1969, the state legislature passed a bill introduced by Governor John A. Volpe and backed by his successor, Francis Sargent, that reorganized the state government under a cabinet-style system. The bill, which went into effect in 1971, reorganized the state government into 10 executive offices led by secretaries who served at the pleasure of the governor. The Executive Office of Administration and Finance combined the existing administration and finance operation with the department of corporations and taxation. It was described by David Nyhan as "the most powerful of the cabinet appointments" due to its "powerful budgetary control over other secretariats". Sargent appointed sitting commissioner of administration and finance Charles E. Shepard to be the first secretary of administration and finance.

Duties

The secretary is in charge of formulating the governor’s budget plan, providing guidance on the economy, and implementing the state government’s revenue and budgets. The secretary also manages numerous state administrative agencies.

Managing agencies

• Department of Revenue
• Human Resources Division
• Group Insurance Commission
• Operational Services Division
• Department of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance
• Civil Service Commission
• Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission
• Teacher's Retirement Board
• Health Policy Commission
• Developmental Disabilities Council
• Division of Capital Asset Management

Leadership

Commission of Administration and Finance members

Chairman

• Homer Loring (1922–1924)
• Thomas W. White (1924–1925)
• Charles P. Howard (1925–1937)
• Patrick J. Moynihan (1937–1941)
• Angier Goodwin (1941–1942)
• Paul W. Foster (1942–1945)
• Thomas H. Buckley (1945–1948)

Budget commissioner

• Homer Loring (1922–1924)
• Thomas W. White (1924–1925)
• Charles P. Howard (1925–1928)
• Carl A. Raymond (1928–1940)
• Charles W. Greenough (1940–1947)
• William H. Bixby (1947–1948)

Controller

• James C. McCormick (1922–1928)
• Walter S. Morgan (1928–1932)
• George E. Murphy (1932–1940)
• Walter S. Morgan (1940–1945)
• Francis X. Lang (1945–1948)

Commissioner of Personnel and standardization

• Thomas W. White (1922–1924)
• Frank H. Putnam (1924–1934)
• William H. Doyle (1934–1945)

Purchasing agent

• Robert L. Whipple (1922–1925)
• George J. Cronin (1925–1948)

Commissioners of administration and finance

Secretaries of administration and finance

References