House · Democrat
Aaron L. Saunders
Data through FY2026; built October 19, 2026.
Residence
Belchertown
First elected
House 2022
| Session | Chamber | District | Lines | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 193rd (2023–24) | House | 7th Hampden | 2021 lines | |
| 194th (2025–26) | House | 7th Hampden | 2021 lines |
Posts and stipends
Aaron L. Saunders was paid $13,824 in leadership and committee stipends from 2025 to 2026 (2026 to date).
| Session | Posts | First year | Second year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 193rd (2023–24) | No post recorded | $0 | $0 |
| 194th (2025–26) | Vice chair, Joint Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries | $7,776 | $6,048 (to date) |
Posts: the Legislature’s leadership and roster records as compiled for this project; where those name no post, the member’s committee chair, vice-chair and ranking roles from the Legislature’s member profiles. Stipends: additional compensation in the Comptroller’s payroll data (CTHRU dataset 9ttk-7vz6), 2016–2026; 2026 is the year to date. Stipends for 2015 are not available. Base salary is not included.
The district
7th Hampden on its 2021 lines: 7 cities and towns, 42,450 residents (2020).
Ludlow · Belchertown · Shutesbury · Pelham · Petersham · New Salem · Wendell
Percentages are each place’s share of the district’s 2020 residents; for a town split between districts, the share of the town inside this one follows.
Population-weighted Fairness Index of the district’s cities and towns: 47 for all state aid and 57 for discretionary money (50 is a fair share).
Local earmarks are counted three ways. District money uses the first, clauses that name a place in the district; the second table adds organizations located in the district (placed in the district) and state facilities located there (everything placed). Three ways to count a local earmark.
| Session | District | Dollars | In corrective clauses | Per resident per budget, rank | Without corrective clauses, rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 193rd (2023–24) | 7th Hampden | $1.2M | $0 | $14.62 · 32nd of 160 | $14.62 · 32nd of 160 |
| 194th (2025–26) | 7th Hampden | $552,000 | $0 | $13.02 · 32nd of 160 | $13.02 · 31st of 160 |
District money is where enacted earmarks land, by the place a clause names, mapped to districts by 2020 population; it is not attributed to the member and does not include leadership’s base-text money that names no place. Ranks are of district money per resident among the chamber’s districts, 1 = most. “In corrective clauses” is the part carried by a Ways and Means chair’s corrective amendments, which is leadership’s money; the last column gives the per-resident figure and rank without it. Sessions are labeled by the General Court that enacted each budget. Per-resident figures use the district as drawn for each session (2011 lines through the 192nd General Court, 2021 lines from the 193rd), so they will not equal a session’s dollars divided by the resident count above.
| Session | District | Placed in the district | Per resident per budget, rank | Everything placed | Per resident per budget, rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 193rd (2023–24) | 7th Hampden | $1.2M | $14.62 · 44th of 160 | $1.2M | $14.62 · 49th of 160 |
| 194th (2025–26) | 7th Hampden | $552,000 | $13.02 · 42nd of 160 | $552,000 | $13.02 · 46th of 160 |
Budget amendments
Aaron L. Saunders sponsored 20 budget amendments in FY2017–FY2026, asking for $3.9 million in all.
Amendments sponsored
20
FY2017–FY2026 budgets
Adopted, known outcomes
76%
13 of 17
Chamber rate, same ask sizes
59%
expected at the chamber’s rates
Of the 17 with a known outcome, 13 were adopted (76%). At the chamber’s adoption rate for amendments of the same size, about ten (59%) would have been.
| Year | Amount | Enacted budget text (excerpt) | Amendment |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $350,000 | “the Westmass Area Development Corporation to offset and pay any and all costs incurred and related to, but not limited to, operational costs and…” | H4000 #1000 |
| FY2025 | $350,000 | “the Westmass Area Development Corporation to offset and pay any and all costs incurred and related to, but not limited to, operational costs and…” | H4600 #1323 |
| FY2024 | $350,000 | “offset and pay all costs incurred and related to, but not limited to, operational costs and expenses involved with the revitalization of the Ludlow…” | H3900 #479 |
| FY2026 | $150,000 | “the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Franklin Regional Council of Governments to develop a water plan in the pioneer valley to identify…” | H4000 #996 |
| FY2024 | $75,000 | “the Lupa Game Farm, Inc. in the town of Ludlow” | H3900 #477 |
Strong matches: 13 enacted items, $1.5 million (the member’s share where several amendments claim one clause). House attribution is inferred throughout, because the House adopts most amendments inside consolidated amendments.
16 outcomes are inferred by matching amendment text to the House’s consolidated amendments, because the House records most amendments only as “Consolidated A–G.” Ask size is the larger of the earmark dollars and the line-item change an amendment requests; bands: no dollar amount, under $50,000, $50,000–$250,000, $250,000–$1 million, $1–5 million, $5 million or more. Leadership’s unattributed base-text and corrective-amendment money is never assigned to a member. The comparison describes outcomes; it is not a measure of merit.
Bills sponsored
Aaron L. Saunders filed 41 bills as lead sponsor in these sessions; seven were enacted on their own. In completed sessions, 27% of their lead bills were enacted on their own, against a chamber median of 4% for the same sessions.
Most bills die in every legislature, and many policies pass inside other bills; the chamber median for the same session is the fair comparison.
| Session | Chamber | Lead bills | Enacted | Sent to study | Reported favorably, then died | No action | Pending (session open) | Enacted rate | Chamber median | Cosponsored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 193rd (2023–24) | House | 15 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 27% | 4% | 89 |
| 194th (2025–26) | House | 26 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 12%* | 1% | 64 |
Enacted bills as lead sponsor
- H3813 (193rd): An Act authorizing the town of Wendell and the town of New Salem to continue the employment of Joseph J. Cuneo · Chapter 47 of the Acts of 2023
- H3960 (193rd): An Act establishing the position of Town Manager in the town of Belchertown · Chapter 44 of the Acts of 2024
- H4008 (193rd): An Act to designate the Route 9 highway bridge between Belchertown and Ware as the Kenneth J. Iwasinski Memorial Bridge · Chapter 41 of the Acts of 2024
- H4038 (193rd): An Act relative to the planning board in the town of Shutesbury · Chapter 1 of the Acts of 2024
- H4224 (194th): An Act validating the New Salem annual town election · Chapter 158 of the Acts of 2026
- H4589 (194th): An Act authorizing the town of Ludlow to pay a certain unpaid bill · Chapter 18 of the Acts of 2026
- H5110 (194th): An Act authorizing the town of Petersham to continue the employment of police department members Richard D. Cooley Jr. and David A. Shoemaker · Chapter 236 of the Acts of 2026
Outcomes are the furthest point each bill reached in the record. “Folded into an enacted bill” means the history names the enacted bill that absorbed it. “Passed both branches; no chapter recorded” means the bill was enacted by both branches and laid before the Governor, with no chapter or veto in the history; in the 194th General Court such bills are shown as laid before the Governor (pending). The 194th General Court is in session until January 2027, so its open bills are pending, not dead, and its rates (*) are not comparable with completed sessions. Chairs and leaders control the calendar, which raises their rates. Source: malegislature.gov bill histories.
Recorded votes on accountability measures
Aaron L. Saunders cast 20 yes-or-no votes on the 20 accountability roll calls in this file (six yes, 14 no).
| Date | Measure | Vote | Chamber result |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 1, 2023 | Amendment 7.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Time to review technical/ perfecting amendments | No | Yeas 23, nays 130 |
| February 1, 2023 | Amendment 12.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Review of Consolidated Amendments | No | Yeas 23, nays 130 |
| February 1, 2023 | House rules (H2023), rules package: on adoption of the order (contested meaning) | Yes | Yeas 153, nays 0 |
| February 1, 2023 | Amendment 3.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Local Aid Resolution | No | Yeas 23, nays 130 |
| February 1, 2023 | Amendment 9.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Hearing Schedule | No | Yeas 24, nays 129 |
| February 1, 2023 | Joint rules (H2025), rules package: on adoption of the order (contested meaning) | Yes | Yeas 153, nays 0 |
| February 25, 2025 | Amendment 2.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Roll Calls | No | Yeas 23, nays 128 |
| February 25, 2025 | Amendment 3.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Formal Session Notification | No | Yeas 23, nays 128 |
| February 25, 2025 | Amendment 4.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): General Court Audits | No | Yeas 23, nays 128 |
| February 25, 2025 | Amendment 5.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Opinion of the Justices | No | Yeas 23, nays 128 |
| February 25, 2025 | Amendment 6.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Committee Polls | No | Yeas 23, nays 128 |
| February 25, 2025 | Amendment 7.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Committee Poll Notification | No | Yeas 23, nays 128 |
| February 25, 2025 | Joint rules (H2026), rules package: on adoption of the order (contested meaning) | Yes | Yeas 128, nays 23 |
| February 25, 2025 | Amendment 18.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Time to Review Legislation | No | Yeas 23, nays 128 |
| February 25, 2025 | Amendment 17.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Audit by State Auditor | No | Yeas 24, nays 127 |
| February 25, 2025 | Amendment 2.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Committee Polls | No | Yeas 23, nays 128 |
| February 25, 2025 | Amendment 3.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Committee Poll Notifications | No | Yeas 23, nays 128 |
| February 25, 2025 | House rules (H2024), rules package: on adoption of the order (contested meaning) | Yes | Yeas 128, nays 23 |
| June 26, 2025 | Joint rules (conference report) (S2545), rules package: on acceptance (contested meaning) | Yes | Yeas 147, nays 2 |
| June 3, 2026 | Engross H.5469 (public records law applied to the Legislature). Reform advocates split (contested meaning) | Yes | Yeas 125, nays 28 |
Votes marked “contested meaning” are rules-package and public-records passage votes; reform advocates were on both sides of them. Descriptions are the project’s plain summaries of each question, or the question as recorded for rules-package roll calls; the official record is on malegislature.gov. Votes are facts; no score is computed.
Campaign money in
Aaron L. Saunders’s committee reported $44,000 in contributions of $250 or more in years the member served, 2023–2026.
| Year | Contributions |
|---|---|
| 2023 | $8,200 |
| 2024 | $13,000 |
| 2025 | $6,750 |
| 2026 | $16,000 |
| Kind | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals | $31,000 | 69% |
| Political committees and PACs | $10,000 | 24% |
| Unions and associations | $3,000 | 7% |
| Employer reported | Share |
|---|---|
| A named employer | 66% |
| Self-employed | 18% |
| Retired | 8% |
| Not employed | 7% |
| Not reported or withheld | 1% |
Not counted as contributions: $17,000 in other receipts of $250 or more in the same years (candidate loans and the candidate’s own money, transfers, refunds, bank interest and aggregated small receipts).
The same committee also reported $47,000 in years the member was not in the Legislature (2020, 2022), for example while running for another office. Those receipts are not in the totals above.
| Employer or organization | Kind | Total | Contributions |
|---|---|---|---|
| MA & NORTHERN NE LABORERS' DISTRICT COUNCIL POL ACTION COMM | committee or PAC | $2,000 | 4 |
| BIG Y FOODS | individuals, by employer | $2,000 | 2 |
| WINDOW WORD OF WESTERN MASS | individuals, by employer | $2,000 | 2 |
| WINDOW WORLD OF WESTERN MASS | individuals, by employer | $2,000 | 2 |
| LINDY FARMS | individuals, by employer | $1,750 | 2 |
| USA HAULING AND RECYCLING | individuals, by employer | $1,750 | 2 |
| MASSACHUSETTS ASSOC OF INSURANCE AGENTS | individuals, by employer | $1,600 | 2 |
| PIONEER VALLEY BUILDING TRADES | union or association | $1,250 | 3 |
| RETIRED PUBLIC EMPLOYEES PAC | committee or PAC | $1,200 | 4 |
| 1199 SEIU MA PAC | committee or PAC | $1,000 | 2 |
Source: Office of Campaign and Political Finance, itemized receipts of $250 or more since 2015; OCPF filer record: Saunders Committee (CPF 15799). Individuals are grouped by the employer they reported; no individual contributor is named, and an employer field that is a person’s name is withheld. Massachusetts bars business contributions to candidates. Employer shows affiliation, not instruction.
Sources
Every figure traces to a public record.
- Massachusetts Legislature, members, districts and roll calls
- Budget amendments and enacted budgets, FY2017–FY2026
- CTHRU payroll, Office of the Comptroller (stipends)
- Office of Campaign and Political Finance
- District lines: Acts of 2011 and 2021; Census 2020 block populations
- Official profile (prior offices, occupation)
- Election statistics (first elected, residence)
Facts only: posts, stipends, sponsored amendments, enacted items, roll-call votes and district money. No score or grade is computed. Associations shown here are not evidence of cause. Method.