Senate · Democrat

Benjamin B. Downing

Former member, served 2015–2016 in the sessions covered here · Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden

Data through FY2026; built October 19, 2026.

Residence

Pittsfield

First elected

Senate 2006

Prior public offices

Co-Chair of the Leadership Council to End Chronic Homelessness in Berkshire County; Advisory Council of the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center; Honorary Member, Advisory Committee on Workforce Development for Homeless Families

Occupation

Legislator/Public Service

Left office

did not seek reelection in 2016 (not a candidate in the 2016 primary or general election for this seat); term ended January 4, 2017

Seats held, General Courts 189–194 (the FY2017–FY2026 budgets)
Session	Chamber	District	Lines	Note
189th (2015–16)	Senate	Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden	2011 lines

Posts and stipends

No stipend payments to Benjamin B. Downing are recorded for 2016–2026.

Posts and stipends by session (stipends by calendar year)
Session	Posts	First year	Second year
189th (2015–16)	Chair, Senate Committee on Redistricting; Vice chair, Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight	not available	not available

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

Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden on its 2011 lines: 52 cities and towns, 152,834 residents (2020).

Pittsfield 29% · North Adams 8% · Adams 5% · Williamstown 5% · Great Barrington 5% · Dalton 4% · Lee 4% · Lenox 3% · Sheffield 2% · Cheshire 2% · Lanesborough 2% · Williamsburg 2% · Huntington 1% · Stockbridge 1% · Becket 1% · Hinsdale 1% · Shelburne 1% · Buckland 1% · Conway 1% · Ashfield 1% · Clarksburg 1% · Otis 1% · Westhampton 1% · New Marlborough under 1% · Richmond under 1% · Egremont under 1% · West Stockbridge under 1% · Chester under 1% · Blandford under 1% · Worthington under 1% · Chesterfield under 1% · Charlemont under 1% · Monterey under 1% · Sandisfield under 1% · Goshen under 1% · Windsor under 1% · Cummington under 1% · Peru under 1% · Hancock under 1% · Heath under 1% · Florida under 1% · Savoy under 1% · Plainfield under 1% · Washington under 1% · Alford under 1% · Tyringham under 1% · Rowe under 1% · Middlefield under 1% · Hawley under 1% · New Ashford under 1% · Mount Washington under 1% · Monroe under 1%

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: 53 for all state aid and 70 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.

District money, first measure: enacted earmarks in clauses naming a place in the district, by session (district money, not the member’s)
Session	District	Dollars	In corrective clauses	Per resident per budget, rank	Without corrective clauses, rank
189th (2015–16)	Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden	$50,000	$0	$0.33 · 40th of 40	$0.33 · 40th of 40

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.

The same district on the other two measures, by session (enacted; includes any corrective-clause money)
Session	District	Placed in the district	Per resident per budget, rank	Everything placed	Per resident per budget, rank
189th (2015–16)	Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden	$450,000	$2.94 · 31st of 40	$450,000	$2.94 · 31st of 40

Budget amendments

Benjamin B. Downing sponsored 15 budget amendments in FY2017–FY2026, asking for $2.8 million in all.

Amendments sponsored

FY2017–FY2026 budgets

Adopted, known outcomes

53%

8 of 15

Chamber rate, same ask sizes

41%

expected at the chamber’s rates

Of the 15 with a known outcome, eight were adopted (53%). At the chamber’s adoption rate for amendments of the same size, about six (41%) would have been.

Largest enacted items matched to an amendment Benjamin B. Downing filed (strong text matches)
Year	Amount	Enacted budget text (excerpt)	Amendment
FY2017	$150,000	“the Berkshire county education task force to establish a plan of action to develop a sustainable and efficient countywide public education system”	S4 #238
FY2017	$150,000	“Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority for the purpose of coordinating homeless shelters and safety net services in Berkshire county”	S4 #845
FY2017	$100,000	“the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region”	S4 #1120
FY2017	$50,000 (shared two ways)	“the Franklin and Hampshire county CASA program”	S4 #1003

Strong matches: 4 enacted items, $450,000 (the member’s share where several amendments claim one clause).

For 1 amendments the sponsor is the first mover named in the amendment text, because the Legislature’s record listed none. 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

Benjamin B. Downing filed 49 bills as lead sponsor in these sessions; eight were enacted on their own. In completed sessions, 16% 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.

Bills filed as lead sponsor, by session and outcome
Session	Chamber	Lead bills	Enacted	Folded into an enacted bill	Sent to study	Reported favorably, then died	Reported adversely or withdrawn	No action	Enacted rate	Chamber median	Cosponsored
189th (2015–16)	Senate	49	8	4	11	11	7	8	16%	4%	84

Enacted bills as lead sponsor

S1631 (189th): An Act designating certain lands in the town of Adams for conservation and public recreational purposes · Chapter 186 of the Acts of 2016
S1927 (189th): An Act authorizing the town of Dalton to grant an additional license for the sale of all alcoholic beverages not to be drunk on the premises · Chapter 6 of the Acts of 2016
S1941 (189th): An Act authorizing the town of Middlefield to continue the employment of police chief Thomas Austin · Chapter 47 of the Acts of 2016
S1978 (189th): An Act authorizing the town of Mount Washington to establish, own and operate broadband infrastructure and services and to issue bonds or notes therefor · Chapter 7 of the Acts of 2016
S2281 (189th): An Act authorizing the town of Windsor to reinstate Police Chief Thomas J. Barnaby · Chapter 434 of the Acts of 2016
S2322 (189th): An Act providing for recall elections in the town of Hawley · Chapter 437 of the Acts of 2016
S2412 (189th): An Act repealing the Supplemental Reserve Fund in the city of Pittsfield · Chapter 336 of the Acts of 2016
S693 (189th): An Act relative to the membership of Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority · Chapter 173 of the Acts of 2016

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

No recorded votes for Benjamin B. Downing on the accountability measures in this file.

The file covers selected roll calls on the Legislature’s own rules, audits, public records, term limits and pay, 2017–2026.

Campaign money in

Benjamin B. Downing’s committee reported $41,000 in contributions of $250 or more in years the member served, 2015–2015.

By year (years in the Legislature)
Year	Contributions
2015	$41,000

By kind of contributor
Kind	Total	Share
Individuals	$34,000	85%
Political committees and PACs	$6,250	15%

Individuals’ money by the employer they reported
Employer reported	Share
A named employer	59%
Self-employed	30%
Retired	1%
Not reported or withheld	10%

The same committee also reported $341,000 in years the member was not in the Legislature (2021), for example while running for another office. Those receipts are not in the totals above.

Largest employers and organizations
Employer or organization	Kind	Total	Contributions
GREYLOCK WESTERN MA CAMPING ASSOCIATION	individuals, by employer	$1,500	3
NIXON PEABODY	individuals, by employer	$1,500	6
SOLECT ENERGY	individuals, by employer	$1,500	3
BEACON HEALTH STRATEGIES	individuals, by employer	$1,000	1
CHARLES RIVER VENTURES	individuals, by employer	$1,000	1
HARVARD	individuals, by employer	$1,000	1
MASS	individuals, by employer	$1,000	1
SASAKI ASSOCIATES	individuals, by employer	$1,000	1
SOLDIER ON	individuals, by employer	$1,000	2
WAM GP	individuals, by employer	$1,000	1

Source: Office of Campaign and Political Finance, itemized receipts of $250 or more since 2015; OCPF filer record: Downing Committee (CPF 14515). 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.

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.