House · Democrat

John W. Scibak

Former member, served 2015–2018 in the sessions covered here · 2nd Hampshire

Data through FY2026; built October 19, 2026.

Residence

South Hadley

First elected

House 2002

Prior public offices

South Hadley Board of Selectmen (1991-2002); Town of South Hadley Town Meeting Member (1990-2002)

Occupation

Legislator

Left office

did not seek reelection in 2018 (not a candidate in the 2018 primary or general election for this seat); term ended January 2, 2019

Seats held, General Courts 189–194 (the FY2017–FY2026 budgets)
Session	Chamber	District	Lines	Note
189th (2015–16)	House	2nd Hampshire	2011 lines
190th (2017–18)	House	2nd Hampshire	2011 lines

Posts and stipends

John W. Scibak was paid $37,500 in leadership and committee stipends from 2016 to 2018.

Posts and stipends by session (stipends by calendar year)
Session	Posts	First year	Second year
189th (2015–16)	Chair, Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development	not available	$7,500
190th (2017–18)	Chair, Joint Committee on Higher Education	$15,000	$15,000

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

2nd Hampshire on its 2011 lines: 4 cities and towns, 42,573 residents (2020).

South Hadley 43% · Easthampton 38% · Hadley 13% · Granby 7%, 47% of the town

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: 41 for all state aid and 67 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)	2nd Hampshire	$122,000	$0	$2.85 · 75th of 160	$2.85 · 75th of 160
190th (2017–18)	2nd Hampshire	$681,000	$0	$8.00 · 14th of 160	$8.00 · 12th 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.

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)	2nd Hampshire	$122,000	$2.85 · 93rd of 160	$122,000	$2.85 · 94th of 160
190th (2017–18)	2nd Hampshire	$681,000	$8.00 · 33rd of 160	$681,000	$8.00 · 37th of 160

Budget amendments

John W. Scibak sponsored 56 budget amendments in FY2017–FY2026, asking for $50.7 million in all.

Amendments sponsored

FY2017–FY2026 budgets

Adopted, known outcomes

43%

16 of 37

Chamber rate, same ask sizes

61%

expected at the chamber’s rates

Of the 37 with a known outcome, 16 were adopted (43%). At the chamber’s adoption rate for amendments of the same size, about 22 (61%) would have been.

Largest enacted items matched to an amendment John W. Scibak filed (strong text matches)
Year	Amount	Enacted budget text (excerpt)	Amendment
FY2018	$250,000	“a culinary arts program at South Hadley High School to provide vocational training to students”	H3600 #86
FY2019	$90,000	“the juvenile firesetter intervention and prevention program in Hampshire and Franklin Counties, the town of Athol, and the city of Holyoke”	H4400 #325
FY2019	$75,000	“the Hadley Senior Center”	H4400 #236
FY2019	$75,000	“the South Hadley Senior Center”	H4400 #238
FY2019	$75,000	“improvements to Millside Park in the City of Easthampton”	H4400 #259

Strong matches: 6 enacted items, $615,000 (the member’s share where several amendments claim one clause). A further four weaker text matches are not listed; attribution is inferred from amendment text and is less certain there. House attribution is inferred throughout, because the House adopts most amendments inside consolidated amendments.

35 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

John W. Scibak filed 128 bills as lead sponsor in these sessions; six were enacted on their own. In completed sessions, 5% of their lead bills were enacted on their own, against chamber medians of 6% to 7% 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	No action	Enacted rate	Chamber median	Cosponsored
189th (2015–16)	House	70	1	1	49	18	1	1%	6%	156
190th (2017–18)	House	58	5	2	32	19	0	9%	7%	330

Enacted bills as lead sponsor

H4379 (189th): An Act authorizing the change of use of certain park land in the town of South Hadley · Chapter 206 of the Acts of 2016
H4403 (190th): An Act establishing a sick leave bank for Bethany Ryan, an employee of the Hampshire County Sheriff’s Department · Chapter 232 of the Acts of 2018
H4750 (190th): An Act relative to the position of appointed tax collector in the town of Hadley · Chapter 345 of the Acts of 2018
H4751 (190th): relative to the position of appointed treasurer in the town of Hadley · Chapter 346 of the Acts of 2018
H4957 (190th): An Act establishing a sick leave bank for John Taylor Woodward, an employee of the Hampshire County Sheriff's Department · Chapter 396 of the Acts of 2018
H4964 (190th): An Act relative to elections for fire district number 1 in the town of South Hadley · Chapter 407 of the Acts of 2018

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

John W. Scibak cast 21 yes-or-no votes on the 21 accountability roll calls in this file (four yes, 17 no).

Roll calls on rules, audits, public records, term limits and pay
Date	Measure	Vote	Chamber result
January 25, 2017	Recommit the 2017 pay-raise bill (H.58) to Ways and Means	No	Yeas 35, nays 125
January 25, 2017	Amd 3 (Lyons): legislators' raise not effective until next General Court	No	Yeas 40, nays 120
January 25, 2017	Amd 5 (Lyons): cap the increases at 4%	No	Yeas 36, nays 124
January 25, 2017	Engrossment of the pay-raise bill (stipend increases)	Yes	Yeas 116, nays 44
January 26, 2017	Enactment of the pay-raise bill	Yes	Yeas 116, nays 43
February 2, 2017	Override of Gov. Baker's veto of the pay-raise bill	Yes	Yeas 116, nays 43
February 2, 2017	Amendment 1.0 (Geoff Diehl): Text of the proposed House amendment (Representative Diehl) to the House Bill relative to Rank and File (House, No. 2017)	No	Yeas 34, nays 124
February 2, 2017	Sustain the Chair's ruling (point of order, Mr. Mark) against Diehl amd 2, Speaker term limits	Yes	Yeas 123, nays 33
February 2, 2017	Amendment 3.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): 24 Hour Time Frame for Bills to Be Acted On	No	Yeas 35, nays 124
February 2, 2017	Amendment 4.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Access to Information	No	Yeas 35, nays 124
February 2, 2017	Amendment 9.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Emergency Scheduling of Hearings	No	Yeas 38, nays 121
February 2, 2017	Amendment 10.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Equal Representation on Ethics Committee	No	Yeas 35, nays 124
February 2, 2017	Amendment 15.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Inoculators	No	Yeas 37, nays 122
February 2, 2017	Amendment 16.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Local Aid Resolution	No	Yeas 38, nays 121
February 2, 2017	Amendment 27.0 (James J. Lyons, Jr.): Defining and Limiting Informal Session	No	Yeas 34, nays 124
February 2, 2017	Amendment 20.0 (Shaunna L. O'Connell): Public access to House financial accounts audits	No	Yeas 34, nays 125
February 2, 2017	Amendment 21.0 (Shaunna L. O'Connell): Public access to committee votes	No	Yeas 41, nays 118
February 2, 2017	Amendment 5.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Local Aid Resolution	No	Yeas 37, nays 122
February 2, 2017	Amendment 11.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Committee Roll Calls on Website	No	Yeas 38, nays 121
February 2, 2017	Amendment 13.0 (Bradley H. Jones, Jr.): Reports of Conference Filing Deadline	No	Yeas 37, nays 122
February 2, 2017	Amendment 14.0 (Shaunna L. O'Connell): Public access to committee votes	No	Yeas 38, nays 121

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

John W. Scibak’s committee reported $29,000 in contributions of $250 or more in years the member served, 2015–2018.

By year (years in the Legislature)
Year	Contributions
2015	$11,000
2016	$8,300
2017	$9,100
2018	$500

By kind of contributor
Kind	Total	Share
Political committees and PACs	$21,000	73%
Individuals	$7,600	26%
Unions and associations	$250	1%

Individuals’ money by the employer they reported
Employer reported	Share
A named employer	70%
Self-employed	11%
Retired	4%
Homemaker or at home	3%
Not reported or withheld	12%

Not counted as contributions: $9,844 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).

Largest employers and organizations
Employer or organization	Kind	Total	Contributions
MA & NORTHERN NE LABORERS' DISTRICT COUNCIL POL ACTION COMM	committee or PAC	$1,500	3
MA CORRECTION OFFICERS FEDERATED UNION PAC M C O F U PAC	committee or PAC	$1,500	3
RETIRED PUBLIC EMPLOYEES PAC	committee or PAC	$1,500	3
EAR NOSE AND THROAT SURGEONS OF WESTERN NEW ENGLAND	individuals, by employer	$1,500	6
MA ASSOC OF REALTORS POL ACTION COMM - MA RPAC	committee or PAC	$1,200	3
VOICE OF TEACHERS FOR EDUCATION VOTE POL ACTION COMM	committee or PAC	$1,050	3
1199 SEIU MA PAC	committee or PAC	$1,000	2
MA POLICE ASSOC POL ACTION COMM	committee or PAC	$1,000	2
NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS PAC	committee or PAC	$1,000	2
RICHARD E NEAL MASSACHUSETTS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE	committee or PAC	$1,000	2

Source: Office of Campaign and Political Finance, itemized receipts of $250 or more since 2015; OCPF filer record: Scibak Committee (CPF 13933). 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.