Central Mass. losing some pull; Key lawmakers exiting.

Byline: Shaun Sutner

The departure of four key Central Massachusetts lawmakers at the end of the year will deprive the region's Statehouse delegation of nearly seven decades of accumulated experience.

In the process, say many who closely follow politics here, the region stands to lose an important political intangible - clout.

All of the departing legislators have distinguished themselves in one way or another.

State Sens. Robert A. Antonioni, D-Leominster, and Pamela P. Resor, D-Acton, and state Rep. Patricia A. Walrath, D-Stow, are long-serving veterans who chair influential committees.

The fourth lawmaker, state Sen. Edward M. Augustus Jr., at 42 the youngest of the group, has been elected only two terms, but he is one of only two senators who chair two committees. In addition, he has been close to Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, an alliance that is fruitful for his district.

While jockeying to succeed the legislators already has begun in earnest since they started announcing their decisions last month, few political observers see potential successors as quickly possessing anywhere near the influence and expertise of those they will follow into office.

"Here's the bottom line: We're losing four `A' players from the Legislature," said Joseph A. Ricca of Shrewsbury, a longtime Democratic political strategist. "In all likelihood, they'll be replaced by `B' players until they get some seniority."

Mr. Antonioni, 50, in particular, is considered one of the most expert education policy minds in the Legislature.

A moderate, he has run the Joint Committee on Education since 1996, four years after he was elected to the Senate. In that post, he guided the early years of the landmark Education Reform Act of 1993, the overhaul of special education rules later in the decade, and the replacement of bilingual education with English immersion in 2003.

In recent years, he has been joined on the committee by Mr. Augustus, who represents the eastern and southern sections of Worcester, in addition to six suburban towns, as vice chairman. The duo has been a potent force for education funding, especially for early childhood education, said William J. Eddy, a Worcester city councilor and executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Day Care Agencies.

Last year, Mr. Augustus, a former Worcester School Committee member and federal education official, helped push through a $13 million infusion for abused and neglected children.

"That couldn't have happened without Ed Augustus," Mr. Eddy said.

As for Ms. Resor, 65, she championed environmental and open space issues - following in the footsteps of the senator she succeeded, former state environmental secretary Robert A. Durand of Marlboro - before "green" issues became trendy.

Ms. Resor spent nine years in the state House of Representatives before succeeding Mr. Durand and serving nine years in the Senate, where she has chaired the Committee on the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture for most of her tenure.

Mrs. Walrath, 67, has held her seat for 24 years. The district, which also includes Bolton and Hudson, tends to be conservative, and the veteran lawmaker has reflected the mood of her communities by serving as a staunch fiscal watchdog.

A former systems analyst and math teacher, Mrs. Walrath mastered the arcane details of the state budget and was one of former House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran's floor leaders and top budget architects. The current speaker, Salvatore F. DiMasi, D-Boston, kept her on as House chairman of the influential Committee on Health Care Financing.

In that role, Mrs. Walrath worked out the financial details of the state's first-in-the-nation universal health care law. State Rep. Vincent A. Pedone, D-Worcester, a House colleague of Mrs. Walrath, also credited her with devising the complex funding scheme under which the Legislature in 2006 approved plans for a new $250 million psychiatric hospital in Worcester to replace two antiquated state hospitals.

"She was supportive of the concept and we had to work together as a commonwealth to see if we could afford to do it," Mr. Pedone said. "She came to the conclusion that we couldn't afford not to do it."

Contact Shaun Sutner by e-mail at [e-mail].

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: (1) Mr. Antonioni (2) Mr. Augustus (3) Ms. Resor (4) Mrs. Walrath