MARBLEHEAD — Democratic state Rep. Lori Ehrlich presented the Massachusetts Legislature with something unique.
Shortly after she won a special election in March of 2008, a colleague dropped a huge book on her desk labeled "Corporate Tax Reform." "We want you to explain it to us," she was told.
A certified public accountant with 25 years' experience, Ehrlich added valuable credentials to a body crammed with lawyers. In the midst of an economic crisis, the Legislature still has no other CPAs.
Representing Marblehead, Swampscott and a precinct in Lynn, Ehrlich eagerly ticks off a long list of bills and near-bills that she's backed and worked on, everything from tolls to texting. She has the details at her fingertips, and in a lengthy interview never loses her enthusiasm for the subject.
Arriving on Beacon Hill at a time when the House leadership was tainted by accusations of corruption, she concedes she's had to face some difficult choices dealing with a leadership suspected of corruption. At the same time, she's given up her CPA work to be a full-time representative, spending hours in Boston, at local meetings, and fielding late-night phone calls from reporters and constituents.
Meanwhile, she makes do with a single aide while earning $54,000 a year. It's a pay decrease from her work in the private sector. Yet she voices no regrets, saying with a smile, "I love the job."
At times it seems a "thankless" business, she concedes, but "when you can help someone, they are genuinely appreciative. ... I love the policy part. But the constituent (service) part is really rewarding."
Ehrlich, then Lori Lipman, attended Swampscott High and Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where she ran unsuccessfully for class vice president. She laughs now over her slogan: "Don't think twice/Lori for Vice."
Politics got to be a serious business later, when the Ehrlich family, including her husband and two daughters, moved to Marblehead. She noticed the kids tracking in soot. She suspected it was from the Salem power plant.
Alarmed, she became one of the driving forces behind HealthLink, a group dedicated to environmental causes and reducing the damage created by the Salem facility. She broadened her education, taking a master's in government from the Kennedy School. Eventually she won the seat of outgoing state Rep. Doug Petersen. Since taking office, she stresses, her vision has extended beyond environmental causes.
For example, her signature issue thus far is an effort to fight off a doubling of tolls for North Shore commuters. The $7 was meant to help pay Big Dig charges, which, in turn, were tied in with complicated financing techniques. "I used my financial background to really examine (it)," she explains.
At the same time, the public rose up against the increase. "My phone rang constantly. I had lines out the door for office hours. ... Doubling tolls was unacceptable."
The tolls were not doubled. Instead, the Legislature raised the sales tax, which Ehrlich supported as a preferable alternative.
It wasn't the only tough vote. As a Democrat, she was faced with voting for Speaker of the House Sal DiMasi — even then a man under a cloud. He has since been indicted for corruption.
"I had just arrived there," she says. "... At the time, I presumed he was innocent. In hindsight ... he obviously wasn't." She won't say she regrets the vote, but adds, "I'm known as somebody who is reasonable to work with, but I'm not afraid to cry foul."
She opposed the Democratic leadership on votes changing the procedure for filling the Senate seat of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Ehrlich gives a smile and nods when reminded the change enabled Republican Scott Brown to take the job. She also wanted to debate Republican Rep. Jeff Perry's amendment to bar illegal immigrants from state services. She opposes such spending. The measure, however, was sent to die in committee.
Ehrlich contributed to the anti-bullying bill and voted for the measure outlawing texting while driving, for divesting state funds from Iranian investments, for directing insurance companies to help kids with autism, for renaming Salem State College to Salem State University and for reforming pensions, among other things. Closer to home, she takes credit for helping to secure funds to rehab Marblehead's Village School and renovate Pleasant Street — a project voters later canceled as too expensive for the town.
An eager campaigner, Ehrlich had to fight off Republican and independent challengers in two previous elections. She approaches November aware of a changing political environment.
Republican opponent Kate Kozitza won't catch her napping, she resolves. "I'm taking her seriously."
Lori Ehrlich
Age: 47
Family: Married, two children
Occupation: Certified public accountant
Elected office: One full term, one partial term, state representative
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