I cannot speak to the MASS. pay raises but I know here the very first thing democrats did was refuse to vote against an automatic pay raise that saw them gain in the area of 6 thousand dollars per year.
They raise minimum wage by 2 grand and give themselves 6. I guess people approve of this because they keep voting them back into power here. In a way they were smart about it because they did it first thing so all will be forgotten by the time the next elections come around.
Ironically, the automatic pay raise comes from a Ballot Initiative Question, much like the one they have been violating the State Constitution to avoid voting on.