The program, known as the Quinn bill, was under attack at the time by many taxpayer groups after a 2001 Board of Higher Education study called it an ineffective “cash cow’’ for police.
But when Romney was running for governor in 2002, he was steadfast in his support of the program. As a candidate, he showed up to the office of the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation and asked for the union’s endorsement, said Thomas Nolan, a retired lieutenant who was then vice president of the federation. “There was a firm understanding that the quid pro quo would be his agreeing to allow our Quinn bill benefits to remain intact,’’ he said. “We felt assured that once he was elected, our benefits would be intact for four years and guess what? We got what we wanted.’’
Romney’s campaign declined to answer specific questions about the Quinn bill.
“Mitt Romney has a high regard for the men and women who work in law enforcement, and he appreciates the work that they do,’’ Andrea Saul, a campaign spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.
The campaign also sent a long list of steps Romney took as governor to stand up to labor groups. For instance, he helped stop public employee unions from using state resources to solicit funds for their political action committees, and he tried to exempt small public construction projects from the state’s prevailing wage law.
But in 2003, Romney’s staunch defense of the Quinn bill surprised budget watchdogs, who had been fighting for changes in the program, which gave officers a 10 percent to 25 percent salary boost depending on their level of education.
“I believe we get our money’s worth and that we need law enforcement officers with higher education and training,’’ Romney told the Associated Press in February 2003 when he proposed a series of cuts to plug a $3.2 billion budget deficit.
Later that year, critics of the Quinn bill almost got their way when the Democratic Legislature drafted a bill that would have reined in the cost of the program. But Romney refused to sign it, saying that some of the changes would have been unfair to certain police officers.
