The pizza barometer: lawmakers’ dining tabs drop when the pressure is off

Just before 7 p.m. on July 31, the State House was quiet, save for the sound of printers whirring in the House clerk’s office. 

The action had moved outside, to tables in Ashburton Park and the nearby patios of the 21st Amendment and Taco Azul, as lawmakers took their dinner breaks before another round of votes on the final day of regular formal sessions for the year. 

If this year’s more relaxed deadline meant July 31 was less of a frenzy, data from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance suggests it was still hungry work. State reps and senators posted $4,470 in spending from their campaign accounts at restaurants and bars within walking distance of the State House, according to a MASSterList review of the numbers, not including purchases at pharmacies, grocery stores or on Instacart. 

Among the most frequent choices: Florina Pizzeria, tucked beyond the State House on Derne Street, where five lawmakers spent a combined $421; and the 21st Amendment, the bar that bills itself "where Beacon Hill meets" and an old JFK haunt.

Charges totaling $283 at the 21st show up across three campaign accounts from July 31, 2026, a drop from the same day in 2024. Two years ago, 10 lawmakers posted a combined $1,397 in charges at the Bowdoin Street bar on the last day of formal sessions, describing the expenses as dinner for staff, fundraiser refreshments or meals with colleagues to discuss climate policy, housing and other legislation. 

The total campaign-account outlay to nearby restaurants was bigger in 2024, too, at $16,514. Some calendar quirks add to the discrepancy: the single largest charge two years ago was $7,151 for House Majority Leader Mike Moran to host an annual fundraising reception at Ruth's Chris Steak House. In 2026, Moran logged a similar $6,716 charge at Ruth’s Chris, but this time it was from July 30. And other lawmaker spending from July 31, 2024 could have carried over from the previous day, when the House and Senate also held formal sessions into the evening. 

But overall, the drop in spending seems to mesh with legislative leaders’ description of this July 31 as something closer to a regular business day than a policy cram session that calls for rounds of late-night takeout for staff. 

It's not a perfect way of gauging lawmaking activity — card charges don’t process immediately, some big orders might paid for in advance, plenty of end-of-session treats are brought into the building from in-district spots, and a politician could always just pay out of pocket instead of putting it on their campaign's tab.  

That said, a scan of OCPF expenditures can function like a hyperlocal version of the Pentagon pizza theory — the idea that you can track heightened military tensions by watching for spikes in delivery traffic at the Pentagon. If lawmakers are on Beacon Hill and working, odds are good they’re fueling up nearby. 

Catch anything good in your own trawling through OCPF records? Send it my way at [email protected].

10:00 | New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill will be U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton's guest at a veterans roundtable breakfast hosted by his U.S. Senate campaign. After the roundtable, Moulton and Sherrill will hold a press scrum at 11:15 a.m. Media RSVP to [email protected] for details and exact location | Arlington

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