Source: Boston.com, by Matt Viser
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From the Globe:

Governor Deval Patrick last week quietly vetoed a pension increase for retired teachers and state workers that would have boosted benefits by $120 per year, a major stand for a governor to take against unions that helped elect him.

Deval Patrick defends his decision by stating:

I recognize that people across the Commonwealth, particularly retirees on a fixed income, are facing difficult economic times. However, I returned an earlier version of this legislation, expressing concern about adding significant costs to the Commonwealth’s already large unfunded retirement liability.

While Patrick supported the pension boosts, he did not want to commit to too much and put the state’s treasury in a hole. He preferred that the pension boosts be limited to workers who had pension amounts of $40,000 or less so that the state would save money and pension boosts would still go to those who need it. The legislature did not modify the bill and the end result is a veto. As much as I’d prefer these pension benefits, since I will be a teacher eventually, I do feel like we shouldn’t take up money from the state if it’s going to put them in a financial situation that would lead them to take that money back from us in another way, such as higher taxes.