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"It’s odd that somebody could have served so long in the legislature — Sal has served 26 years in the legislature — and not have an agenda that they want to achieve," said one House member. "I know there’s friction between the Speaker and the Senate president, or between their offices, on a couple of things," added a Senate source. "I know [Travaglini’s office] is frustrated. Nothing’s getting done. The Speaker’s office wanted to focus on the budget, but nothing else is getting out."

This may be overstating the matter. Last week, for example, DiMasi and Travaglini made a joint appearance to announce an $80 million energy bill aimed at mitigating skyrocketing fuel costs this winter — a substantive piece of legislation that deals with a pressing problem and that was filed in a timely manner. "If I’m really optimistic," says one legislative source who is moderately critical of DiMasi, "I say, ‘Wow, the Speaker and the Senate president just scooped Romney on the most important issue facing the commonwealth and the nation today.’ " (The governor has his own energy bill, which is slated for release sometime next month.)

Still, the fact remains that DiMasi’s detractors in both the House and the Senate seem eager to make their sentiments known. For now, this is simply a minor nuisance for the Speaker. But if, as the legislature heads into an extremely busy two-month stretch, these whispered criticisms build in volume, DiMasi’s ability to win key legislative victories could be compromised.

For the time being, however, DiMasi seems unconcerned. In a recent interview with the Phoenix, he was briskly dismissive when asked about criticisms of his legislative pace. "I disagree with that," he answered. "I’ll match this year against any other year that we’ve had."

"It all depends on who’s saying it," DiMasi added. "Because if there’s something that people want that we’re not paying attention to, that we didn’t prioritize, they’re going to say we’re moving too slowly." The Speaker then proceeded to list the House’s achievements under his watch: on-time filing of the budget; elimination of outside sections in the budget; passage of bills dealing with stem-cell research, housing, and bonding; and defeat of the proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

On budgetary matters, meanwhile, DiMasi made it clear that he wants to protect the House’s role as the legislature’s financial conscience. It’s been suggested that — the House’s lean FY ’06 budget notwithstanding — DiMasi may really be a free-spending liberal and that, once he’s shored up support among his membership, he’ll loosen the fiscal reins. According to DiMasi, this theory is off-base. "I’ve lived through two recessions in this House," he says. "I don’t mind spending money on social services, et cetera, when we can afford to do so. But I don’t want to spend money we cannot afford to spend, and I don’t want to put us in a position where we’re fiscally irresponsible."

As for his relationship with Travaglini, whom he’s known for more than 20 years, DiMasi insists that it’s rock-solid. "We’ve had a very good relationship since he was my city councilor," DiMasi assured me. (Travaglini joined the Boston City Council in 1983, when DiMasi was a second-term state rep.) "You could say that the uniqueness of the relationship bodes well for the workings of the Senate and House together.... We still disagree, don’t get me wrong — but it’s a very honest, straightforward discussion."

This may be more than mere rhetorical backslapping. Several sources who know both men say their relationship resembles that of two brothers, with genuine affection tinged by a healthy dose of competition. And yet — judging from DiMasi’s successful push to eliminate the aforementioned outside sections of the budget — they’re able to keep this competition in check. Outside sections have long been a way for senators to circumvent the House’s superior numbers. (State representatives outnumber their senate counterparts, 160-40, and control most joint committees). By acquiescing to DiMasi on this particular point, Travaglini and his colleagues basically agreed to circumscribe their own power. This wasn’t a selfless move by the Senate: the legislature runs on traded favors, and now DiMasi owes Travaglini several. Still, a shift like this would never have occurred in the era of Finneran and former Senate president Tom Birmingham, who turned the State House into a battlefield for their competing political philosophies.

At the moment, rumors of tension between the Speaker and Senate president should probably be considered against this backdrop. And they should be treated with a measure of skepticism. After all, the rivalry between the House and Senate is hundreds of years old, and will remain long after DiMasi and Travaglini are gone. Even if the two men were brothers, or brothers-in-law, or best friends, that probably wouldn’t keep their respective members from trading intercameral barbs.

That said, check back in two months. Right now, the legislature is slated to adjourn for the year on November 16. The economic-development debate is scheduled for October 6. DiMasi has a major health-care speech scheduled the next day, at the Blue Cross–Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts; come November, he told the Phoenix, the House — which is still analyzing the morass of competing health-care proposals filed by the Senate, the governor, and the advocacy group Health Care for All — is supposed to offer its own, long-awaited piece of health-care legislation. DiMasi says he’ll call the health-care conference committee back into session if no health-care bill is passed by then — but even so, this timetable leaves a dauntingly small window of time for lawmakers to hunker down in conference and come up with a compromise bill. If they pull it off, it’ll put an exclamation point on a charmed legislative year. If not, some real sparks may start to fly.

Adam Reilly can be reached at areilly[a]phx.com.