5% pay cut being considered for California electeds
By Jim Sanders, Sacramento Bee
One week after Gov. Jerry Brown proposed slicing state workers’ pay by 5 percent, the Democratic governor and legislators find themselves targeted for a “share the pain” salary cut.
Members of California’s Citizens Compensation Commission said Monday that a pay-cut proposal for statewide officeholders will be on the table when the panel meets May 31.
Commissioner John Stites II said he supports a 5 percent cut for elected officeholders, from the governor to lawmakers.
“I definitely think they should take the same hit – at least,” Stites said. “Whatever happens to the people who work for you, whatever conditions they live under, it’s incumbent upon you to live under those same conditions.”
Brown projects a $15.7 billion budget shortfall for the fiscal year that begins July 1, and has proposed to bridge the gap with tax increases and program cuts, including a shift to a 38-hour, four-day workweek for state workers.
When he unveiled his revised proposal last week, Brown said his administration “would do more than what we ask state employees to do,” suggesting he and others would voluntarily take pay cuts.