Calif. lawmakers, governor to get raise
By Jeremy B. White, Sacramento Bee
Gov. Jerry Brown, California lawmakers and other elected officials will be getting a 2 percent raise this year.
Pointing to California’s firmer fiscal footing, a panel that sets salaries for elected officials voted 4-1 Friday to enact a pay boost. Starting Dec. 1, the raise will add $1,906 to lawmakers’ annual $95,291 salary, giving them a yearly pay of $97,197. The raise for Brown will be $3,480, taking him to $177,467 a year.
Years of yawning budget deficits have given way to a surplus, allowing California to pass an on-time budget this year with minimal friction. Those sunnier circumstances framed the debate among members of the California Citizens Compensation Commission and guided Friday’s decision to hike pay for the second consecutive year.
“It would be hard to argue, I believe, that the state is not better off financially today than it was a few years ago,” said commissioner Scott Somers, a corporate executive and compensation expert. “If they get tarred when times are tough,” he added in reference to elected officials, “they ought to at least get some credit when things are improving.”