A proposed state law requiring the Legislature to post the salaries of lawmakers and their employees quietly has stalled in the Senate.

Failure to act on Assembly Bill 2064 sends the wrong message to voters, said Assemblywoman Alyson Huber, who crafted the measure.

"That's exactly what we should be avoiding, having a different rule apply to the Legislature than would apply to every other level of government," said Huber, D-El Dorado Hills.

Not only did Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg say through a spokesman Friday that he is willing to disclose Senate salary information on the Internet – he proved it later that afternoon by posting the names and pay of employees.

Huber's response?

Not nearly good enough.

AB 2064 would require that, in addition to the Legislature, salary information must be posted for constitutional offices – such as governor – and for cities, counties, school districts and joint powers agencies.

Huber's measure was sparked by public anger over disclosure that city officials in the tiny Los Angeles County city of Bell were receiving six-figure salaries.

Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo was paid about $800,000, for example, while Police Chief Randy Adams made $457,000 and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia, $376,288, according to a legislative analysis of AB 2064. All have resigned.

Nathan Barankin, Steinberg's spokesman, said the salaries of legislative employees have always been public records and have been available on private websites for years.

"The bill's not dead, the concept's not dead," Barankin said of Huber's push to post compensation on legislative websites. "It's not a matter of whether – it's how."

Steinberg wants to honor a long-standing practice that the Legislature order itself to do something through its own rules, rather than through legislation that could not take effect unless signed by the governor, Barankin said.

"The governor has enough to worry about managing the executive branch rather than having him responsible for managing the legislative branch, too," Barankin said.

But Huber said there is a fundamental difference between passing a law and adopting a rule: ease in eliminating it later.

"They can undo (a rule) when people aren't looking," she said.

Barankin countered that a law also can be stricken by the Legislature.

Huber applauded the Senate's posting of staff salaries Friday but said passage of AB 2064 is vital "so we don't have people just posting things once and then never doing it again."

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