BURBANK - Declaring that elected officials must share the pain of California's fiscal crisis, an independent commission voted today to impose an 18 percent pay cut for statewide elected officials and all members of the Legislature.
The California Citizens Compensation Committee, which sets salaries for state officers, earlier voted in favor of a more modest 10 percent pay cuts in an April 29 meeting in Sacramento. But the action couldn't stand because the seven-member board lacked the required four votes.
But today the commission voted 5-1 to make a deeper reduction in elected officials' salaries because of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's announced plans to lay off 5,000 state workers.
They also said they were influenced by voters' overwhelming approval of Proposition 1F - a ballot measure that will ban increases in lawmaker salaries - in any budget deficit year.
"This is not an issue that's punitive," said board member John Stites. "If we're laying off 5,000 employees, we'll be laying off more. There will have to be some concessions made if we're going to make it through this."
Stites, a Los Angeles County sheriff's sergeant was one of three new board members appointed to the panel by Schwarzenegger after the board's unsuccessful attempt to cut lawmakers pay and last meeting. Schwarzenegger, who declines a state salary, declared his support for the salary reductions.
This morning in Burbank, the board acted on his wishes in a bigger way than anticipated. But the pay cuts the panel approved won't start to go into effect until December, 2010, because the California constitution prohibits state officer salaries from being cut in the middle of their terms.
The cut will drop the annual pay of a legislator from $116,208 to $95,291.
In a statement, Schwarzenegger praised the decision. "The people of California have spoken loud and clear: they want the state to live within its means and do not want any more government waste or pay raises for California's elected officials," he said. "The state's elected officials need to follow suit and cut back just as California families and businesses have in this tough economy."
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