Pay hikes granted to more than 120 Assembly employees were rescinded Wednesday amid an uproar that threatened to affect balloting in next month's election.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass said she did not want the raises to be used as "some sort of club against the responsible, urgently needed ballot initiatives Californians will be voting on."

"In hindsight, this was really becoming a distraction," Bass said.

Voters will cast ballots May 19 on a handful of measures to help ease the state's fiscal mess, including Proposition 1A, which would extend new tax increases in return for a limit on state spending.

Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which is helping to lead the fight against that controversial measure, characterized Bass' announcement as "tantamount to an apology, but it doesn't erase the act."

"It's hard to unring the bell," Coupal said of voter reaction.

Bass, D-Los Angeles, canceled the raises after The Bee and other media outlets disclosed the pay hikes, nearly all of them 5 percent, given to numerous aides in leadership wings of both parties.

Eighty Democratic aides received pay increases April 1, and 44 Republican employees saw their paychecks rise, most of them in February, said Assembly administrator Jon Waldie.

No Assembly announcement was made when the salary hikes were enacted, and Bass had the authority to approve them without a vote.

The Assembly speaker emphasized Wednesday that the raises targeted only about 8 percent of Assembly employees.

Cumulatively, the pay hikes would have cost the state about $550,000, Waldie said.

Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines supported Bass' decision to rescind the raises and said that in hindsight they were a mistake.

Californians are hurting, struggling to keep their homes and jobs, and the raises sent the wrong message, Villines said.

"I think it was bad timing, and I think we should as managers have made a better decision," Villines said. "We didn't, but we're fixing it today."

The Clovis Republican vowed to stand "in the trenches" with his aides by voluntarily cutting his own $133,639 salary by 5 percent – nearly $6,700.

Bass said the raises obscured the fact that the Assembly has tightened its belt and streamlined its operation.

The Assembly pledged months ago to share the pain of the recession by diverting $15 million – about 10 percent of its budget – to help process unemployment claims, fight wildfires, conduct Capitol tours and operate a Capitol Fellows program for students.

"One of my top priorities is making sure I manage the people's institution effectively," Bass said. "So when the people say that despite the cuts and savings we have achieved, they still don't approve of the timing or the appearance of these increases, then I certainly don't want that to detract from the job we have to do."

No decision has been made on whether to reconsider the issue after the May 19 election, Bass said.

"We might decide that the raises are frozen all year. We might decide that there are additional measures that we do to cut back," she said.

Villines said he could not justify reinstituting the raises while the state budget is a mess – facing a projected multibillion-dollar shortfall next year.

"Until we can get balance, until we can get a budget that's working, we just can't be doing this at all," Villines said of raising pay.

Hector Barajas, spokesman for the California Republican Party, said legislative leaders were wise to reverse course and predicted the pay hikes will be long forgotten by the May 19 special election.

Voters will applaud Wednesday's recision and "as they go on to tomorrow or the next day, they'll say, 'OK, another item averted, now it's time to focus on the next issue,' " Barajas said.

But Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University, called the pay flap a "PR fiasco, a disaster, at a time when the state is looking for every nickel it can find."

Undecided voters in next month's election could be affected, he said.

"They're quick to criticize and slow to forget when they see these kinds of gaffes in government," Gerston said.

Bass' decision affects only raises given to leadership staff this year, not to aides hired by individual Assembly members.

Since Jan. 1, amid the state's budget crisis, more than 90 Assembly staff members received pay increases that were not affected by Wednesday's recision, records show.

Bass said no decision has been made on whether to cancel their raises as well.

Lawmakers are not personally affected because their pay is set by an independent commission.

Assembly pay is $116,208 for members and $133,639 for Bass and Villines. Members also are eligible for about $35,000 in per diem pay for living expenses.

Call Jim Sanders, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5538.