May 21, 2008

Governor: 'Good idea' to block legislators' raises

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday it's a "good idea" for the state to block pay raises for legislators in years the state faces an operating deficit.

The proposal, Senate Constitutional Amendment 23, would also block raises for state constitutional officers. The Senate Rules Committee is scheduled to review the proposal today at 1:30 p.m.

The governor refuses his $212,179 annual salary, explaining he doesn't mind the proposal "because as you know, if we increase my salary by 100 percent, it's still zero."

Legislators who are not house leaders earn $116,208 each year, in addition to about $30,000 in per diem payments. The state salary-setting commission inquired in April about reducing legislative pay this year in light of the state's budget deficit, which has now reached $15.2 billion.

"I think no one should increase their budgets, no one should increase their salaries or anything," Schwarzenegger said. "I think we've got to start learning how to live within our means rather than promising the world to people and not being able to keep it."

The governor answered questions Wednesday after speaking at the 82nd annual California Chamber of Commerce Host Breakfast in downtown Sacramento. As is usually the case at the chamber breakfast, the governor's speech was a quick assessment of his own tenure, with an emphasis on what he's done to help the business community.

During the speech and in a Q&A with reporters afterward, the governor tried to emphasize that his plan to get $15 billion out of the California Lottery over the next three years is neither exotic nor risky. He said immediate public disappointment in his plan was simply a matter of voters not understanding the proposal.

"I think that the people of California, if you ask them, they don't know yet that we don't take any risks," Schwarzenegger said. "It is not borrowing, and it will help us with our budget because we are short of revenues because we don't have a rainy-day fund set aside."

Of course, not everyone agrees with the governor's risk assessment, including state Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill.

Posted by Kevin Yamamura on May 21, 2008 12:49 PM