Gavin Newsom, other California officials slated to get 4.2% raise after commission vote

Gov. Gavin Newsom, California lawmakers and other state elected officials are slated to get a 4.2% raise at year’s end after a commission voted this week to approve the raises.

The California Citizens Compensation Commission, a four-member group appointed by the governor, voted Tuesday to approve the 4.2% increase, said Government Operations Agency spokeswoman Amy Palmer.

That would bring the governor’s official salary from $209,747 to $218,556. Most lawmakers’ pay would increase from $114,877 to $119,701.

The commission has voted to increase elected officials’ pay every year from 2013 through 2019. In 2020, the Commission voted not to change officials’ pay due to economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. This year, the state is projecting a large budget surplus – $76 billion by the Newsom administration’s calculations – after the economy took less of a downturn than expected due to the pandemic.

Newsom’s office did not answer questions Thursday about whether the governor would accept the pay increase.

Last May, Newsom promised to take a 10% pay cut in solidarity with state workers who had to make similar cuts to plug a projected $54 billion state budget deficit. However, The Sacramento Bee reported in August of last year that pay data from the State Controller’s Office showed Newsom had not taken the pay cut. In response to The Bee’s reporting, Newsom sent a letter to the Controller’s Office requesting a retroactive pay cut.

Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who is running to replace Newsom in an upcoming recall election, said he thinks Newsom should decline the pay increase, which would take effect in December. He noted that many Californians are still struggling because of the pandemic, which disproportionately hurt low income people, and that the state is still trying to claw back billions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment claims.

“The governor needs to reject this today,” he said.

This story was originally published June 10, 2021 at 3:05 PM.