Lawmakers Continue to Take Full Salary
State legislators not following Golden Rule
Getty Images/David Paul Morris
Some critics are questioning why Californians are being asked to cut back, while lawmakers aren't.
As state lawmakers are discussing the end of welfare-to work programs and eliminating health insurance for 1 million children from low-income families, the majority of them are still depositing their full paychecks.
Four of every five lawmakers are accepting full pay of $116,208, according to Sacramento Bee reporter Jim Sanders.
Don’t forget about the per diem each representative receives for living expenses ($35k a year) and car allowance and mileage.
Seventeen legislators have rejected the car and six have turned down per diem, according to the Bee.
It appears the Senate and Assembly have control over budgets and programs affecting millions of Californians, but can’t control the pay of their own members, which is set by an independent commission.
In May, the California Citizens Compensation Commission voted to cut lawmakers’ salary by 18-percent. But that won’t take effect immediately. The commission can’t authorize pay cuts during the lawmakers’ term. So the earliest lawmakers will see a reduction in pay would be December 2010.
A list of those lawmakers have agreed to take a cut in pay or benefits has been published online.
