Longevity Adds to Mosk’s Paycheck

With a yearly salary of $119,769, Stanley Mosk is the highest-paid elected official in California, the result of a since-repealed law that tied judges’ pay increases to the cost of living.

He makes $21,000 more than Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird. The governor is paid $49,100 this year and will make $85,000 next year.

Mosk benefited from his longevity and a law that gave state judges salary increases pegged to the inflation rate. However, with pay hikes consistently reaching into double digits, the Legislature revised the law by placing a 5% cap on judges’ pay raises.

Under the Constitution, judges’ salaries cannot be reduced during their 12-year term. But if Mosk runs for reelection and wins, his salary would drop to the level of other associate justices, who earn $94,147.

Mosk already has lost pension benefits by remaining on the job past 70. He will receive a pension of half his pay after he retires. Judges who retire before 70 receive 75% of their pay as a pension.

Also, the spouses of deceased judges who had quit before age 70 receive half of the judge’s annual pay. Because Mosk remained on the bench past 70, his widow would receive nothing.