COUNTYWIDE : Wright, La Follette Clash Over Raises

Soon after state Senate candidate Marian La Follette accused her opponent, Assemblywoman Cathie Wright, of accepting an annual $1,500 raise, Wright issued a statement Thursday saying she would do no such thing.

“The state Legislature needs to set an example if we are going to ask various state departments, agencies and the courts to all cut back,” Wright said in the statement.

Wright issued the statement minutes after La Follette supporters began criticizing the Simi Valley Republican assemblywoman for supposedly accepting the increase in expense money.

Wright could not be reached for comment, but John Theiss, her campaign manager, said the assemblywoman never intended to accept the $8-a-day increase in per diem expenses.

La Follette later criticized the State Board of Control for approving the raise, which increased state lawmakers’ daily allowances from a tax-free $92 to $100 per day.

The expense is provided to the 120 state lawmakers every day that the Legislature is in session.

If elected to the state Senate, La Follette said she would donate the extra allowance to the Independent Living Resource Centers in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

The centers, which have recently lost some of their state funding, help disabled people living independent lives.

“That’s really nice about Marian,” Theiss said when told of La Follette’s personal pledge.

“But Cathie wants to put the money back in the general fund where it belongs. Marian just wants to give it away again.”

La Follette defended her pledge. “A lot of money in the general fund gets lost,” she said.

“I’d rather give the money directly to the centers.”

La Follette, Wright and Fillmore Councilman Roger Campbell are competing in the June 2 Republican primary for the seat being vacated by Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita).

The winner will face Democrat Henry Phillip Starr, a Bell Canyon lawyer, in the November election.