Despite Restrictions, Legislators Still Near Top in Perks : Capitol: Voter limits and budget crunch have changed some things. But California lawmakers average $80,000 in pay and benefits, one of nation’s most generous packages.

There are many facets to life as a member of the California Legislature. The pace can be a killer, the problems seem intractable. And sometimes, everyone wants a piece of you: constituents, lobbyists, sycophants, the public and the press.

But there are also rewards: the fawning attention of lobbyists, celebrity status in a town where lawmakers get the best tables at the best Capitol restaurants. And, of course, there is the pay and perks. Even as California faces a third straight year of massive budget deficits, the state’s lawmakers receive some of the top legislative pay and perks in the land.

For starters, the minimum legislative salary is $52,500 a year. Floor leaders of both houses get more, $57,500. The Assembly Speaker (Willie Brown) and the Senate president pro tem (David A. Roberti) get the most, $63,000. (Gov. Pete Wilson’s annual salary is $120,000, but he has voluntarily reduced it 5% each year. He now receives $114,000.)

Only New York pays its rank-and-file legislators more, $57,500 annually, according to the Denver-based National Conference of State Legislatures.

But in addition to the base salary, California lawmakers earn what is known as per diem, intended to cover the costs of maintaining a second residence. They get $100 a day in expense money every day the Legislature is in session and they are present. It is tax free for members who live more than 50 miles from the Capitol, and is matched only by Alaska.

Because the Legislature generally is in session eight months each year--about 240 days--there is a potential $24,000 available to each member. The state also pays for one round-trip plane ticket back to the district per week during the session.

Together, the pay and per diem amount to about $80,000 a year.

On top of the money, there is a plethora of perks that the legislators have approved for themselves: a good pension plan for those elected before 1990, leased cars, free telephone credit cards and employees who serve at legislators’ beck and call. The value of these benefits is harder to calculate.

California lawmakers have tax-paid offices in the state Capitol and in their districts. Though the number of staffers has declined because of restrictions imposed by Proposition 140 in 1990, which required a 40% cutback in legislative expenses, the average lawmaker still employs six or seven staffers.

Veteran Assembly members get $200,000 a year for office expenses, which includes staff and operating costs; newcomers get $175,000. Senators receive differing amounts, depending upon the size of their districts and how many office personnel are authorized.

The legislative budget is about $70 million a year for the Assembly and $50 million a year for the Senate, for a total of $120 million. It is estimated that half of that sum goes for legislative and staff salaries and various perks.

Beyond what lawmakers get from the state, there are sackfuls of goodies available from lobbyists and others seeking favorable treatment in the Legislature.

Although there is a legal limit of $250 annually on the value of gifts lawmakers can receive from any one source, legislators reported a 26% increase in gifts last year over the year before, a testament to the generosity of the more than 1,000 lobbyists, companies and nonprofit groups seeking favor in the Capitol and the lawmakers’ willingness to accept the gifts.

Some perks are so ingrained that it takes an international incident to end them.

For 40 years, state legislators avoided waiting in long lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles because there was a DMV branch office in the Capitol basement that technically was also open to the public. In the wake of the New York World Trade Center bombing, the office was closed recently for security reasons at the request of the Joint Rules Committee. A few weeks ago, the DMV opened a branch office across the street from the Capitol.

Brown believes that state lawmakers are underpaid and they should receive at least $90,680 a year, the amount that goes to Municipal Court judges.

Asked why the higher salary is justified, Brown replied: “The job should pay that amount because we are handling a $50-billion budget and we work about 18 hours a day.”

Others are more critical and believe that pay and perks should be reduced.

Ruth Holton of California Common Cause said that “in these tight fiscal times, the Legislature should be tightening its belt, too. What they need to do is look at their own $120-million budget for possible cuts.”

Ted Costa of the People’s Advocate, a group started by the late Paul Gann, said the organization is considering seeking signatures to qualify a ballot initiative that would change the makeup of the Citizens Compensation Commission, established in 1990 to set legislative and state official salaries.

Costa said the commissioners should be county supervisors picked by lottery from the 58 counties instead of gubernatorial appointees, “because they would be more responsive to the wishes of the voters” regarding pay and perks.

Through the initiative process, voters have imposed reforms in how the Legislature conducts its business. Proposition 140 not only cut the Legislature’s budget, but also imposed term limits and eliminated the lawmakers’ generous pension plan.

And image-conscious lawmakers also have tried to rein themselves in. In 1990, voters approved Proposition 112, which included a series of ethical reforms proposed by the Legislature.

Those reforms included giving up honorariums for making speeches to special interest groups, which had added tens of thousands of dollars to the annual incomes of many legislators, and placing a $250 limit on gifts from most sources.

The proposition also created the compensation commission, which in 1990 set new legislative salaries.

The commission granted rank-and-file legislators a 28.6% pay hike--from $40,816 to $52,500 yearly--partially to help make up for the loss of speaking fees.

There have been no further pay raises since then because of the state’s fiscal condition.

Under Proposition 9, approved by voters in 1974 during the Watergate era, lobbyists are limited to spending no more than $10 per month per legislator on entertainment. But there are more than 1,000 lobbyists operating in the Capitol and only 120 state legislators, so it is not too difficult to get a free drink if a lawmaker wants one.

Despite the $250 limit on gifts mandated by Proposition 112, lawmakers are still able to accept an array of freebies, such as tickets to Disneyland and events including concerts, movies, the circus, Academy Awards ceremony, USC and UCLA football games, Los Angeles Dodgers baseball games and Sacramento Kings basketball games.

Some legislators manage to work in junkets to foreign countries financed by nonprofit groups under the heading of trade missions, which are exempt from the limit.

Brown and five other lawmakers went to Belgium, France and Italy last year on a trip paid for by a group called the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy.

All together, state legislators accepted more than $181,000 worth of gifts last year, up 26% from the previous year.

Life as a state lawmaker also comes with the small perks, the little conveniences that smooth the wrinkles of daily travails. There are free telephone credit cards--for use on state business only--and free parking privileges in prime, close-to-the-terminal locations at some airports, such as congested Lindbergh Field in San Diego.

And there are the state-paid sergeants-at-arms. There are about 60, including some stationed in Los Angeles, who dress in civilian clothes and do not carry guns.

Officially, their duties are to maintain order and security in both houses of the Legislature, tape-record committee hearings and serve as committee clerks.

But among their unofficial duties are running personal errands for legislators, including picking them up and dropping them off at the airport and taking their clothes to the cleaners. There has been a drop in the number of personal errands in recent years, but sergeants also know how to keep their mouths shut about such things.

Lawmakers also have it good when it comes to cars. Senators and Assembly members can choose new autos every three years. The state buys the cars and then leases them to the legislators, with the state picking up most of the cost. Included in the package is a taxpayer-provided gasoline credit card. If the car breaks down, the state pays for its repair and maintenance.

But do not expect to see your local legislator driving a Mercedes, BMW, Lexus or Infiniti. That is because the Legislature pays only for U.S. cars to avoid negative publicity from leasing foreign cars.

The Assembly pays up to $400 a month or 90% of the lease costs, whichever is less; the Senate pays up to $450. Additional costs for extras must be borne by members. Both houses charge lawmakers 10% of the lease cost to cover any personal travel.

Pennsylvania is the only other state that offers its legislators such a liberal car leasing program, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The majority of states pay mileage only when private vehicles are used for official state business.

Almost all lawmakers take advantage of the leased car program, but a few drive their own vehicles and are eligible for 15 cents a mile for state business travel expenses.

One who drives her own car is Assemblywoman Vivien Bronshvag (D-Kentfield), who also declines the per diem. “I ran as a reform candidate,” Bronshvag said, “and I have to exemplify what I ran on.”

Another lawmaker who goes against the flow and does not collect per diem is Assemblyman Phillip Isenberg (D-Sacramento). Asked why, Isenberg said: “I choose not to collect per diem. I haven’t for 11 years. This is my personal choice. I am told that other Sacramento legislators do collect per diem. And I have enormous sympathy for people who have to maintain two homes year around.”

Legislators get the same medical and dental insurance as state employees, but that is not the case with pensions, particularly for senators and Assembly members elected before 1990. Because of Proposition 140, those elected after 1990 will receive only Social Security benefits.

Their veteran counterparts, however, are a different case altogether. They were allowed to vest in their retirement system after only four years in office and can retire in 21 years, regardless of age, without having their pensions reduced.

The maximum legislative pension runs about $30,000 a year, or two-thirds of the last annual base salary. Lawmakers elected before the early 1980s pay 4% of their salaries into their pension plan; those elected after pay 8%.

Although Brown believes that state lawmakers are underpaid, he does not plan to introduce legislation calling for a pay raise anytime soon. He is well aware of the outcry that would result in view of the state’s poor fiscal condition.

“I’m practical and realistic,” Brown said.

Favorite Cars

California offers its lawmakers one of the most generous car leasing benefits in the country. The legislators can select a new car every three years, with the Assembly paying up to $400 a month or 90% of the lease costs, whichever is less, while the Senate pays up to $450. The only hitch is that they must choose U.S. cars.

ASSEMBLY vs. SENATE

* Senators tend to favor Buicks, Lincolns, Chryslers and Oldsmobiles.

* Members of the lower house favor Fords and Chevrolets--eight of the nine Chevrolets are driven by Assembly members.

* All five Jeep Cherokees are steered by Assembly members.

CADILLACS

The only two Cadillacs financed by public dollars are driven by two Assembly Republicans:

* Doris Allen of Cypress, a 1987 Cadillac Biarritz.

* Gil Ferguson of Newport Beach, a 1989 Cadillac Sedan de Ville.

NO CAR

Seven legislators, mostly Assembly members, have chosen not to order state cars. These legislators drive their own cars:

* Sen. Ken Maddy (R-Fresno)

* Assembly member Vivien Bronshvag (D-Kentfield)

* Assembly member Jan Goldsmith (R-Poway)

* Assembly member Bill Hoge (R-Pasadena)

* Assembly member Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside)

* Assembly member Grace M. Napolitano (D-Norwalk)

* Assembly member Jack O’Connell (D-Carpinteria)

The makes of car chosen most often by California lawmakers, and financed by California taxpayers, are as follows: Car: Number Ford Explorer: 12 Buick Park Avenue: 12 Lincoln Town Car: 8 Ford Taurus: 7 Ford Thurnderbird: 5 Buick Regal: 5 Jeep Cherokee: 5