Raises Denied for State Officials

Citing the state budget shortage, a salary commission Thursday refused to raise the pay of top elected California officials, including the governor, legislators and statewide officers.

It marked the second year in a row that the California Citizens Compensation Commission failed to approve increases for the state’s top officials, who are among the highest paid in the country.

Commission Chairman Claude Brinegar, a retired oil company executive, and Nicholas Bavaro, owner of a benefits management business, said they had received “rare” letters from several Assembly members who asked that salaries not be increased because of the state’s projected budget shortfall.

A pay boost, Brinegar told the commission, would be inappropriate and badly timed. All four commissioners present voted against an increase, and a raise will not be considered again until next year.

Gov. Gray Davis’ authorized salary is $175,000 a year, but he accepts only $165,000, a spokeswoman said. At $179,000 and $177,000, respectively, only New York Gov. George Pataki and Michigan Gov. John Engler are paid more.

Rank and file members of the California Legislature are paid $99,000 annually, the highest in the land.

The commission, whose members were appointed by former Gov. Pete Wilson, last approved pay raises in 2000. They totaled 6.1% for Davis and other statewide officers. Republican Party leaders in the Legislature also got a $7,000 annual pay increase to match the pay of Democratic leaders.

The commission stirred controversy in 1998 when it approved, with virtually no public notice, pay raises of 26% to 34%. At the time, state employees had gone without an increase for three years and were demonstrating daily for higher pay.