No Salad Days for Sunshine State Lawmakers

The California state budget is expected to have a $34.6 billion deficit by the end of the next fiscal year. Lawmakers are talking about tax hikes and spending cuts. But one area where they aren't cutting back is their own budgets. The legislature's own spending is expected to jump an additional 4 percent in the upcoming budget, boosting it past $200 million, with almost three-quarters spent on salaries. The San Jose Mercury News found that more than 150 of the 2,200 legislative aides now make at least $100,000. More than 30 make more than $125,000—the average pay for a lawmaker. And 19 elite aides make more each year than the lieutenant governor, who earns $131,000. Overall, the average pay for an aide rose last year from $48,000 to $50,000 in the Assembly, and from nearly $56,000 to more than $58,000 in the Senate. By comparison, more than 200,000 other state employees have not received a raise since 2000.