Raises Approved For California Lawmakers, Governor For Sixth Straight Year

The California citizens’ commission that sets salaries for state lawmakers and constitutional officers has approved a 3 percent pay increase.

It will be the sixth straight year of raises, following significant pay cuts during the recession.

The salaries of state-level elected officials, set by the California Citizens’ Compensation Commission, have seesawed over the last decade.

After the latest raises are taken into account, pay levels are now 22 percent higher than the recession-era low — but still 5 percent below pre-recession levels.

For example, in 2008, the governor earned $212,179. That plummeted to a low of $165,288 in 2012 before beginning to rise, bit by bit, in the years since. This year’s raise will bump the governor’s salary from $195,806 to $201,680.

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When the increases take effect in December, legislative leaders will earn $127,026 a year. Rank-and-file lawmakers will make $110,459.

By the way, a fun fact: The next highest-paid state elected officials after the governor are the attorney general and the superintendent of public instruction. Both will earn $175,182 starting in December.