Brown, lawmakers subject to pay cut, too

SACRAMENTO, June 1 (UPI) -- California Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers will take the same 5 percent pay cut the governor imposed on other public employees, a state commission ruled.

The Citizens Compensation Commission, created by California voters to set salaries and benefits for specific elected officials, approved the pay reduction for 132 officials two weeks after Brown proposed the cut, imposed through a reduction in the work week, for other state employees.

Commission chief Charles Murray said Brown and lawmakers should be subject to the same pay cut even if it represents only a small reduction in the nearly $16 billion budget deficit, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

The panel's action will save the state about $657,000 a year, the Times said.

"I think we will send a message that we have to get out of this hole," Murray said. "Everybody has to sacrifice."

The pay reduction will kick in Dec. 3.

Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, a Democrat representing Los Angeles, said the commission's move was "unfortunate," noting it cut 18 percent from the officials' pay three years ago when other state workers were furloughed.