The Post With The Most Lieutenant Governor’s Job Gets Plenty Of Interest

Want an easy job that pays well? Try lieutenant governor, a deep velvet berth paying $62,700 a year for presiding over the Senate and hosting dignitaries.

No wonder candidates are filing in droves to win the office in 1996.

Moves to eliminate the job in years past have never worked, and aren’t expected to. But even some candidates running for the post admit either its salary or responsibilities ought to change.

“The salary is fair if you are willing to do something for it,” said Sen. Brad Owen, D-Shelton, a candidate for the post in 1996.

Sen. Ann Anderson, R-Acme, chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, filed her candidacy Wednesday.

Anderson said her experience as a junior high school teacher has trained her well for presiding over the Senate.

Rep. Greg Fisher, D-Normandy Park, has resigned his House seat to run for the post.

So why is the job so popular?

“It’s about a $25,000-a-year responsibility in a $62,700-a-year job,” Owen said. “It’s an easy, comfortable job where you can still have your finger in the political pot without as many responsibilities as a legislator.

“I personally think that if you get a salary like that, you have a moral responsibility to do something with it.”

If elected, Owen said he would crusade against drug and alcohol abuse, putting the post to work as a pulpit to reach out to the public, especially kids. “I’ll work my tail off.”

Anderson said she would push regulatory reform.

As a senator, she has too many things to do to give the issue the attention it deserves, Anderson said. “I see this as an opportunity to really focus on something I’ve been doing as a legislator.”

Even Sen. Jim West, R-Spokane, is giving the job serious thought, but he hasn’t made any decisions.

Incumbent Lt. Gov. Joel Pritchard, a Republican who’s been in office since 1989, has not decided whether he’ll run again. If he does, Anderson said she will bow out.

By law, the lieutenant governor is required to preside over the Senate when in session, and vote to break ties.

Because the lieutenant governor is elected independently of the governor, the two are often, as now, of different political parties. There is no convention or requirement that the lieutenant governor work to help the governor accomplish legislative goals.

Pritchard is only required to stand in for Gov. Mike Lowry if he is unable to perform his duties. The lieutenant governor also is appointed to various committees, authorities and foundations.

That’s about it, as far as the official job description goes. In a state like Washington with a part-time Legislature, there’s time to fill.

“Hosting. I do a lot of that,” Pritchard said. “You go to lots of functions and give the state’s greetings. Everybody really wants to see the governor but they usually get me.

“They get a picture taken with me. Or I give them a gavel. It’s an important part of hospitality.”

Pritchard, a former congressman and state senator, also has pursued interests of his own, including fighting illiteracy. During the last election he took a strong stand against Initiative 651, the Indian gambling measure.

“I have some ideas of how this job could be made better. But I wouldn’t have stayed in it if I didn’t think it was worthwhile. You could do without it, but someone else would still have to do these things.”

Jack Darre, a Tacoma activist, has campaigned for years to eliminate the post, which he calls useless and expensive.

“There’s really no reason to have it. No reason for it at all. It’s a ribbon-cutting kind of thing. Heck I might file for that office.”

Some other states give their lieutenant governor more to do.

In Maryland, the governor and lieutenant governor run as a team. Once in office, the second in command helps the governor push the legislative agenda.

Paid $92,000 a year, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is propelling an anti-crime and youth violence campaign for Maryland’s Democratic Gov. Parris Glendening.

California is more like Washington, which elects its lieutenant governor and governor independently. The two are frequently of different parties, which at times has led to mischief.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown had to cancel a slew of executive orders hacking into the state’s welfare program dashed off by his GOP lieutenant while Brown was out of state.

Idahoans are perhaps more realistic about the modest confines of the job.

Lt. Gov. C. L. “Butch” Otter serves part time and is paid $22,500 a year.

When the Legislature knocks off for the year, usually around mid-March, Otter is a free man. He comes into the office a few days a week.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo