Citizens Raise Pay For Elected Officials Commission Meeting In Spokane Votes For $5.5 Million In Increases By 2000

A citizens group Saturday awarded more than $5.5 million in pay raises to legislators, judges and other elected state officials during the next two years.

Rejecting calls by Spokane members of the Libertarian Party and others to freeze salaries for 1999 and 2000, the Washington Citizens Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials approved raises from 10 percent to 33 percent.

“This was a political hotbed,” Gail Kogle, the lone Spokane resident of the 16-member commission, said after the vote at the Ramada Inn near Spokane International Airport. “But we weren’t led by the nose.”

The biggest winner was the attorney general, whose annual pay will jump 33 percent over two years, from $93,000 to $123,600.

Gov. Gary Locke also fared well, becoming the sixth-highest-paid governor in the nation, the commission said. His salary will grow from $121,000 to $135,960 in the year 2000. However, Locke’s salary will still be less than the King County executive in Seattle, who the commission said earns $138,000 per year.

The smallest increase went to District Court judges, who will earn 10 percent more over the two-year period. The gain, however, will put them well over $100,000.

Legislators, who under an earlier proposal would have gotten no increase, were awarded a 13 percent pay hike over two years. That will boost their salaries for the part-time job from $28,300 to $32,064 by 2000.

The commission, an unusual cross-section of homemakers and lawyers, pastors and business owners, was created to place control of salaries in the hands of the voters.

The commission has the authority only to increase or freeze salaries, but not to reduce them. The pay raises go into effect Sept. 1.

“The increases were simply too much at once,” said Elizabeth Barene, an Aberdeen, Wash., mother of three, explaining why she voted against most of the pay raises.

However, Seattle attorney Michael McKay defended the pay hikes, saying good candidates won’t run for office if they can earn more in the private sector.

“We weren’t grabbing those numbers out of the air,” McKay said. “There was a lot of collective wisdom here that reflected a lot of wisdom and analysis.”

The commission’s decision was a composite of seven proposals, ranging from a high-priced “make up and keep up” pitch to one calling for small increases in set amounts rather than percentages that give more money to those who already earn higher wages.

“I’m not opposed to raising salaries, but I think we need some type of restraint,” said The Rev. Clifford Smalley of Monroe, Wash., who said he earns less in full-time ministry than the $31,130 part-time pay that legislators will begin to earn next year.

Further complicating the debate, commissioners found that some non-elected bureaucrats are earning as much as their elected bosses.

In addition, wages are significantly higher in the Puget Sound area than Spokane, making it increasingly difficult to persuade Inland Northwest voters that any politician deserves to earn five times more than the average wage earner.

“These increases are outrageous,” said American Heritage Party member Marvin Newcomb, who testified in a red jacket with a “Keep Your Word George” bumper sticker on the back. “It would take me six years to make that much money.”

Ron Lahr, with the Spokane County Libertarian Party, asked the commission to freeze salaries at current levels, because higher wages only encourage elected officials to become “career politicians.” Libertarians believe in less government and greater personal freedom.

State Supreme Court Justice Richard Guy told the commission that state judges were largely satisfied with a proposal earlier this year to raise salaries about 6 percent. But the commission heeded the warnings of McKay and others that salaries for lawyers were climbing so fast that the state risks losing good judges if it doesn’t boost their salaries.

The commission raised Supreme Court justices to $120,000 this year.

It raised the Superintendent of Public Instruction and Public Lands Commissioner from $86,600 to $97,226 over two years; Lieutenant Governor, from $62,700 to $71,070; Secretary of State, $69,000 to $78,177; Treasurer and Auditor, each rising from $84,100 to $95,275; and Insurance Commissioner, $77,200 to $88,580.

Official figures were unavailable, but an estimate of the increases for the 300 judges, 147 legislators and 17 other positions shows that taxpayers will shell out at least $5.5 million in pay raises during the next two years.