Governor, judges, legislators given pay raises

Tue., May 24, 2005

David Ammons Associated Press

At a glance

Pay raises

Here are the pay raises authorized by the Washington State Citizens' Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials:

Governor: Current pay is $145,132, rising to $148,035 this Sept. 1 and $150,995 on Sept. 1, 2006.

Lieutenant governor: $75,865 now, $77,382 this September and $78,930 in September 2006.

Secretary of state, treasurer, auditor and insurance commissioner: $101,702 now, rising to $103,736 and then to $105,811.

Attorney general: $131,938 now, rising to $134,577 and then to $137,268.

School superintendent and land commissioner: $103,785, rising to $105,861 and then $107,978.

Supreme Court: $137,276 now, rising to $141,394 and then $145,636.

Appeals Court: $130,678 now, rising to $134,598 and then $138,636.

Superior Court: $124,411 now, rising to $128,143 and then $131,988.

District Court: $118,458 now, rising to $122,012 and then $125,672.

Legislature: Rank-and-file legislators, $34,227 now, rising to $35,254 and then $36,311. Speaker of the House and Senate majority leader, now at $42,227, rising to $43,254 and then $44,311. House and Senate minority leaders, now at $38,227, go to $39,254 and then $40,311.

OLYMPIA – A citizens’ panel is giving Gov. Christine Gregoire a pay boost of 2 percent a year for the next two years and has authorized annual salary increases of 3 percent for judges and state legislators.

The 16-member salary commission, created by voters in 1986 as a way to take the politically risky issue of salaries out of the hands of the Legislature, decided in SeaTac last Friday to give all statewide elected officials a 2 percent cost-of-living raise this fall and another 2 percent one year later.

That will push the governor’s pay to more than $150,000 a year — if she survives a legal challenge and a possible revote. An expected two-week trial of an election challenge brought by the Republicans began Monday in Chelan County Superior Court in Wenatchee.

The commission was a bit more generous with legislators and judges, authorizing 3 percent raises this September and again one year later.

The extra pay will help bring lawmakers into closer alignment with what state managers receive and will bring state jurists more in line with the federal judiciary, the commission said. The supplemental pay was suggested by an outside consultant who studied legislative and judicial duties.

Legislators will go from the current $34,227 a year to $35,254 this September and $36,311 in September 2006. The panel also approved extra pay for the four top legislative leaders, two from each party in each of the two houses.

“The commission’s philosophy is that the best way to have a sound salary structure for the state’s elected officials is to review salaries regularly and make small increases on a consistent basis,” the panel said in a statement.

The panel posted the new salary schedule on its Web site, and officials did not immediately return a telephone request for further comment.

As specified under a voter-approved constitutional amendment, the pay boosts take effect in 90 days unless a voter referendum is mounted. Neither the Legislature nor the governor can amend the schedule, and it does not require their approval.

The commission is comprised of one voter from each congressional district, picked at random from voter rolls by the secretary of state for a four-year term, and seven experts chosen for their knowledge of personnel issues in the public and private sectors.

The raises are slightly higher than originally proposed in January before a series of public hearings. The earlier recommendation was for 2.5 percent raises in each of the next two years for legislators and 1.5 percent per year for the next two years for judges and state elected officials.

In January, Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, and Sen. Harriet Spanel, D-Bellingham, urged the commission to increase lawmakers’ pay but didn’t suggest a specific amount.

“We as a state have got to begin a conversation about who we want in the Legislature,” Murray told the commission. “Do we want simply the retired, those on pensions, the wealthy and young people without families? Or do we want the Legislature to look like the state?”

The governor’s pay will increase from $145,132 now to $148,035 this fall and $150,995 in September 2006. After the initial recommendations came out, Gregoire said she wasn’t asking for a salary boost: “I’m perfectly happy with my salary, thank you very much.”

On Monday, spokeswoman Althea Cawley-Murphree said Gregoire “doesn’t have a comment, which I would take to mean she will respect the work of the commission. In the past, she (as attorney general) and Gov. Locke didn’t accept a raise because other state employees were not getting increases. That isn’t the case this year.”

State employees will get a 3.2 percent raise this year and 1.6 percent next July.