Area lawmakers accept pay raises

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore says he won’t turn down a pay hike despite state budget problems some say could lead to service cuts.

Four state senators and nine assemblymen have officially turned down a roughly $3,000 pay raise amid concerns over a tight budget. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has warned of a $10 billion budget deficit next year.

But legislators are long overdue for a raise, DeVore said.

“I work very hard as a state assemblyman,” DeVore said. “This raise will go to make ends meet in the DeVore household.”

DeVore said he works more than 60 hours per week and logs work hours on the weekend. A typical day can begin at 7:30 a.m. and end at 8 or 9 at night, DeVore said.

“I work hard for the money,” DeVore said.

Most of the 14 legislators who have turned the pay hike down have significant sources of independent income or rejected the raise for political reasons, DeVore said. The raise is mostly a cost of increase, he said, which will bring most lawmakers’ salaries to $116,208. Lawmakers also receive about $34,000 a year to cover living expenses. The roughly $3,000 raise recently was approved by the California Citizens Compensation Commission, an independent committee that determines lawmakers’ pay. Raises went into effect this week, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has suggested lawmakers consider turning down the 2.75 % pay increase because of a tight state budget.

Meanwhile, representatives from Assemblyman Van Tran’s office said he will donate his raise to charity.

“We are the state with the highest paid legislature in the nation,” said Dave Everett, district director for Tran’s office. “We already have a deficit in the budget and taking a pay raise now simply isn’t appropriate now.”

Tran also distributed his 12% commission-approved 2005 pay raise among numerous Orange County-based charity groups, including area Boys and Girls Clubs and the Newport Beach-based Angels Charity, which is dedicated to helping children with disabilities. Tran has not decided yet which charities he will donate his most recent pay raise to, but will meet with his CPA to work out the details in January, Everett said.

Efforts to reach State Sen. Tom Harman for comment so far have been unsuccessful.