DeVore will keep salary boost

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore said 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.

The raise is primarily a cost-of-living increase, DeVore said, and is slightly less than inflation.

“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 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 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 Schwarzenegger has suggested lawmakers consider turning down the 2.75 % pay increase because of a tight state budget.