OLYMPIA (AP) — The Legislature cut most state workers’ pay by 3 percent this year, but few lawmakers have taken pay cuts themselves, despite crafting legal language that encourages them and statewide officials to scale back their paychecks.
Four House members — out of 147 Senate and House lawmakers — have elected to cut their own pay, The Olympia reported in Sunday’s newspaper.
“You know, not everyone can afford to take a pay cut. I’m just really glad that I can,” said Rep. Ann Rivers, a first-term Republican from La Center, who works as a public affairs consultant and elected to cut her $42,106 salary by 3 percent. She called it “a very personal decision” and said that after voting to cut public employees’ pay, she felt it was wrong not to reduce hers.
The three other lawmakers cutting their pay are Democratic Reps. Frank Chopp, Larry Seaquist and Troy Kelley; each is taking a cut of 5 percent or more. A few state officials are donating money to charity or scholarships instead of waiving pay.
As of Friday, Gov. Chris Gregoire, state Treasurer Jim McIntire and state schools superintendent Randy Dorn were the only statewide elected officers to have signed up for pay waivers.
For Gregoire, whose base pay is $166,891, that’s a $5,007 cut. She also donates the amount of a pay raise that the state salary commission gave her in 2009, spokesman Cory Curtis said, adding that she is taking the cuts to lead by example.
“It’s important for state employees and morale right now to know we are all in this together,” he said.
Voters approved a constitutional amendment in 1986 to create the salary commission to set elected officials’ pay, while keeping pay fair, competitive and in line with duties of officers.
But the 1986 language did not allow downward pay revisions. After several proposals to amend the Constitution failed, Gregoire wanted the state worker pay cut bill to encourage voluntary pay waivers, Curtis said.
Democratic Sen. Derek Kilmer of Gig Harbor sponsored one of the constitutional amendments that died this year. He hasn’t volunteered for a pay cut; he said he donated a portion of his pay — roughly 3 percent, or $1,260 — for college scholarships to recent high school graduates in his legislative district.
“Different people do different things. A 3 percent cut for a legislator is about $1,260. I gave roughly the equivalent of the amount to scholarships at high schools in my district,” he said. “The other thing I did during the special session was forgo per diem — so it’s a $2,700 pay cut” on top of the 3 percent donated. Per diem is the $90-per-day expense subsidy lawmakers receive when meeting in Olympia.
Chopp’s request was the first filed — and it was done quietly and directly to the House chief clerk’s office in mid-February. Gregoire’s budget director, Marty Brown, sent a memo to all elected officials in late June urging them to participate.
“It’s disappointing. We had hoped for more participation,” said Teri Wright, director for the state Citizens’ Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials.
Like Gregoire, commission members were frustrated that they can’t reduce pay across the board. They instead settled for a two-year pay freeze for the 479 elected statewide, legislative and judicial officers under the commission’s jurisdiction.
They asked Wright to seek authority from the Legislature to reduce salaries in the future, if appropriate. Wright said she intends to seek such a constitutional amendment next year.
Rep. Gary Alexander, R-Thurston County, is one of the lawmakers who sponsored a constitutional amendment. He said Friday that he had not known about the pay waiver form on the commission’s website and now plans to waive 3 percent of his pay.
Several other officials told the citizen commission in February that they wanted to be treated the same as their employees. Among them was state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, who filed paperwork in June to authorize the donation of 3 percent of his pay.
A spokeswoman for attorney general Rob McKenna said he also has submitted paperwork to donate 3 percent of his pay.
