PANEL AFFIRMS STATE PAY RAISE; CRITICISM UNABLE TO SWAY DECISION ON TOP POSTS.Byline: Paul Hefner Daily News Sacramento Bureau A state panel let stand Thursday its widely criticized vote that makes Gov. Pete Wilson For others named Pete Wilson, see . Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California. Wilson served as the thirty-sixth Governor of California (1991–1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that the nation's highest paid governor and grants massive pay increases to state lawmakers and other elected officials. Nearly two hours of public testimony blasting the 26 percent raises failed to sway even one member of the California Citizens Compensation Commission, which remained split 4-3 in favor of the increases. Though the pay raises will hike Wilson's salary to $165,000 per year, commissioners supporting the plan claimed it won't cost taxpayers much. Divided among all the state's residents, the raises will only cost each one about 11 cents per year, said Jim Green
Born in Alabama, Green moved to Canada to avoid being drafted for the Vietnam War. , a member of the panel. ``You put more than that in a parking meter today,'' Green said. But others insisted that the size of the raises was too much. The commission's refusal to scale them back will likely hasten has·ten v. has·tened, has·ten·ing, has·tens v.intr. To move or act swiftly. v.tr. 1. To cause to hurry. 2. efforts to place an initiative on the ballot cutting lawmakers' pay, predicted Commissioner Bob Larkin. ``The idea of paying state legislators more than a congressman or a U.S. senator, in my mind, is absurd,'' Larkin said. Indeed, Richard Gann, president of the Paul Gann Paul Gann (June 12, 1912 - September 11, 1989), with Howard Jarvis, was co-author of Proposition 13, the property tax-cutting initiative in California in 1978. Later, his Gann Amendment put a limit on state spending in California. He was born in Clark County, Arkansas. Citizens Committee, said before the panel's vote that his group planned to begin an initiative campaign unless the raises were rescinded. The commission was established by a voter-approved initiative that took pay of lawmakers out of their own hands. It voted in March to approve the raises, which will go into effect in December. The increases will boost the annual pay of legislators to $99,000, up from $78,624, with corresponding increases for the lieutenant governor lieutenant governor n. Abbr. Lt. Gov. 1. An elected official ranking just below the governor of a state in the United States. 2. The nonelective chief of government of a Canadian province. , attorney general and other top state posts. A firestorm fire·storm n. 1. A fire of great size and intensity that generates and is fed by strong inrushing winds from all sides: the firestorm that leveled Hiroshima after the atomic blast. 2. of public criticism prompted the panel to schedule Thursday's hearing to reconsider re·con·sid·er v. re·con·sid·ered, re·con·sid·er·ing, re·con·sid·ers v.tr. 1. To consider again, especially with intent to alter or modify a previous decision. 2. the issue. During the hearing, the commission took heat from taxpayer groups These taxpayer groups can be formal nonprofit organizations or informal groups. They are generally seen as “watch dog” groups. As such they try to keep taxes and borrowing down as well as spending. Many US cities have these taxpayer groups. , state employee unions seeking raises of their own and the public at large. ``Whatever recipe you used to come up with this, there's one ingredient you left out: common sense,'' said Dee Walters, a Sacramento retiree. State employees were particularly vocal. Most have gone without a pay increase since January 1995. They said it was wrong for the panel to approve an increase for Wilson while talks with unions are stalled. ``In the military, if the general gets a raise, so does the private,'' said Mel Hodges, a state worker from Modesto. The commission voted 6-0 to adopt a resolution supporting state workers' demands for a pay raise. But not everyone who addressed the panel thought the salary increases for elected officials was out of line. Several former lawmakers, including former Assemblyman as·sem·bly·man n. A man who is a member of a legislative assembly. assemblyman Noun pl -men a member of a legislative assembly Noun 1. Mike Roos, praised the commission, citing the heavy workload on state officials. ``I applaud what you did,'' Roos told the panel. ``I think it was wise. I think it was prudent.'' |
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