A sagging economy, doubledigit unemployment and budget cutbacks have Golden State voters pointing their fingers at those who serve in the capital— from the governor down to legislative aides.

A recent statewide survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found that just 9 percent of likely voters approve of the work being done by state lawmakers.

But former elected officials and a top-ranking state chief said cutting legislators’ salaries—or moving toward a part-time Legislature—won’t fix the budget and may do more harm than good.

“I don’t think the world’s bad economy was dictated by the actions of any lawmakers in Sacramento,” said Jon Waldie, the Assembly’s chief administrative officer.

Last year, for the first time in state history, lawmakers’ pay was cut by 18 percent. Waldie said, however, the figure was closer to 28 percent with the increased costs of benefits.

Sheila Kuehl, a former state senator and Assembly member, said the current pay for lawmakers is fair.

“It’s really a large number of hours we’re called upon to put in, and I don’t think people understand the requirements,” Kuehl said.

She said that state senators represent about a million people per district and the job often requires between 80 and 100 hours of work per week.

“Not only do they have full day’s work in Sacramento, but they represent constituencies, which in the Assembly are almost as big as congressional constituencies,” said former state Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti. “In the senate, it’s almost a million (constituents). That’s a lot of people to represent. It’s an enormous amount of work effort.”

Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, said he disagrees.

“It hardly seems to be appropriate that they are the highest paid legislative representatives in the nation even after having taken a pay cut,” said Vosburgh, a former aide of an Assembly member.

On average, California lawmakers are paid $95,291 a year—the highest in the nation. State representatives in Michigan, who receive the second highest pay, earn on average $79,650.

Kuehl said comparing the two states is unfair.

“I don’t think in Michigan a state senator has a million constituents, which adds to your work,” she said.

Michigan averages about 237,000 residents per senatorial district.

In California, 40 state senators are elected to four-year terms. Eighty Assembly members serve two-year terms. Senators can serve two terms. Assembly members can serve three before they face term limits.

The total operating cost for the two houses during the 2009-10 fiscal year is $261 million.

The commission

The California Citizens Compensation Commission, an independent seven-person board, will meet next month to determine if more cutbacks should be made to benefits and salaries of Assembly members and state senators.

Formed in 1990 with the passage of Proposition 112, the commission consists of seven governorappointed volunteer board members who determine how much elected state officials should be paid.

“On the whole, I like the idea of other people setting lawmakers’ salaries,” Kuehl said.

She said the higher pay helps “professionalize” the Legislature. “You don’t want only rich people to have the ability to run,” she said. “I think that really skews it. That certainly would have kept me out.”

Vosburgh said lawmakers knew the commission would benefit them when it was proposed in the late 1980s. “It has worked out very generously for lawmakers, and they knew that.”

He said that despite the fact that the commission was created to help limit what lawmakers could take from lobbyists and earn for speaking engagements, California representatives “fully expected to be compensated by the commission.”

“Proof of that is they’ve become the highest paid state lawmakers in the nation,” Vosburgh said.

Pay for state representatives has more than doubled since the commission was formed 20 years ago.

The average pay is $113,900 a year for state lawmakers who represent residents in the area from Calabasas to Camarillo, and Moorpark and Simi Valley.

State Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica) earns $112,866 a year. State Sen. Tony Strickland (RThousand Oaks) is paid $112,490. Both are freshman senators.

Assemblymember Audra Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) earns $114,602. Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Woodland Hills) makes $115,827.

‘Fringe benefits’

Charles Murray, the commission’s chair, said the organization doesn’t take into account public opinion of the lawmakers when setting salaries.

“That is done by all the citizens in the state of California when they vote,” he said.

Commission members look at the type and amount of work an elected position requires when considering salaries, Murray said.

He said the commission does evaluate the state’s budget when deciding salaries for lawmakers.

To that end, the commission will look at “fringe benefits” lawmakers received in addition to their regular salary at its meeting in June, Murray said.

“This is something that we are looking into right now because it is sort of hidden from view,” he said.

Murray said lawmakers receive a daily allowance for each day they serve in Sacramento to cover the expense of maintaining two residences.

If a state representative is in Sacramento for the entire time the Legislature is in session, the lawmaker receives about $35,000 in tax-free per diem payments, Murray said.

The state also pays a vehicle allowance, and for gasoline and car insurance.

Elected state officials are prohibited from drawing a pension, but they do receive healthcare benefits.

The staff

Each senator and Assembly member is assigned a staff with personnel in both the district’s home office and in Sacramento.

Assembly members are allowed a base budget of $263,000 a year for their staffs.

Leaders of committees are allowed more money for staff salaries. Seniority and the size of the district can also lead to a higher payroll for staff.

The five-person staff of Brownley, who chairs the education committee, is paid $291,972 a year. In addition, the education committee’s nine-person staff is paid about $740,000 a year.

Assemblymember Strickland has a six-person staff that’s paid $304,944 a year.

Dina Hidalgo, head of the Senate’s human resources department, said each senator is given “as a rule of thumb” eight staff members. That number can increase depending on the size of the district and whether it includes multiple counties.

The Senate rules committee decides whether a senator can have more than eight staff members.

Hidalgo said the Senate has cut the salaries of all employees making more than $50,000 a year by 5 percent.

She said she did not know what percentage of the Senate’s 900 employees took cuts but added that the Senate has instituted a pay freeze and is not hiring any new staff in light of the state budget.

Pavley pays her 10-person staff $662,064 a year. State Sen. Strickland pays his 12-person staff $613,128 annually.

What about a part-time Legislature?

Vosburgh said a part-time Legislature would help trim the state budget because it would reduce the amount of “frivolous” legislation passed through the capital.

He said lawmakers should view holding office “more as service than as a career.”

“We’d like to see more people step forward who have done well in the private sector and want to give back,” Vosburgh said.

“They don’t all have to serve for a dollar a year like the governor, but they could certainly serve for less,” he said.

Kuehl, a former Democratic senator, said a part-time Legislature would be “a very big mistake.”

She said it would shift “thepower of legislation onto the governor” because of the time it takes to review and vote on legislation.

“It would hand over an enormous amount of power to the governor,” Kuehl said.

“This is happening in other states where they have part-time legislators and very few staff.” Kuehl also said that a senator’s part-time job could increase the possibility of a conflict of interest and could force the senator to abstain from voting on a state law.

Vosburgh said the state Legislature is too expensive and inefficient. “The whole system is geared to take very good care of these lawmakers,” he said.

“That’s not the purpose of sending them to Sacramento,” he said. “Being a lawmaker shouldn’t be a glorified form of welfare.”