Assemblywoman Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Santa Clarita, has rejected a salary increase approved for legislators, saying she doesn’t want to take a pay bump as thousands of her constituents are still struggling amid the economic fallout triggered by the pandemic.
The California Citizens Compensation Commission, a public board that approves salaries for public officials, voted last month to approve a 4.2% pay bump for Gov. Gavin Newsom, state lawmakers and other elected officials.
“My choice was to decline the raise because of everything we’ve been through together the past 16 months and watching so many people struggle,” Martinez Valladares wrote in an email. “People are still struggling to get by. My office is helping hundreds of people trying to get their EDD benefits to keep the lights on, pay for rent or buy food. I felt that was the right thing to do for me and the people who elected me as their voice.”
In a letter to the State Controller’s office, Martinez Valladares wrote she made the decision to reject the pay bump after watching her constituents not getting the government services they need.
“Millions of students lost nearly an entire year of in-person instruction, prices for gasoline are the highest in the nation, and just this week the state issued a “Flex” warning asking Californians to reduce their energy consumption because the grid cannot meet demand,” she wrote in the letter.
Starting December, most state lawmakers will receive a nearly $4,824 salary increase, bringing their total annual salaries to $119,701. Gov. Newsom, in the meantime, will make $218,556.
Last year, the commission voted not to raise legislators’ salaries as the state was grappling over a $54.3 billion budget deficit amid the pandemic-stricken economy.
California legislators have the highest salaries in the nation, followed by New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan.