California Assemblymember Bill Monning of the 27th district did
not give any raises to his personal staff this year, even though
some of his colleagues did.
California Assemblymember Bill Monning of the 27th district did not give any raises to his personal staff this year, even though some of his colleagues did.
One staff member of a committee on which Monning served for a couple of months received a monthly raise from $3,378 to $3,716 this year, but none of the 11 employees who work full-time in his office received raises, according to the assemblymember’s spokeswoman Jody Fujii.
In fact, Monning requested a 10 percent reduction in his own annual salary that took effect July 1. He made that request in response to the current fiscal crisis the state finds itself in, which required more than $23 billion in cuts in the latest state budget.
“The real issue is, in these tough economic times, everybody has got to share in the pain. Nobody is immune to the economic difficulties facing the state,” Fujii said.
There were no other salary reductions in Monning’s staff, members of which have only been on the job since he took office in Dec. 2008, Fujii said. Monning’s current annual salary is $104,587.
While various state departments were gearing up for furloughs and pay cuts, at least 87 staff people working for state assembly members and senators received raises during the first half of this year, an Associated Press investigation found earlier this week. The total amount of the raises was more than $430,000 per year.
Despite the raises, Fujii noted that the assembly’s overall expenditures and total staffing have declined during the recession. In the past two-and-a-half years, budgeted expenditures have dropped by $42 million. In the last year, assembly salaries have been reduced by $1.7 million, Fujii said.
Monning’s district includes Morgan Hill and other unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County.
Assemblymember Anna Caballero of the 28th district, which includes Gilroy, budgeted for staff salary increases totaling $1,600 per month.
She promoted one of her employees to legislative director for a 20 percent pay increase. That employee now makes about $40,000 per year. Caballero also gave 5 percent raises to five other employees, but she reduced her office’s overall budget by 10 percent last year and by 20 percent this year.
Caballero also took a voluntary 10 percent pay cut this year, shaving $11,000 off her $116,000 salary.
Staff writer Sara Suddes contributed to this story.
