Governor Newsom Declines 3.5% Pay Raise

In a letter to the California Citizens Compensation Commission (CCCC) unveiled to the public on Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom revealed that he waived any and all planned pay increases next year because of the state’s budgetary problems.

Pay raises for elected officials at the state level have shot up considerably in recent years. In 2021, the same commission voted for a 4.2% increase in pay across the board, with Newsom alone getting an additional $8,806 a year. However, when the raise was put into place then, California was amidst a record-setting budget surplus. However, the state’s fortunes changed dramatically in only a few years, with the state now looking at a deficit as high as $73 billion.

Even with a slashing of the budget and California pulling back on many planned expenditures, the state will likely be in the red for quite some time. Despite this, the CCCC still voted in favor of an increase in June. While it wasn’t as high as previous years, it was set to go up 3.5% beginning in December. For lawmakers and Newsom, they equaled to thousands of dollars more each year, with Newsom’s $234,101 salary expected to climb over $240,000.

However, on Thursday, a latter by Newsom to the CCCC prior to their June vote showed that he said that he would waive the 3.5% increase due to budgetary reasons. In his letter, dated June 11th, Newsom noted that “I write to you ahead of the Citizen Compensation Commission’s scheduled meeting on June 12 to discuss potential salary increases for constitutional officers and legislators.

“First, I want to express my utmost respect for the independence and the important work of this commission. Your dedication to ensuring fair and appropriate compensation for public officials is important to the functioning of our state government.

“While the Commission deliberates a proposed 3.5% salary increase, I feel it is important to acknowledge the fiscal challenges currently facing our state. In light of these circumstances, I have decided to personally waive any potential salary increase related to my state service for the time being.”

Following the Governor’s office confirmation of the rejection on Thursday, questions quickly arose as to who else declined the pay raises for budgetary reasons. While a few employees declining a raise would not amount to much, a decent number of employees affected by the raise would bring the total into the millions and would show a small bit of budgetary savings.

“In the grand scheme of things, Newsom saving the state $7,000 isn’t a lot,” explained Lee Greenman, a California-based accountant who helps city and other regional entities fix budget problems, to the Globe on Friday. “But this goes way beyond money matters. He might lead by example following this, but look at the optics. Him taking a pay raise when the state is tens of billions in the red? That doesn’t look great, and when he runs for his next office, that could have been used against him.

“So it does look like a strong stance from a financial perspective, him saying that the state is in trouble and he’ll do his part. But on the other hand, he knows how much a raise would hurt him politically. And let’s not forget all the billions in spending he approved or has tied down in favored or pet projects. A pay raise is a drop in the ocean against that. But he does also have a step up against state lawmakers and others who have said nothing of the raise yet.”

As of Friday, it has yet to be announced who else has declined pay raises this year.