By Emerson Drake
4/5/11
California is the only state that provides lawmakers with a car, gas and maintenance paid largely by taxpayers.The perk has withstood the recessionary economy and several rounds of budget-cutting, including $11.2 billion in measures the Legislature approved and Gov. Jerry Brown signed in March.
The cost in relation to California's remaining $15.4 billion budget shortfall is small – less than $1 million a year. Lawmakers say they've done the calculations, and switching to making mileage payments for driving in a large state like California could prove even more expensive.
It nonetheless promises to be a hot topic at the April 14 meeting of the independent commission that sets salaries and benefits for California's statewide elected officials.Cost-cutting possibilities range from providing a specific and lower monthly stipend to eliminating legislators' lease cars and reimbursing them for business miles driven, said Charles Murray, head of the California Citizens Compensation Commission.
Under a long-standing practice, the state Legislature buys a vehicle of each lawmaker's choosing. Legislators pay a share of costs to lease the vehicle, and public funds pay for gas and maintenance."It's seems to me that's excessive," said Murray, who helped lead a push to cut legislative salaries and benefits by 18 percent in 2009.
Legislators currently are paid $95,291, plus about $30,000 annually in per diem for living expenses. They also receive health benefits while in office, but do not qualify for a pension.More California lawmakers have opted not to accept a state vehicle this year than in the past, partly because of a desire to tighten spending amid the state's budget crisis.
Republican Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, whose Modesto district is about 9,830 square miles – larger than the state of Vermont – said she studied the issue and concluded that leasing a car would be more economical than mileage reimbursement."There was no question that we saved hundreds of dollars per month," she said."
Yet legislators in areas farther south of Olsen don't see it her way. Olsen didn't provide any documentation for her claims.
We'd like to see the actual mileage she's driven and compare for ourselves if her allegations are valid"
