Legislative pay has resumed in the wake of last week's budget deal, but Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said Wednesday that lawmakers still take exception to Controller John Chiang's decision to cut off their wages last month.
Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat, said the issue needs to be legally challenged, though he still doesn't know who will pursue the case.
"In the moment, of course, it was a popular decision," Steinberg told The Bee's Capitol Bureau. "But over the long term, do we really want any governor of the state of California, or a controller, or it could be an attorney general, to say, 'I demand more cuts. I demand solutions different from what you presented or else people aren't going to get paid.' "
After Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed Democrats' first majority-vote budget, Chiang reviewed the plan using new authority under Proposition 25. Voters passed that measure in 2010 to dock pay for late spending plans and reduce the vote threshold for budget passage. Chiang determined that their budget did not meet qualifications for a balanced budget under Proposition 58 and so was insufficient to meet the pay requirement.
Over 12 days, rank-and-file lawmakers lost about $4,830 each in salary and per diem.
"I think it was an erroneous decision," Steinberg said. "And I think over time it will be seen as a decision with very troubling precedent for this state and our system of government."
Lawmakers in both parties questioned the decision, though Democrats seemed to react with more anger than their GOP counterparts. Democrats maintained that their budget was balanced in accordance with the law.
It is not clear that the budget that Democrats passed and Brown signed last week would meet the same tests Chiang used in his analysis, but the controller believes he does not have authority to intervene once the governor signs the budget.
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