Bailey, Smith take salary cut; Haugen to retain her ‘fair’ pay

Washington lawmakers approved 3 percent pay cuts for most state workers earlier this year but it appears only a handful are opting to share in the pain. As of Monday, only 13 of the state’s 147 legislators had filed paperwork to voluntarily dock their annual pay between 3 and 5 percent. The short list does not yet include any of District 10’s lawmakers though two of the three are planning to do so soon.

Washington lawmakers approved 3 percent pay cuts for most state workers earlier this year but it appears only a handful are opting to share in the pain.

As of Monday, only 13 of the state’s 147 legislators had filed paperwork to voluntarily dock their annual pay between 3 and 5 percent. The short list does not yet include any of District 10’s lawmakers though two of the three are planning to do so soon.

Officials from the House of Representative’s clerk’s office confirmed that Reps. Barbara Bailey, R-Oak Harbor, and Norma Smith, R-Clinton, have called in to say they are in the process of submitting the necessary paperwork.

“I feel like when we ask state employees to reduce their pay, when possible we should do the same thing,” Bailey said.

Smith, who was in Florida at a family reunion, echoed similar sentiments in a telephone interview.

“If I’m asking others to sacrifice, I should be sacrificing with them,” Smith echoed.

Unlike her Republican counterparts in the House, Sen. Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano, is declining to take the financial hit. She said she doesn’t have a secondary income and just can’t afford the cut while shouldering expenses such as keeping open her satellite Oak Harbor office.

“That costs me a lot of money,” Haugen said. “I pay for the all that myself.”

“I think it’s fair what we pay legislators now,” she added.

Most lawmakers, including Haugen, Bailey and Smith, earn $42,106 a year. A 3 percent salary reduction amounts to $1,236.18 annually or $105.26 a month.

Under Senate Bill 5860, which was signed into law by Gov. Chris Gregoire nearly two months ago, most state workers would take a pay cut of 3 percent to save Washington more than $300 million over two years.

The same bill allowed legislators and the state’s nine elected executives to reduce their own pay voluntarily. While they have always had that ability, the law clarified the limits of the 1986 constitutional amendment that empowered a citizen salary commission with setting and freezing, but not reducing, salaries of such elected officials.

But until just two weeks ago, only four House representatives had taken action to reduce their salaries. Following stories that appeared in The Olympian and The News-Tribune newspapers, the number swelled to 13.

Four state elected executives have also agreed to lower their pay.

According to Bailey and Smith, the delay wasn’t a lack of willingness on their part. Rather, the newspaper stories made it clear that a form was available online for legislators and that paperwork could be submitted to their respective fiscal offices or the Washington Citizens Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials.

“No one knew we could do that, or least I didn’t know,” Bailey said.

Similarly, Smith said she had been told that the appropriate action was to donate to charities. She declined to say whether she had made any donations, saying she believed that to be a private matter. However, she did say that her voluntary pay reduction will be retroactive, going back to July 1.

While both lawmakers are now taking action to reduce their pay commensurate with that of state workers’ 3 percent cut, Bailey said it should be noted that their situations are not exactly alike. These are tough times for everyone, but unlike state employees, lawmakers’ salaries have been frozen at the current level for the past four years.

“So there is a little difference from what state employees are going through,” she said.

Also, Bailey said she can afford the cut because her livelihood is supplemented with her husband’s income. Not everyone is so lucky and they shouldn’t be judged too hard when their financial circumstances are not as favorable, she said.