California state and local politicians repeatedly vote themselves special benefits and exemptions from laws that the rest of the citizens do not receive.
During the recent Covid 19 lockdowns politicians routinely were caught breaking their own rules.
"While politicians voted to shut down large segments of the economy and force people into unemployment, all politicians received their full pay – and some even took salary increases!" says Carl DeMaio, Chairman of Reform California.
The California “Cut Politicians’ Perks” Initiative
Carl DeMaio and Reform California support passage of a statewide initiative that would impose maximum accountability on California’s politicians through the following reforms:
- No Pay Hikes: Politicians would not be able to set their own pay. Any pay increase would have to be voted on by voters in each jurisdiction.
- No Pensions: State and local politicians would receive only social security and a simple 401K – benchmarked to what the average worker in their district receives.
- No Perks: State and local politicians would be barred from receiving any gifts – such as the luxury “policy conference” in Hawaii that state legislators receive for free from lobbyists.
- Dock Their Pay: At any time when portion of the economy goes into lockdown or when unemployment exceeds 10%, state and local politicians would lose pay.
- Full Transparency: State and local politicians would have to comply with stricter public disclosure requirements on any and all records or communications they create while working on government business.
