The Washington Citizens' Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials, which sets the pay for state officers, voted yesterday to freeze the pay for the state's judges, legislators, and state-wide officers. The pay for a state Supreme Court justice will remain at $164,221 for the next two years.
Last week during oral arguments in SEIU 775NW v. Gregoire, Justice James Johnson asked if the Judiciary's budget could be cut as a consequence of ruling in favor of SEIU. This question seemed to send chills down several judicial spines, and prompted this exchange between Chief Justice Alexander and Solicitor General Hart.
The discussion prompted an obvious question: what is the Judiciary's budget? The Office of Financial Management has the proposed 2009-10 Judiciary budget. The Supreme Court's proposed budget (.pdf) is $15,652,000 -- a 6.4% increase over last year.
Separate from the budgeting process, judicial salaries are set by the Washington Citizens' Commission on Salaries for Elected Officials. Supreme Court Justices make $164,221, and are not getting a raise in the 2009-10 biennium.
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