A headline in the Sacramento Bee is definitely a head-shaker: "California Assembly speaker OKs $132,000 in staff pay hikes, promotions." It's an embarassing story for John A. Pérez, who becomes speaker just as budget season gets underway and the legislature must figure out a way to close a $20 billion budget deficit. His chief of staff, Sara Ramirez, gets the largest raise, from $125,256 to $190,008.

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