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Well, what a coincidence. Far be it from us to question the independence of the Citizens Compensation Commission, the board that decides the salaries for state lawmakers. Just because the members serve at the pleasure of the governor, we would never intimate that they are anything but an independent commission, as the state’s term-limits law that created them intended. But we did notice that they’ve set their hearing for deciding potential pay cuts for lawmakers for June 16 — one day after the constitutional deadline for the Legislature to pass a budget. Under the latest proposal before the panel, elected officials could see their pay cut up to 10 percent and lose their taxpayer-funded cars. Gov. Schwarzenegger has been publicly coy about whether he thinks lawmakers should take a cut this time around but has expressed the opinion that everyone should take a cut while the state is facing such dire financial straits. But it’s also true that nothing winds up state lawmakers quite like a perceived hit to the pocketbook. We’re not saying the move was intended to be some kind of threat from the governor — we would never say that. We’re just saying that if it was — and it was intended to get under their skin — it seems to be working….

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