State lawmakers and other top elected officials had their pay and some benefits slashed by 18% effective today, two weeks after the state attorney general rejected a challenge to the reductions from the Legislature.

The base salary for legislators drops from $116,208 to $95,291, while the governor's salary, which Arnold Schwarzenegger does not accept, goes from $212,179 to $173,987.

The cut was approved in May by the California Citizens Compensation Commission. It also applies to California's controller, treasurer, attorney general and other statewide elected officials. The panel determined that the officials should share the pain of budget cuts that put most other state employees on three unpaid furlough days a month.

The salary reduction will show up for the first time in paychecks issued at the end of this month, according to Hallye Jordan, a spokeswoman for the controller, which processes the checks.

Also effective today: an 18% cut in the tax-free daily expense allowance, from $173 to $142, for members of the Legislature.

-- Patrick McGreevy in Sacramento