OLYMPIA — A citizens panel is giving Gov. Christine Gregoire a pay boost of 2 percent a year for the next two years and has authorized annual salary increases of 3 percent for judges and state legislators.

The 16-member salary commission, created by voters in 1986 as a way to take the politically risky issue of salaries out of the hands of the Legislature, decided in SeaTac on Friday to give all statewide elected officials a 2 percent cost-of-living raise this fall and another 2 percent one year later.

That will push the governor's pay to more than $150,000 a year — if she survives a legal challenge and a possible revote. An expected two-week trial of an election challenge brought by the Republicans began yesterday in Chelan County Superior Court in Wenatchee.

The commission was a bit more generous with legislators and judges, authorizing 3 percent raises this September and again one year later.

The extra pay will help bring lawmakers into closer alignment with what state managers receive and will bring state jurists more in line with the federal judiciary, the commission said. The supplemental pay was suggested by an outside consultant who studied legislative and judicial duties.

Legislators will go from the current $34,227 a year to $35,254 this September and $36,311 in September 2006. The panel also approved extra pay for the four top legislative leaders, one from each party in each of the two houses.

"The commission's philosophy is that the best way to have a sound salary structure for the state's elected officials is to review salaries regularly and make small increases on a consistent basis," the panel said in a statement.

The panel posted the new salary schedule on its Web site, and officials did not immediately return a telephone request for further comment.

As specified under a voter-approved constitutional amendment, the pay boosts take effect in 90 days unless a voter referendum is mounted. Neither the Legislature nor the governor can amend the schedule, and it does not require their approval.

The commission includes one voter from each congressional district, picked at random from voter rolls by the secretary of state for a four-year term, and seven experts chosen for their knowledge of personnel issues in the public and private sectors.

The raises are slightly higher than originally proposed in January before a series of public hearings. The earlier recommendation was for 2.5 percent raises in each of the next two years for legislators, and 1.5 percent per year for the next two years for judges and state elected officials.

The governor's pay will increase from $145,132 now to $148,035 this fall and $150,995 in September 2006.

State employees will get a 3.2 percent raise this year and 1.6 percent next July.