State commission calls for pay raises for Maryland public officials

(The Center Square) – The governor’s Salary Commission is recommending an increase in pay for four of Maryland’s constitutional officers by 10.4% in 2023 while agreeing to raise the governor’s salary by just 2.2% in the same time period.

The proposal would increase the salaries for lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller and treasurer from $149,500 annually to $165,000 in the first year. The salaries will be raised gradually over the next four years to $175,000.

Some state employees are making more than the constitutional officers, said committee member and former House Majority Leader Bruce Poole.

“The workload is certainly not getting any easier, in fact, as we have seen, state government continues to get flooded with demands and these jobs particularly have all that,” Poole said. “I think the complexities of the job are quite significant and you just have the expenses issue. The reality of it is all these jobs come with expenses not all of which are reimbursed.”

The secretary of state will receive a 6.6% raise from $105,000 to $112,500 in the first year and, by the end of four years, would receive a salary of $120,000.

The governor will receive less of a raise. The committee recommends a 2.2% increase during the first year, which will bump the governor’s salary from the current $180,000 to $184,000. The pay will gradually increase to $195,000 over four years.

Poole indicated the proposal was not a reflection of the current governor.

“It’s also in recognition of all the additional benefits that the governor gets,” Poole said. “The governor will still end up getting paid $195,000 by the fourth year and that will certainly put the governor up in a high ranking relative to the other governors.”

The 2017 commission declined to increase the salaries of the governor and lieutenant governor, saying in their recommendation that “inflation has been lower than the estimates used by the previous commission in developing the recommended salary increases for the current term. The commission also noted that the salaries of both the governor and lieutenant governor rank in the top quartile of governor and lieutenant governor salaries nationally.”

The commission meets every four years to decide compensation for state constitutional officers. Their recommendations go to the General Assembly for approval.

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