Commission
recommends
raise for LingleThe House majority leader thinks
that a pay hike is reasonable
The governor's annual salary would rise 18 percent, to $112,000 -- the same as the Honolulu mayor -- under a recommendation of the state Executive Salary Commission.
The governor's current salary is $94,780.
The pay raise is reasonable, House Majority Leader Scott Saiki said, "given the status of the state's fiscal circumstances."
The commission is also recommending pay raises for the lieutenant governor, the governor's chief of staff, department directors and their deputies. The last salary increases for those positions was in 1990.
If the Legislature approves the commission's recommendations, the pay raises for the department directors and their deputies will take effect July 1. The salary increases for the governor, lieutenant governor and the governor's chief of staff will be effective July 1, 2006.
For the seven years afterward, the governor's salary would increase 2 percent a year.
"I'm happy to see the department heads get an increase right away," said Rep. Barbara Marumoto (R, Diamond Head-Kalani Valley). "I think they're severely underpaid. And in many cases they're making less than some of their division heads."
The lieutenant governor and the governor's chief of staff now earn $90,041. The commission is recommending their salaries increase to $100,000, with 2 percent annual pay raises.
Department directors now make $85,302 while their deputies earn between $72,886 and $77,966. Their recommended pay raises vary.
The commission created four compensations levels based on the number of employees supervised, the size of the department's operating budget, salaries of comparable jobs in other states, counties and the private sector and level of benefits.
The state attorney general and his deputy occupy the highest tier. The attorney general would earn $105,000 and the deputy between $91,350 and $96,600.
The directors of the departments of Accounting and General Services, Budget and Finance, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Health, Taxation and Transportation would earn $100,000. Their deputies would make between $87,000 and $92,000.
The departments of Human Services, Labor and Industrial Relations, Land and Natural Resources and Business and Economic Development and Tourism make up the third tier; $95,000 for the directors and between $82,650 and $87,400 for their deputies.
Directors of the departments of Agriculture, Hawaiian Home Lands, Human Resources Development and Public Safety would earn $90,000, while their directors would make between $78,300 and $82,800.
"I think the salary commission did a very thoughtful job in giving different departments different salaries," Marumoto said.
The salaries for the department directors and their deputies would increase 2 percent a year for seven years.
