Gov. Dayton Addresses Legislature Over Commissioner Raises
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) -- Gov. Mark Dayton issued an open letter to the Minnesota Legislature on Monday addressing his decision to give his cabinet members pay raises.
Dayton said that it is "imperative to separate disagreements about the wisdom or necessity of my decisions — and they were my decisions — from questions about their legality."
The raises were first reported last week by WCCO's political reporter Pat Kessler. The hikes ranged from 19 percent to 58 percent.
The smallest raise is $22,407 to the Ombudsman for Mental Health, bumping the salary from $97,510 to $119,997. Top commissioners got 30 percent raises, boosting their salaries by $35,000, from $119,997 to $154,992. And the chair of the Metropolitan Council got an $84,000 raise: from a part-time job at $61,414 to full time at $144,991.
"One of my highest priorities is to provide Minnesotans with the very best government services. To do so requires building an executive team of well-qualified and very talented people to manage large budgets, complex programs, and thousands of employees," Dayton said. "I want to make clear that none of my commissioners have ever complained to me about their salaries. Not one has ever asked me for a raise. But they, like other working Minnesotans, deserve compensation that is commensurate with their responsibilities."
WEB EXTRA: Click here for the full text of Dayton's letter. (.PDF)
Last week, Dayton said commissioner salaries have not been raised in 10 years because of budget and political difficulties. He added state lawmakers, who haven't had a raise since 1998, also need a pay hike. And, because he's not running for re-election, Dayton said he's not concerned about the political consequences.
Republicans who control the Minnesota House say they will introduce a bill to take away a governor's ability to give raises without review.
The GOP added a clause to the must-pass spending bill Monday that seeks agency budget cuts equal to sizable commissioner raises, which came to light last week. The underlying spending package includes money to pay for the state's Ebola response, deal with a deficiency at the Department of Natural Resources and to hire more staff at the strained St. Peter state security hospital for sex offenders.
The move applies only the departments of Health, Human Services and Natural Resources but signals a hardball tactic likely to hit other agencies later. They would have to absorb spending cuts to account for respective commissioner pay raises of $16,000, $6,000 and $18,000.
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