How much money do state employees at the NC General Assembly earn?
The North Carolina General Assembly makes news for the actions of its 170 state lawmakers, but the work doesn’t get done without all the state employees who work there, too.
There are more than 600 state employees working in downtown Raleigh at the Legislative Building, where the legislature hold its sessions, and Legislative Office Building, which includes meeting rooms and offices. The News & Observer obtained the salaries of state employees who work in the legislature through a public records request.
The median income for a state employee at the General Assembly is about $45,000. Eighty-five of the state employees earn $100,000 or more.
The highest-paid person in the building is the person who runs it: Paul Coble, a former mayor of Raleigh who is the legislative services officer. He earns $207,356 a year.
The second highest-paid person is Brian Fork, the chief of staff for Senate leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican. Fork earns $193,303 a year.
Fork made $188,000 in 2019, The N&O previously reported. Other high-level staffers’ pay also had incremental increases compared to 2019. Berger’s previous chief of staff, Andrew Tripp, made $179,500.
The legislature’s state employees received pay raises of 2.5% in last year’s budget, just like other state employees, and will receive raises of at least another 2.5% this coming fiscal year.
The minimum wage for full-time state employees is $30,000 a year. Not everyone who works in the legislature works full-time.
The lowest-paid state employees at the legislature are housekeepers, food service workers, security screeners and sergeants-at-arms, with most earning between $33,000 and $37,000 a year.
Assistant sergeants-at-arms earn just under $35,000.
They serve a significant role in the Legislative Building and Legislative Office Building and are at all House and Senate floor sessions and committee meetings. Their job description, according to the General Assembly’s website, is to enforce directions of the Senate president and House speaker as well as being responsible “for the security of the respective legislative body and maintenance of property of that house.”
Lawmakers are not considered state employees, though they do receive a small annual salary of about $14,000 and per diem compensation for food and travel when the legislature is in session.
Look up a full list of salaries here:
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at https://campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.
