Read the room: Now is not the time for these huge government salary increases

The State Editorial Board
·3 min read

Here’s just one very basic rule government officials should probably follow:

Read the room.

If your state has, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a median household income of $53,199 and close to 14 percent of its population living in poverty, maybe you don’t arbitrarily increase the salaries of your government employees by as much as 48 percent in a single year.

That’s what South Carolina’s Agency Head Salary Commission just did.

The commission, which includes four House members, four senators, and three people appointed by Gov. Henry McMaster, saw fit to increase the salaries for the directors of the Office of Regulatory Staff, Department of Corrections, Department of Transportation, Department of Administration and the State Fiscal Accountability Authority.

The raises, which took effect immediately, saw the salaries for the various positions increase from 18.6 percent to as much as 48 percent.

Consider your own employment history.

Have you ever received a 48 percent raise?

Here are the latest raises:

  • Office of Regulatory Staff Executive Director Nanette Edwards: $178,619 to $265,000, a 48% raise.

  • Secretary of Transportation Christy Hall: $251,232 to $298,000, an 18.6% raise.

  • SC Department of Corrections Director Bryan Stirling: $199,857 to $250,000, a 25% raise.

  • Department of Administration Executive Director Marcia Adams: $224,042 to $284,679, a 27% raise

  • State Fiscal Accountability Authority Executive Director Grant Gillespie: $200,562 to $245,000, a 22% raise.

Raises this big raise a question about whether these officials are being paid too much. For example, North Carolina’s Secretary of Transportation makes $221,000, some $77,000 less than the new salary for South Carolina’s equivalent.

That’s a significant difference.

House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R-York, and State Sen. Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, said the increases were necessary for the state government to hire and retain talented people and compete with the private sector.

Alexander told a reporter, “I think that business and industry are already doing what we’re seeking to do here. I can assure you many opportunities, whether it’s in industry or other opportunities and jobs, that what they’re being paid now is certainly different than it was even a year ago because of the opportunities that are out there.”

Certainly, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the job market. That was bound to happen when so many employees learned they were essential for American society to function, yet not essential enough to be paid a living wage.

Just FYI: South Carolina has no state minimum wage and so employers are only bound by the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

The only member of the Agency Head Salary Commission to vote no on the increases was Senate President Harvey Peeler.

Peeler suggested the increases could perhaps be spread out over three years.

“I feel like it’s too much too fast (for) these increases,” Peeler told our reporter, explaining that he believes the state has great employees, but “it’s just the numbers. It’s hard for me to justify this time.”

We agree with Senator Peeler.

It’s hard to justify such exorbitant increases. These are government jobs, publicly-funded jobs. The men and women earning that median salary of $53,199 are paying these salaries.

Yes, talented people deserve to be compensated appropriately, but our elected officials have a responsibility to their constituents to operate with the taxpayers in mind.

Want to see what state employees are making? Check out The State’s salary database here.