The Legislative Council on Friday approved Gov. Asa Hutchinson's request to grant pay raises of almost 1.5 percent to the secretaries of three departments starting July 1.
Without any discussion, the panel of legislators OK'd boosting the salaries of:
• Cindy Gillespie at the Department of Human Services from $283,000 to $287,042 a year.
• Johnny Key at the Department of Education from $236,00o to $239,361 a year.
• Nathaniel Smith at the Department of Human Services from $222,000 to $225,306.
They will become department secretaries under the governor's reorganization in which the number of agencies reporting to the chief executive will be reduced from 42 to 15.
The Legislative Council's approval is required for the raises for Gillespie, Key and Smith because their salaries exceed the other Cabinet secretaries' annual salary range of $167,096 to $201,700 that the panel authorized last month.
Nonetheless, 10 of the 15 Cabinet secretaries will make less than $167,096 a year in fiscal 2020, which starts July 1, Kay Barnhill, the state's personnel director, said.
The salaries for the secretaries will total $2.59 million -- up $154,302 from their current salaries -- that will be paid out of existing budgets, according to the governor's office.
During Tuesday's meeting of the Legislative Council's personnel subcommittee, Sen. James Sturch, R-Batesville, asked whether state officials had considered granting the same salary to each Cabinet secretary like the federal government does.
Hutchinson considered the federal model, but opted to pay differing salaries to his secretaries, who are responsible for a varying number of employees, Barnhill said.
The Department of Human Services has 7,110 employees, while the Department of Health has 2,074 employees and the Department of Education has 804 employees, Barnhill said Thursday in a 16-page letter to state lawmakers.
Barnhill said in the letter that the federal Office of Personnel Management indicated that federal Cabinet secretaries earn a uniform annual salary of $210,700. A pay freeze for top federal officials lapsed during the government shutdown that began in late December, raising Cabinet secretaries' pay from a uniform annual salary of $199,700.
Metro on 06/22/2019