Gov. Daniel J. McKee has proposed increasing the base annual salaries of 12 of his 13 cabinet directors with raises of between $3,000 and $25,000, depending on the department.
He originally proposed pay hikes of up to 43% for those department heads but scaled the increase back after claiming a misunderstanding of the state law governing such pay increases.
The governor claims the raises are needed to attract top-level talent and keep competitive with neighboring states.
The state Department of Administration can now forward a recommendation on the proposed hikes to the General Assembly, which would have 30 days to act.
If the General Assembly doesn’t act, then McKee’s proposal would take effect.
