Other officials up for large pay raises

• By MARSHA SHULER
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jul 1, 2008 - Page: 4A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Louisiana Department of Economic Development Deputy Secretary Steve Grissom is in line for a $94,040 pay increase over his predecessor.

His boss, state Economic Development, Secretary Stephen Moret’s pay is scheduled to go up $75,000 over the last agency secretary today.

Meanwhile, the state’s public health chief, Rony Francois, has a $60,300 raise over the last person who headed that office.

Gov. Bobby Jindal included money for the raises for his administration’s appointees in the proposed $29.9 billion state operating budget. House Bill 1 — the budget legislation — sits on Jindal’s desk. The governor has line-item veto authority, meaning he can reject part of the budget without vetoing the whole thing.

The pay raises for Jindal appointees are the largest of any approved during the 2008 Legislature. They are more than the $20,700 base salary increase he vetoed for legislators on Monday.

Jindal called “excessive” the legislators’ increase in base pay from $16,800 to $37,500.

Pay raises included in HB1 will push Moret’s salary to $320,000 a year and Grissom’s to $237,500. Another $52,564 is included for “related benefits” for the two, according to Legislative Fiscal Office documents.

As Moret’s compensation was debated in the Legislature, state Rep. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge, noted that it is more than that of Vice President Dick Cheney’s.

The House voted to set Moret’s pay at $245,000, but the Senate restored it to the full $320,000. The House then went along with the Senate changes.

The pay for Francois, a physician, will hit $180,000 during the new budget year that begins today. His predecessor, Sharon Howard, was not a physician.

The proposed state budget includes a $1,019 pay raise for Louisiana teachers and a one-time $1,000 bonus for school support workers.

Also approved by the Legislature is a $5,000-a-year pay increase for assistant district attorneys throughout the state. It’s part of a phased-in pay package approved in 2006. The raise will push salaries from $40,000 annually to $45,000.

Other bills have been sent to the governor’s desk that provide for pay raises.