Branstad says he's not worried about Iowa pay status

Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday he is not bothered that more than 2,100 state employees earn more than his yearly salary as the state's chief executive officer, noting that he knew the job paid $130,000 annually when he sought a return to Terrace Hill in 2010.

“My focus has not and never has been on the money. It's on service,” Branstad told reporters during his weekly news conference.

The governor noted that in private corporate structures, the CEO usually is the highest-paid individual in an organization, “but this is public service and I respect the fact that if you're going to take on a career in public service, you've got to be willing to make a financial sacrifice.”

Branstad said he took a significant pay cut when he stepped down as president of Des Moines University to make a successful bid for an unprecedented fifth, four-year term in 2010. “That doesn't bother me. My interest is to serve the people and accomplish as much as we can,” he said.

The latest state salary book made public last week by the Iowa Department of Administrative Services indicated that 2,159 state employees were paid more than the governor's yearly salary in the latest fiscal year.

“I knew what the job paid when I ran for it so that does not concern me,” Branstad said. “My interest is not the money, but it's what I can do to serve the people of Iowa.”

Last session, Branstad proposed a salary package that would have raised the pay for statewide elected officials, state lawmakers and judges. The Legislature balked at raising elected officials' salaries, but did provide what Branstad called a “modest" pay increases for judges.

Under that proposal, the governor's yearly salary would have grown to $141,710 as part of a pay boost for elected officials that would not have taken effect until after the 2014 election had been held.

Salaries for Iowa legislators and top statewide elected officials were last raised in 2005. At that time, the 17.3 percent increased vaulted Iowa's gubernatorial salary to 16

^th

highest nationwide, but the $130,000 yearly pay has since slipped into a tie for 26

^th

place nationally with Louisiana.

Governors are paid an average of $133,348 a year for their work, according to new data released by the Council of State Governments. Some governors' salaries include travel allowances, official residences, chauffeured automobiles and access to airplanes, helicopters or other perks.

In 2013, governors in Idaho, Indiana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Tennessee got raises, with an average raise of $4,115. The average annual gubernatorial salary has decreased only once in the past decade, in 2010, when governors in California, Florida and Hawaii saw their pay cut.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, has the highest salary at $187,256, but he has voluntarily refused cost-of-living adjustments so his actual take-home pay is about $175,000. Maine Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, has the lowest salary at $70,000.

Branstad acknowledged that lawmakers likely would not consider the topic in the upcoming 2014 election-year session, and he told reported he would “definitely not” want to see Iowa consider a system whereby elected officials would receive automatic pay hikes tied to other pay agreements or inflationary factors. “Automatic increases would be absolutely wrong,” he said. “I would not support that.”