Idaho’s top elected officials would get bigger raises than state employees next year, and additional raises every year following for the next four years, under legislation that cleared a Senate committee this morning; the lieutenant governor's salary would jump nearly 20 percent. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com. Under SB 1395, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis and House Majority Leader Mike Moyle, the secretary of state, treasurer and state schools superintendent each would get a 2.5 percent raise next year and each year thereafter, as would the governor; while the lieutenant governor would get a 19.6 percent raise next year, then 2.5 percent each year thereafter. The Attorney General’s pay would be tied to that of district judges next year, meaning a 16 percent boost.

The Senate State Affairs Committee approved the bill on a voice vote; it’s now headed for the full Senate. It gives those top officials more than lawmakers are granting state employees, who are getting merit-based raises averaging 1 percent next year, plus one-time bonuses, also equal to 1 percent. The raises for the top officials would be granted for calendar years 2015, ’16, ’17, ’18, running through the first Monday in 2019, and over the next five fiscal years, would cost the state an additional $86,700.

The governor’s salary would rise from the current $119,000 to $121,975 next year, a 2.5 percent raise; by 2019, it would rise to $131,354. The lieutenant governor’s salary, now set at $35,700, would rise to $42,691 next year, and rise to 35 percent of the governor’s salary, or $45,973.90, by 2019.

The secretary of state, controller, treasurer and schools superintendent all make $101,150 now; they’d get $103,679 next year, and 85 percent of the governor’s salary, or $111,650.90, by 2019. That’s a 10.4 percent increase over that time period.

The Attorney General’s current salary is $107,100 a year. Under the bill, it would rise July 1 to $124,000, matching next year's proposed salary for state district judges, and stay at that level for four years.