Republican "N.C. House Speaker Tillis gives his staff fat raises"

"House Speaker Thom Tillis in the last few months handed out raises as high as 27 percent
to half his staff
after vowing in January to set an example for others in state government
by cutting his office payroll.

For the rest of us State emloyees that haven't had a raise in three years,

while gas prices, food prices, etc. have soared, we salute you,

Mr. Tillis- with a one-finger salute!

Olblue

Tillis' general counsel Jason Kay got a 27 percent raise, from $110,000 a year to $140,000.

Chief of staff Charles Thomas got a 25 percent, $30,000-a-year increase, from $120,000 to $150,000.

...In all, Tillis gave raises to seven members of the 14-person staff he had before April.

Mr. Tillis, that is the people's money you are handing out as if it were your money.

If you had not given the staffers raises, would they had left?

Are you telling me that you would not have been able to hire someone else just as good or better

at $110,000?

There is no justification for what you have done given the economic conditions we now face.

You should retract this error in judgement and ask the people for forgiveness.

You should apologize to us, we the people.

I can imagine that for the staffer who went from $110k to $140k

that it will be difficult for them to actually live off of their $110k salary,

but tell them what you tell the rest of the State employees: deal with it!

uBnice

...Tillis said in January that his office payroll would be about 17 percent lower than that of his predecessor,
...by hiring fewer people and lowering salaries.

...Tillis' payroll is still about 10 percent higher and his staff is larger.

The (new) pigs are at the trough.

Trained in a corporate world where "perks" accrue to the powerful

and are paid for by the customer;

let's see them gorge themselves until someone wakes up and calls their hand.

mghood

...There has long been a double standard for employees who work for legislative leaders...

"They always find a way to give their staff members higher salaries and pay raises than the rest of state government," Cope said.

The state has been laying off workers since the recession hit.

After learning my current position will be cut due to budget reductions,

I'm so glad that my $26,000 a year can go to give one member of his staff a pay raise

they don't deserve while I go to the unemployment office. Thanks Tillis!

geothatcher

The $19.7 billion state budget the legislature approved last week
anticipates cutting hundreds more vacant and filled positions."

Hat Tip Doug Clark