Lieutenant governor, state officials nearer to pay hike

Tuesday, June 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A 150 percent boost for the lieutenant governor is among the pay raises approved by the Assembly for the state's elected officers.

If approved by the Senate, the increases will become effective in January 1999, when officials elected in 1998 take office. The last such pay raise was in January 1991.

The pay of the next governor will be $117,000, up 30 percent. The salary for the secretary of state, treasurer and controller will go from $62,500 to $80,000, up 28 percent, and the pay for the attorney general would rise from $85,000 to $110,000, a 29 percent increase.

The pay for the lieutenant governor would jump from $20,000 to $50,000.

The raises do not affect legislators, who are in for a raise under a separate bill.

Assemblyman Peter Ernaut, R-Reno, said he approves of all the raises except that for lieutenant governor because it's only a part-time position.

The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate when the Legislature is in session and receives an additional $7,800 in salary for the session. A proposed constitutional amendment is making its way through the Legislature, however, that would strip the lieutenant governor of this job. That could come before the voters in the 1998 election.

His other duties include serving as chairman of the state Tourism Commission and the Economic Development Commission.

Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren's chief of staff, Jeannine Coward, had pushed for the bill.

The vote on Assembly Bill 560 was 22-19, with Assemblyman David Goldwater, D-Las Vegas, abstaining. After the vote, he said, "I thought it was inappropriate to vote on an increase for an office I may someday run for."

Asked what office that might be, Goldwater said, "No comment."

Still sitting in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee is the bill to boost the pay for legislators from $7,800 a session to $11,100, a 42 percent increase. Lawmakers have not had a pay raise since 1987 when the current $130 a day become effective.

The bill also includes a boost in legislators' pension benefits and $350 a month during the off-session to offset costs such as telephones, stationery and travel.