When he was a candidate, John Bel Edwards said Louisiana’s cabinet secretaries were paid too much by then-Gov. Bobby Jindal, calling the salaries “exorbitant.” But The Associated Press reports that since he moved into the governor’s office, Edwards has kept most of those salaries in place and boosted them further in some instances.
Edwards is paying the leaders of three executive branch agencies more than they received under his predecessor, according to payroll data and pay rate announcements reviewed by The Associated Press. And the governor has kept most other cabinet secretary salaries intact even though some were criticized as excessive when Jindal hired people at those rates.
Top advisers in the governor’s office are getting higher paychecks as well, with more six-figure salaries for Edwards’ executive staff than Jindal paid.
Decisions by Edwards to keep Jindal’s salary levels—and bump some paychecks higher—come as Louisiana grapples with its worst budget troubles in nearly 30 years. Public colleges and health services are threatened with deep cuts, and Edwards is asking lawmakers to raise taxes to fill gaps.
Edwards receives a $130,000 salary outlined in state law. His office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment by The Associated Press about why the governor decided to keep the salaries paid by his Republican predecessor.
The highest-paid cabinet official in the Edwards administration is Revenue Secretary Kimberly Robinson, who is tasked with helping devise and shepherd through the Legislature a tax package aimed at raising new money to help stabilize the budget. Robinson kept the same pay Jindal gave his last revenue secretary, Tim Barfield: $250,000 a year.
When Jindal announced Barfield’s salary three years ago, it caused consternation in the Legislature because it was twice what the job paid previously. Barfield initially took a different title to get that pay rate, in a work-around until the Legislature agreed to raise the salary cap. Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party, unsuccessfully tried to block Barfield’s appointment.
While he kept the revenue secretary salary flat, Edwards boosted another of the top paychecks in his administration, to Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne, who serves as the governor’s chief financial adviser and is leading state budget-rebalancing efforts. A Republican former lieutenant governor, Dardenne is receiving a $237,500 annual salary, a more than $33,000 increase.
Drawing the same salary is Edwards’ pick for economic development secretary, Don Pierson. His $237,500 pay rate is less than the $320,000 Jindal gave Stephen Moret in the economic development job—a widely-disparaged salary. But Pierson is receiving the same salary as the man who filled the job after Moret left state government.
Edwards bumped up the pay for his transportation secretary by nearly $7,000 to $176,900 annually. The governor also raised the salary for the state’s chief coastal adviser to $165,000 a year, a $30,000 increase. Salaries have been raised for Edwards’ executive staff as well.
Read the full story, and check out a full listing of how Edwards’ cabinet salaries compare to what Jindal paid.
