Nevada legislative staffers make big bucks

Fifty-four legislative staffers earned more than $100,000 as a result of overtime during Nevada's 2007 session, including 18 who made more than the governor's own salary of $141,000, according to a Las Vegas Review-Journal report Wednesday.

The report on the Legislative Counsel Bureau salaries followed criticism by Democratic lawmakers of Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons for giving big raises to his staff in tough economic times.

Some defended the legislative staff pay, including Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, who has criticized the governor for giving the raises when he is proposing

6 percent salary cuts for state employees and teachers.

"I'm not surprised at this effort to divert attention from the substantial pay raises," she said. "But it is important to remember that 2007 was a legislative session where our staff worked 18 hours a day for 120 days."

Gibbons' director of communications, whose own $110,000 salary came under fire, said members of the governor's staff also are expected to work overtime but don't get overtime pay.

"We are not begrudging them (legislative employees) their salaries in any way," said communications director Daniel Burns. "It just seems the spotlight is particularly intense on us, when it is not showing at all on the LCB and any other agency."

Six-figure salaries in the governor's office resulted from promotions and combining jobs for overall office savings. In the Legislative Counsel Bureau, pay rose as the

workload increased during the 2007 session.

Top lawyers and fiscal analysts generally earn $30,000 to $50,000 in overtime payments during the odd-numbered years when the Legislature holds its 120-day regular session, said counsel bureau administrator Lorne Malkiewich. Base pay for top legislative staff members is $120,000 to $130,000 a year.

Topping the legislative pay scale was Legislative Counsel Brenda Erdoes, who made $218,392, including overtime, in 2007.

Fiscal analysts Gary Ghiggeri and Mark Stevens made $180,803 and $168,548, respectively, that year, including overtime. Malkiewich earned $152,335.

About 400 employees work for the Legislature during years with legislative sessions, including 70 or 80 part-time workers. The budget of the Legislative Counsel Bureau is just above $30 million.