Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, on Monday introduced legislation to raise the cap on what state officials can be paid.
Long standing state law has capped what state officials can be paid at 95 percent of what the governor makes. The exceptions to that limit are primarily medical doctors, psychiatrists and dentists plus employees of the university system.
Gov. Steve Sisolak currently makes $149,573 a year. Ninety-five percent of that is $142,094.
SB81 would change the rule to allow state officials to make up to 150 percent of the governor’s salary — $224,359.
Some officials have long complained that with directors’ salaries capped, they have a difficult time getting and retaining talented professionals to direct state agencies. A key problem, they argue, is that county and city governments can “poach” almost any talented state director because they offer much better pay and benefits.
The measure was referred to the Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections for review.
