Governor Blocks $2.85 Minimum Wage Increase After Giving Staffers $73,405 Raises

[applegrove]

Governor Blocks $2.85 Minimum Wage Increase After Giving Staffers $73,405 Raises
by Aaron Rupar at Think Progress

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/03/17/3761458/robert-bentley-alabama-raises-minimum-wage/

"SNIP.............


When the city Birmingham, Alabama voted last month to give its lowest-paid workers a $2.85 raise, Republican Gov. Robert Bentley signed a bill banning Alabama cities from raising their minimum wages at all. Now, news has emerged that Bentley recently gave four of his cabinet members $73,405 raises — an 80 percent increase from the $91,000 salaries they were making previously.

One of the beneficiaries of the raises, Alcoholic Beverage Control Board Administrator Mac Gipson, argues his previous $91,000 salary wasn’t sufficient to attract the best talent from the private sector. But an author of the bill that gave Bentley the authority to raise cabinet members’ salaries in the first place says the 80 percent boosts are “outrageous.”

I’m troubled by the amount of raises that I’ve read about,” Sen. Arthur Orr (R) told al.com.

The raises reportedly went into effect late last year, though news of them just broke this week. While the $73,405 salary increases were the largest, more than a dozen members of Bentley’s cabinet and a number of his staff members reportedly received raises as well.



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[Frustratedlady]

1. The economy must be roaring to bring such a raise as that. eom

[Jackie Wilson Said]

2. It may actually be correct that the cabinet positions do need to make more, what people

like this will never do, though, is acknowledge that EVERYBODY needs to.

Greedy assholes is what I call them.

[KamaAina]

3. "his previous $91,000 salary wasn’t sufficient to attract the best talent from the private sector"?

In Alabama?! That's a bloody fortune down there!

[Nevernose]

4. As long as he hates The Gays, right?

Surely hating gays and not giving welfare to "those" people (wink-wink) justifies voting against one's own economic interests, right?

[DAMANgoldberg]

5. North Carolina has its share of crazys...

but my home state of Alabama is becoming totally unlivable, even from my Caucasian friends. Maybe its just as well as my Alma Mater is just 30 mi West of GA. Granted GA outside of metro Atlanta is no picnic, but Alabama is rapidly turning into Kansas or vice versa.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Ghosts of George Wallace and beyond, down here.

I am so lucky that I have no need at all to travel beyond my county, the rural life is somewhat sanitized from herds of crazies down here.