NASHVILLE – The head of a state employees’ group today called it a “slap in the face” for Republican Gov. Bill Haslam to have hiked the minimum pay of state commissioners by 11 percent to $150,000 a year.
“We are shocked to hear this,” Tennessee State Employees Association President Phil Morson said in a statement.
Morson said the “remainder of the state employee workforce has gone over 3 years with no salary increase, but the governor gives his cabinet huge raises as they walk in the door.”
“This is unfair. It is a slap in the face to the everyday state worker who has the same right as those at the top to be valued for their hard work and competence.”
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Haslam quietly increased the minimum pay for commissioners.