COLUMBIA, S.C. — Pay raises could be on the way for the heads of dozens of state agencies after a subcommittee today considered 25 requests for increases and approved 22 of them.
The larger committee is tasked with approving or denying requests for salary increases for the heads of these agencies. An independent study spurred lawmakers to increase the salary range for state agencies by 8.5% at a June meeting.
Senator Greg Hembree says the study, from independent consulting firm Korn Ferry, found that many agency heads are due for pay increases as their expectations grew and inflation increased, making South Carolina less competitive.
“You’re not going to be able to keep these employees, these good qualified employees, unless the state government responds to that," said Hembree.
He says factors that go into evaluating these requests for increases include tenure, expectations for the job, performance, and how their salary compares to similar agencies.
"You’re competing with the private sector and you want quality talented people leading your agencies," said Hembree. "You know you want the brightest and best for South Carolina."
The subcommittee today recommended salary raises for 22 of the 25 requests while recommending no increase for one agency head and postponing further discussion on two of them for the larger committee, which includes Rep. Leon Howard,
Rep. Howard says many of these agency heads are underpaid compared to other states.
"Frankly 100% of our agency heads have a lot of talent and we don’t want to lose them to other agencies so we wanna at least be fair to our agency heads," said Rep. Howard.
A date has not yet been set for the next full committee meeting, where Senator Hembree will present the subcommittee recommendations.