The Senate bill which would have increased the salaries of the Governor and Lt. Governor was apparently wrong. This is according to the sponsors of the bill, Senate President Tuaolo Manaia Fruean and Senate President Pro Tem Magalei Logovii.
They said at a discussion on the bill this morning by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, that the Senate attorney who drafted the bill was in error. The salaries of the Governor and Lt. Governor are not being increased rather, the bill only seeks to change the formula to determine the allowance of previous governors.
After the Committee discussion, the bill was corrected reverting the salary of the Governor to $120,000 instead of raising it to $150,000 and that of the Lt. Governor to $100,000 instead of raising it to $140,000.
The bill, meanwhile, provides that a former Governor will receive an allowance which is 60% of the current Governor’s salary. In other words 60% of $120,000.
At present, a past Governor is paid 60% of the highest salary they were paid while in office.
Tuaolo said that with the cost of living going up, it was appropriate to peg the allowance of those who served as Governor, to the salary of the current Governor. He said, only two past Governors are being paid this allowance, Togiola Tulafono and Lolo Moliga; but the bill is not designed for just them but for others in the future.
Senator Togiola Tulafono, a former Governor, urged his colleagues to not act with haste on hiking the salaries, pointing out that it’s too soon after they raised the salaries of the two leaders last year.
Senate President Tuaolo said, the salary hikes in the bill were a mistake and the bill has been corrected. He said, the focus of the bill was to set an appropriate salary for former Governors, to reward them for their work while in office.
Senator Togiola Tulafono, a former Governor, said that while he appreciates the Senate President’s concern, he wanted to give senators advice about why this was not a good move.
He explained that the retirement payouts for all retirees are based on the salaries they earned while on the job, and this should also be the case for a past Governor.
He said, this allowance is fully paid by the government — as provided by law without any contribution by the past governor, unlike retirement for ASG employees who contribute together with the government. He said, the bill will not sit well with the public.
Togiola said, the issue that the Fono should address is the high salaries of semiautonomous agencies, which exceed the salaries of the Governor and Lt. Governor.
“ASPA started this practice,” said Togiola, “when the CEO’s salary was set equal to that of the Lt. Governor then other benefits like housing, travel and others (which combined), pushed the salary way much higher.”
Togiola also expressed concern at the shortfall in revenue collections for the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2022 and how this would impact government operations.
He warned that while federal funding due to COVID is generating record revenues, this will dry up when the grants end.
The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee voted to report the bill to the full Senate for a vote.
During its second reading, the bill was approved with changes.
The salaries of the Governor and Lt. Governor remain at $120,000 and $100,000 respectively. The allowance for a past Governor would be set at 60% of $120,000, the current salary of the Governor.
