Pa.'s Governor Corbett Tops National Salary List

By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent

HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania state government is a pretty sweet place to be an elected official for a few reasons. The state has the largest full-time legislature , they have the second-highest lawmaker salaries, and there’s no ban on how much money a candidate can raise to campaign for elected office.

Add this to the list of superlatives: Pennsylvania has the highest-paid governor.

Gov. Tom Corbett is the highest paid governor in the nation, according to a survey from a California state government commission examined governor salaries in all 50 states.

Corbett’s salary, at $183,255, topped the list.

But, as WITF’s Mary Wilson points out, Corbett may not be taking in as much as the numbers suggest.

[Corbett] vowed to accept no more than the salary in place at the time he was elected in 2010 — $174,914.

The Patriot-News reported this year that if he’s returning the automatic pay raises to the state treasurer, it’s not apparent on pay stubs.

The California commission was studying governor salaries to determine if Gov. Jerry Brown should receive a pay raise, along with other state officials. Brown is the seventh-highest paid governor in the nation, with annual pay at $165,288 over the last four years. The commission reported his 2012 salary was $173,000.

So Corbett, regardless of what reimbursements he may or may not be making, is paid more than the governor of the world’s ninth-largest economy.

He’s also paid more than the governors of New York, Illinois, Michigan, Virginia and New Jersey, who are near the top of the list with salaries in the high $170,000s.

Legislators in Pennsylvania were the second-highest earning full-time lawmakers in the nation according to 2012 compensation data, earning more than $82,000 a year. 

In 2013, that trend is likely to continue. After a 2.165 percent pay increases, Pennsylvania lawmakers earn $83,300. They can also collect per diems for legislative-related travel.

Only lawmakers in California earn more. They take home more than $92,000 annually.

Contact Melissa Daniels at melissa@paindependent.com