Pay increases sought for some senior officials in R.I. government

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Salaries are going up by anywhere from 3 percent to 19 percent for top-level administrators in select corners of state government, but proposed raises for the three full-time members of the state's rate-setting Public Utilities Commission were placed on hold Monday amid questions about their legality.

This one was straightforward: Ken Wagner, the state's commissioner of elementary and secondary education, is getting a raise that will boost his overall pay — including reimbursements for his pension contributions — from $212,106 to $218,424 a year, starting on July 24.

Spokesman Elliot Krieger attributed the increase to a provision in Wagner's contract that calls for a 3 percent raise subject to Department of Administration approval.

This one is a bit more complicated: the three-members of the PUC — the panel that sets rates, tolls and tariffs for public utilities — were each slated for four pay-grade bumps "to bring their salaries more into line with similar commissions in other states,'' according to DOA spokeswoman Brenna McCabe.

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