Well, now that we know that man-slaughtering Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg is going to get off with at most three misdemeanor charges, the Republican Legislature can talk about raising Jason’s pay.
Yes, really. House Bill 1232 proposes raising the Attorney General’s base salary on July 1, 2022, to $125,000. Ravnsborg currently earns $118,603.03 a year to sit around and lose cases. If he continues to ignore duty, conscience, and public outrage and doesn’t resign, he’ll get the standard state pay raise this year, maybe 2.5%, to $121,600. Then HB 1232 will boost his base salary to $125,000 before applying the next state employee adjustment. If that’s another 2.5% in 2022, Jason’s salary would rise to over $128,000, putting him an extra 2.8% better off than he would be without HB 1232.
If the court punishes Ravnsborg to the fullest extent of the laws he’s charged with violating, his fines would total $1,500. That would leave him with $2,000 in mad money from his HB 1232 raise to put toward buying himself a new used red Taurus, or a nice iPhone with a Do Not Disturb While Driving feature.
Joe Boever, of course, will get no raise this year or next year, because Jason Ravnsborg killed him.
HB 1232 isn’t just a Jason bill. HB 1232 would raise the Governor’s base pay from the current $118,728.04 to $130,000. Jason’s raise comes in second; the other constitutional officers—Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer, and Commissioner of School and Public Lands, get raises to $113,000. Those offices are all currently down at $94,906.79. Public Utilities Commissioners get no extra love, apparently since they’ve already somehow jumped the raise queue and are making $110,684.27. The Lieutenant Governor already got his huge promotion from the Governor from half-time $55K to full-time $104K, so Larry should be happy with what he’s got.
HB 1232 also does not address the Governor’s hand-picked Cabinet secretaries, who almost all make more than the A.G. and the Governor without ever having to face a public vote. The only Cabinet secertaries not making more than the A.G. and the Governor are the Secretary of Tribal Relations ($115,005.00) and the Secretary of Veterans’ Affairs ($108,732.00).
In a remarkable double-exercise in bad timing, House State Affairs has Jason’s pay raise and the others’ on its Monday agenda, February 22, at an unusual 6:30 a.m. Central. We’d all like the Attorney General to come over at dawn and testify… but Jason, please, for everyone’s safety, just walk over.
$118,603.03 a year?
I think anyone with compassion for humanity and a mind sparkling with inspiration could do SO MANY better things, cool things, on a salary of 3 cents a year, or even $3.03 a year!
We can all do so many great things!
The state has no mechanisms in place for a salary freeze or pay reduction for someone like Borg, who has been charged with 3 misdemeanors while in office.
It is up to us to create new offices and new jobs, and show these Rs how things can be!
We have to think outside the box!
Can you imagine, like Borg, drawing $118,000 a year, and NOT defending recreational marijuana, a law the people passed? No, I can’t.
Let’s use our imagination and create jobs that pay $3 a year and we are doing unbelievable good and great things for humanity! For the environment, for the Native tribes, for jobs, for everyone!
We are left with a choice each day.
We can be disgusted with the powers that be and waste our important energy and talk about it.
Or we can reflect for a few seconds and Create new things and new jobs to benefit Everyone!
We all can do it!
All the constitutional executive branch officers should receive the same pay scale. Period. None of them is more special than another. They are public servants. If they want to chase a paycheck they should go elsewhere for they have the wrong motivation and values.
Remember those poor cabinet appointees are expected (required?) to pony up about $5K to support the Governess’s campaign, so We The People probably ought to kick in a little more to help them out.
Mr. John, are you insaner than most? You think that the Attorney General (Ravnsborg excepted) with hundreds of employees or the Secretary of State with real important duties about elections has the same importance as the School Commissioner with maybe a dozen employees or the Treasurer who has maybe 5 or 6 employees and in past decades never ever sat foot in the Capitol and just drew his salary *cough*Butlerthelibbie*cough* (not a covid cough) or another seat-hopping official today who even the GOP tried to legislate to have to make him come to work? You are indeed insaner than most, this is not socialism. Those who work harder should get more. Those who coast on the public dime and do not even work should get less, and get voted out. To really fix this, we need to make it so Mr. Ravnsborg should not get to coast into the General Election with a proud (R) behind his name because a bunch of wingnuts appointed him at the conventions. We need to have primary elections for the constitutional officers. Then, we the Conservatives with Common Sense can drub out those dead weights who coast into the General with an (R) to clean house on the appointed libbie. We can send some real, hard working fellows to clean house on the appointed libbie.
Who’s the “libbie”?