Live Governors and Dead Presidents

posted by Zach Patton

Stateline has a pretty interesting look at governors' annual salaries, which range from over $200,000 at the top end all the way down to a dollar a year.

Gov. John Baldacci of Maine is the lowest-paid governor in the nation, with a yearly salary of $70,000.

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, with annual pay of $179,000, is the highest paid governor who actually accepts a salary.

Three heads of state refuse to accept a salary -- two of them return their paychecks to their state, and one will accept a salary of only a dollar.

Wanna guess who they are?

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, a Wall Street multimillionaire, only accepts $1 as his yearly pay.

Arnold Schwarzenegger would be the nation's highest-paid state exec, with a salary of $206,500, but he returns his check to the state every year.

And Tennessee's Phil Bredesen, who amassed wealth in health insurance, also gives his pay ($85,000 a year) back to the state.

Comments

[Gene]

I believe the returned salary becomes an available charitable contribution (tax deduction) which impacts all taxpayers, not just those in their individual states.