Gov. Dan McKee and House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi have rarely, if ever, butted heads in their four years leading the executive and legislative branches.
That might be about to change.
The Rhode Island House of Representatives is slated to vote at 4 p.m. Tuesday on a resolution rejecting McKee’s proposal to raise salaries for 11 of his department heads.
If approved by both chambers before the May 18 deadline, the veto would mark the first instance of the legislature exercising its legal power to reject the executive’s annual cabinet raises.
McKee insists the annual pay bumps are necessary to attract and retain top workers to the state, matching other state government jobs and the private industry.
“When the Governor came into office, many cabinet salaries had fallen behind industry standards, failed to keep up with inflation, and in some cases, were lower than the salaries of other department staff—making it difficult to recruit from out of state or promote from within.,” Olivia DaRocha, a McKee spokesperson, said in a statement Monday,
Shekarchi, who as House Speaker has final say over the state’s annual budget, says it’s not the time to dole out raises.
“Given the current challenging budget outlook, as well as the tremendous uncertainty in Washington, the House members strongly feel we must reject these requested raises,” Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat, said in a statement Monday afternoon. “This is no reflection on the job performance of the Cabinet members.”
The House resolution has roughly 65 co-sponsors; Every member who was in attendance at the last session on May 8 signed the resolution, Larry Berman, a House spokeperson said. Supporters include House Minority Leader Mike Chippendale, a Foster Republican; House Majority Leader Christopher Blazejewski, a Providence Democrat; House Finance Chairman Martin Abney, a Newport Democrat; and the chamber’s lone independent, Rep. Jon Brien of Woonsocket.
The annual authorization for the state’s executive to raise department heads’ pay each April is typically met with passive approval by the Rhode Island General Assembly. Under state law, the governor’s proposed cabinet raises automatically take effect within 30 days unless both chambers take formal action to reject them through a joint, concurrent resolution.
The Senate has not yet scheduled a vote to stop the raises as of Monday; its leadership is still discussing the resolution, and has not decided whether to take action, Greg Paré, a Senate spokesperson, said.
In 2022, McKee walked back his initial salary increases, agreeing to spread out pay bumps over two years in response to concerns from lawmakers. In 2013, former Gov. Lincoln Chafee in 2013 withdrew his proposed 6% raises for cabinet heads due to concern from legislative leaders of both parties, according to news reports.
But there’s no record of the legislature ever taking formal action to reject proposed cabinet raises, Larry Berman, a spokesperson for Shekarchi, said previously.
When McKee rolled out raises for 11 cabinet members in March, Shekarchi appeared caught off-guard, telling WPRO in a March 24 interview that he found out about the proposed salary hikes by reading a Providence Journal story published days earlier. Shekarchi expressed reservations about doling out raises given the state’s forecasted budget deficit. McKee stood firm.
McKee’s proposal includes 5% raises for nine cabinet heads, along with a 2% raise for Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti Jr., and a 0.5% bump for Col. Darnell Weaver, Rhode Island State Police superintendent and director of the public safety department.
The proposed increases, combined, would cost an additional $82,000 combined.
DaRocha described the raises as “modest” and “fiscally responsible.”
On Friday, state budget crunchers adopted revised revenue forecasts predicting an $80 million boost to state coffers in the current year and the upcoming one.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
