By Howard Fischer | AZ Capitol Times
The head of the Senate Education Committee thinks the salaries of the presidents of state’s the three universities is “obscenely high.”
So Sen. David Farnsworth is proposing to cap their pay at $500,000 a year – far lower than any of them are now making.
His SB1453 also has a provision to prevent the Board of Regents from getting around that limit.
The legislation by the Mesa Republican would limit bonuses and benefits to no more than 15% of their salary. And those add-ons could be paid “only for performance that both exceeds the president’s assigned duties and directly benefits the institution’s students, staff or faculty.”
But the idea is getting a chilly reception from Gov. Katie Hobbs even though her $90,000 a year salary is just a fraction of what the university presidents get, and despite the fact she is responsible for a state general fund budget that is approaching $18 billion.
“I support cutting out expenses wherever we can, wherever possible,” she said Tuesday. But the governor said she wants to be sure the state is getting “the best of the best.”
