Here's a news item from the Associated Press: LEWISTON, Idaho (AP) — The governor got a pay raise this year, but he still earns less than half of what some of Idaho's public university presidents take home. The Lewiston Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/wkYE7H ) the state gave Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter a 4 percent salary increase in the current fiscal year. Otter now makes about $115,300, up from $110,700 during the last fiscal year. In comparison, Boise State University President Bob Kustra and University of Idaho President Duane Nellis each earn about $335,000 a year. According to the state controller's office, 261 state employees earned more than the governor as of this month. That's down from last year, when nearly 300 employees made more than Otter, according to a report released last Friday.

ADDITIONAL INFO: Here's an excerpt from a post from this blog on March 30, 2010, regarding HB 692, which passed that year to set raises for top state elected officials for the next four years; under the state constitution, their pay must be set before their terms start, and not changed during the term:

"Here are some of Gov. Butch Otter’s reactions to the just-concluded legislative session:



TOP PAY: The governor praised a pay bill for the state’s top elected officials put together by House Speaker Lawerence Denney and Senate President Pro-Tem Bob Geddes, which cuts pay next year, restores it the following year, then grants raises the next two years. “I think the Legislature did the right thing,” Otter said. “They cut back on all of the officials, and then allowed for hopefully within the growth of the economy increases the third and fourth years out.” Otter said he’s donated any raises he’s received since 2007; he liked the idea of allowing officials to reject raises - now forbidden - but acknowledged that that didn’t get done."