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Maine state government salary

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This page describes the compensation, salaries, and benefits that Maine's public employees receive from state and local government.

Elected officials salaries

State Government Employee Salaries[1]
Office '10 Salary Current Official
Governor $70,000 Paul LePage
Attorney General $83,844 William Schneider
Secretary of State $92,248 Charles Summers Jr.
Treasurer of State $83,844 Bruce Poliquin

The salary of Maine's governor ranks 50th among U.S. governors' salaries. The average salary earned by U.S. governors is $128,735. The median salary earned by U.S. governors is $129,962.[2]

Legislators' salary

Maine state legislators make $13,852 per year for first regular session and $9,661 per year for second regular session.[3] Legislators also receive $38/day housing, or mileage and tolls in lieu of housing (up to $38/day) plus $32/day for meals.[3] Per diem limits are set by statute.[4]

Judicial salaries

Maine Judicial Salaries[5]
Position '09 Salary Current Justice
Chief Justice $138,294 Leigh Ingalls Saufley
Associate Justice $119,476 Joseph Jabar
Associate Justice $119,476 Donald Alexander
Associate Justice $119,476 Jon Levy
Associate Justice $119,476 Warren Silver
Associate Justice $119,476 Andrew Mead
Associate Justice $119,476 Ellen Gorman

The salary of Maine's chief justice ranks 39th among U.S. chief justices' salaries. The average salary earned by U.S. chief justices is $155,230. The median salary earned by U.S. chief justices is $151,284.[5]

The salary of Maine's associate justices ranks 47th among U.S. associate justices' salaries. The average salary earned by U.S. associate justices is $151,142. The median salary earned by U.S. associate justices is $145,984.[5]

State and local employees

According to 2008 Census data, the state of Maine and local governments in the state employed a total of 102,812 people.[6] Of those employees, 68,424 were full-time employees receiving a net pay of $238,495,641 per month and 34,388 were part-time employees paid $24,146,291 per month.[6] More than 54% of those employees, or 56,31 employees, were in education or higher education.[6]

The Maine State Payroll is posted in searchable form on MaineOpenGov. A searchable database of local government salaries is also found at MaineOpenGov.[7]

Teacher Salaries

The cost per student in Maine is $13,454, it is the 15 highest cost in the nation.[8] Maine's school system is currently $788 million in debt.[8]

Maine's education costs are 43% of the state budget

In Maine, how teachers are assessed and rewarded varies from school district to school district and largely depends on negotiations with teachers unions. [9]

Teacher Salaries [10]
Beginning Teacher Salary Average Salary
$38,523 $48,627

Maine teachers participate in the Maine State Employee and Teacher Retirement Program.

State employee benefits

Employees of the State of Maine receive many benefits. Benefits make up between 35% and 44% of state employee overall compensation in 2009, depending on the department in which they worked.[11]

Insurance

Health The State of Maine offers employees enrollment in its HMO health insurance plan.[12] It includes prescription drug coverage.[13]

Dental Dental insurance is available to full or part-time employees, with the State contributing $13.29 biweekly for full-time employees.[14]

Vision Although the health insurance includes some vision coverage, employees may add supplemental vision insurance and have a choice among several plans.[15]

Long Term Care Insurance Employees have the option of purchasing long term care insurance.[16]

Vacation Commonwealth employees receive 11 1/2 vacation days per year.[17]

  • New Year's
  • Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday
  • Presidents Day
  • Patriot's Day
  • Memorial Day
  • Independence Day
  • Labor Day
  • Columbus Day
  • Veterans Day
  • Thanksgiving
  • The Day After Thanksgiving
  • Christmas

Other Leave 11 Shutdown days per year. UNPAID

Retirement

Employees may also participate in a deferred compensation plan.[18] Employees also contribute to Maine Employee Retirement System.[19]

As prescribed in Maine’s constitution, the state has been funding the Maine Public Employees Retirement System (MainePERS) in amounts equal to the annual required contributions calculated according to Governmental Accounting Standards Board rules since 1998.[20]

MainePERS asset-to-liability level is only 67.7% for current pension plans, with the plan’s funding ratio also suffering from investment losses.[20] Currently, the pension plan has $8.3 billion of assets to cover the $12.3 billion of pension benefits promised.[20] Federal law considers a pension plan “endangered” when its funding ratio falls below 80 percent.[20] A study by the Institute for Truth in Accounting has said that Maine taxpayers have lost on average 3,000 in 2010 because of nvestment losses at PERS.[21]

Other benefits

  • Flexible Spending Accounts
  • Employee Assistance Program - a separate program from the mental health benefits available under the health insurance plan[22]

Additional reading

External links

References

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