Gov. Dannel Malloy and two members of his cabinet signed a document changing the pay ranges and classification for the top echelon of state officials on Jan. 13, 2011, just a week after his inauguration.
The changes made by the document, Item 1632-E Revised Executive Pay Schedule, were retroactive to Jan. 6, the first full day of the Malloy administration. Office of Policy and Management Secretary Benjamin Barnes and Department of Administrative Services Commissioner Donald DeFronzo also signed off on the policy.
The document defined which officials fall into each pay grade and set their respective pay ranges.
Only six employees appear to have benefited from the changes and to varying degrees, with additional pay ranging from less than $200 up to nearly $9,000.
“This item was a revision to the EX pay scales for agency heads, deputies and other executive appointees,” said DAS spokesman Jeffrey Beckham. “The changes were made to streamline the plan and to accommodate additional appointed official classes that were outside of the EX pay plan previously. The plan went from six to five levels.”
Beckham said the new structure eliminated two pay grades, EX1A and EX2A, and added a new lower one, EX05.
Officials in the highest pay grade, EX01, like Barnes, DeFronzo and other commissioners would receive pay between $124,836 and $218,618.
The bottom of the range remained the same, but the top increased $34,373 from a previous level of $184,245.
The maximum pay for EX02 increased by $21,423 to $184,245.
The pay ranges for EX03 and EX04 did not change.
All of the executive pay grades changed on July 12, 2013. The minimums increased by 2.9 percent and the maximums went up 8.7 percent.
Despite all the changes to the pay scale, few employees have benefitted to date.
According to an analysis of fiscal year 2013 salaries on the state’s transparency website, the change allowed four employees to earn more than they would have without the policy change:
The deputy insurance commissioner moved from EX04 to EX03 allowing Anne Melissa Dowling to earn $123,085 or $8,826 above the old maximum.
The commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development moved from EX02 to EX01 allowing Catherine Smith to earn $169,348 or $6,526 above the previous maximum.
State Fire Administrator Jeffrey Morrissette earned $108,740 or about $2,761 above the old pay scale maximum for the position.
Department of Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor earned $146 above the old maximum, $184,391.
In fiscal year 2012 two other employees exceeded the old maximum – Insurance Commissioner Thomas Leonardi and State Police Col. Danny Stebbins – but their salaries fell in 2013.
They each earned about $2,500 more than the old minimum for their respective positions in 2012. For Leonardi, the increase was enabled because the insurance commissioner moved from EX03 to EX02.