AUGUSTA, Maine — Should Maine’s governor get a pay raise?
A bill that would raise the Governor of Maine’s salary and the expense allowance to paid legislators is once again taking shape.
If passed, the bill (LD 1379) would more than double the Governor of Maine’s salary to $150,000 starting in 2023. Governors of Maine have been paid $70,000 since 1987 when their salary increased from $35,000 a year. Governors in Maine are paid at one of the lowest rates in the country.
This isn’t the first time legislators have entertained the idea of raising the governor’s pay. Lawmakers talked about raising the governor’s salary in 2018 after then Gov. Paul LePage submitted a similar bill to increase the salary to $150,000 and rejected similar proposals before.
Current salaries of New England governors (according to Ballotpedia):
- Maine - $70,000
- Vermont - $145,538
- New Hampshire - $127,443
- Massachusetts - $151,800
- Rhode Island - $129,210
- Connecticut $150,000
Governors in Maine are elected to four-year terms with a limit of two consecutive terms, but a person can serve an unlimited number of terms as long as there are never more than two in a row.
