Fun With State Officials' Salaries

Did you know that Gov. Susana Martinez makes $28 more a year than the governor of South Dakota, but Lt. Gov. John Sanchez makes more than twice the salary of the lieutenant governor of Arkansas?

Neither did I until I stumbled upon this nifty document from the Council of State Governments, which lists the salaries of governors and other state officials from around the country.

New Mexico pays its governor $110,000 a year, which is on the low end of the scale. Only 10 states pay their governors lower salaries.

They are Arizona ($95;000); Arkansas ($86;890); Colorado ($90;000); Kansas ($99;636); Maine ($70;000); Montana ($108;167); Nebraska ($105;00); Oregon ($93;600); South Carolina ($106;078); South Dakota ($100;972); Utah ($109;470); and Wyoming ($105;000).

And currently Alabama is not paying Gov. Robert Bentley any salary. He has said he won't accept any pay until not accepting a salary (normally $120,000-plus)  until the unemployment rate in Alabama drops to 5.2 percent.

Governors in New Mexico make less than 17 lieutenant governors around the country. And more than half of the top fish and wildlife administrators in other states make more than the governor of New Mexico.

The highest paid governor is Pennsylvania's, who gets $187,256.