Here's Why Janet Mills Won't Benefit From The Pay Raise

Welcome to the new year. Here's to new beginnings, new challenges and, hopefully, resolutions that we can actually stick to.

With the new year also comes new laws. Each year, in pretty much every state, bills that have been passed by state legislatures become law at 12:01 am on January 1st of the new year. Maine is no exception.

Among several new bills that became law, is a bill that increases Maine's gubernatorial salary. Now, before you start complaining that Janet Mills doesn't deserve a raise, or that the next Republican Governor won't deserve the raise, let's just take politics right out of it, okay?

According to an article by the Kennebec Journal, the Maine Governor's salary is the lowest in the entire country. Yes, that means that 49 other governors are making more money than our own governor here in Maine.

This is partly why Maine lawmakers voted to not only increase their own pay, but the governor's as well. However, current governor, Janet Mills, won't reap the benefits of the nice salary bump.

The current salary for the Maine governor is $70,000, which is staggeringly low for a state governor. Maine lawmakers voted to increase that salary to $125,000 annually. However, the change doesn't take full effect until the next governor is sworn in in 2026.

Additionally, the KJ reported that the governor's 'expense' account will increase from $10,000 annually to $40,000 annually.

While Maine will still be below the national average on what our governor makes, it at least gets us a little bit closer in 2026.