September 29, 2009

A bill in the last legislative session that quietly became law has allowed the heads of three of the state's financial industry regulators to receive raises of up to 67 percent.The law removed the agencies — the Texas Department of Banking, the Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending and the Office of the Consumer Credit Commissioner — from legislative budget approval as of Sept. 1. On Sept. 21, the state Finance Commission unanimously approved the raises for the agency heads.

Consumer Credit Commissioner Leslie Pettijohn received a raise of 67 percent for fiscal 2010 compared with what she made in fiscal 2009, when her agency's budget was subject to legislative control. Her pay jumped from about $100,000 a year to about $167,000. (The new figure includes $12,000 for her current role as executive director of the Finance Commission.)Douglas Foster, the commissioner of the Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending, got a 55 percent raise to $155,000 this fiscal year.