Pay Hike Sought for Utah Examiners

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah legislature is moving ahead this month with a pay hike for bank and credit union examiners. A bill passed out favorably Feb. 17 by the House Business and Labor Standing Committee would set up a new pay scale aimed at bringing salary parity with federal examiners. The measure, whose sponsors include Rep. Jeff Alexander (R-Provo), the author of anti-CU tax bills and resolutions, would keep qualified workers from gravitating to higher paying federal positions and halt the job drain. The Utah League of Credit Unions said it had “no reason” to object to the bill which has the strong backing of the Utah Bankers Association. The UBA said it is going to bat for the Utah Department of Financial Institutions and its director, Ed Leary, who deserves a raise. The bill ensures that the salary of the department’s commissioner is no less than 110% and no more than 120% of the highest salary paid to any other employee of the Department of Financial Institutions. The current salary range for the commissioner is $66,800 to $90,000 and is set by the legislature along with other cabinet-level posts. Leary’s salary category, “is the lowest-paying group on the state’s executive-level pay scale,” said Alexander. Regarding examiner pay, Howard Headlee, president of the UBA, explained to lawmakers that during examinations, “you’d have examiners from the state working right next to examiners from the FDIC both doing the same thing.” Both have been trained the same and have the same background “but in many cases the examiner from the FDIC is making a lot more money than the one working for the state.” Headlee told the Deseret Morning News the UBA is strongly backing the bill to “de-politicize” the salary issue, and to make sure that the state has the best people regulating financial institutions. And since the financial institutions commissioner’s salary is drawn from fees paid by financial institutions – unlike other cabinet posts, which are paid from taxpayer dollars – Headlee said it’s reasonable to allow those institutions to have some say in how it is applied. -