PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The number of Rhode Island state workers who made $100,000 or more increased 21 percent from 2016 to 2018.
WPRI-TV, citing state payroll records, reports that 2,336 state workers had six-figure salaries in 2018, compared to 1,936 in 2016.
The employees accounted for a 23 percent increase in state spending to nearly $304 million.
Payroll data shows the largest increase in workers making six-figures was with guards at the state prison.
Much of the increase was overtime pay, with four officers making between $190,000 and $204,000 in overtime.
Correctional officers’ union president Richard Ferruccio says there was a hiring freeze for correctional officers for three years to because of a federal lawsuit.
He says overtime will likely decrease in 2019 as they hire more officers and improve facilities.
