State lawmakers’ high-paid staff keeps growing along with the taxpayers’ costs.
The House employs 75 staffers earning at least $50,000 annually, compared to 58 in 2015. (Details on Page A3.)
The Senate has 68 employees in the $50,000-plus group, up from 60 in 2015. (Details on Page A3.)
House Clerk Charles Reid is paid $191,172 and Senate Clerk Jeffrey Gossett $206,016 as the top administrators and another 25 earn at least $100,000.
The 124 House members have 91 full-time employees.
The 46 Senators – despite being less than half the size of the House – employ 110.
The House and Senate have college students as part-time pages. The House can have up to 144 pages to be “available for any necessary service.”
Unlike most state agencies, House and Senate salaries are not listed in the online database. The Nerve obtained staff salaries through Freedom of Information Act requests.
With higher-paid employees, the costs for each chamber have steadily grown. 
The House plans to spend $22.3 million this fiscal year.
The Senate plans to spend $14.6 million.
Both are sitting on large reserves. 
The House had a $25 million surplus as of July 1.
The Senate had $6.1 million.
Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, has at least a dozen staffers as Senate president pro tempore and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.
That includes Mike Shealy, the Finance Committee budget director, and John Hazzard, counsel to the president pro tempore. 
Brundrett is the news editor of The Nerve. Contact him at 803-254-4411 or rick@thenerve.org .