Donald Norris, Public Policy, in the Baltimore Sun

A recent Baltimore Sun article on worker salaries in Maryland noted that over 1,300 workers match or beat the governor’s $150,000 annual salary, including University System of Maryland employees, doctors with the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and a few judges. To understand why, they spoke with Donald Norris, professor and chair of public policy, who said, “It’s what the market demands,” reflecting that universities must offer competitive salaries to recruit top faculty, administrators and coaches. Despite the work involved in the governor’s position, he argues, raising his salary to equal those of the top earners in the state would lead to “a huge public outcry” and be very unpopular among voters.