A number of top aides in the House and Senate enjoyed double digit pay raises over the past year, with one getting up to 40 percent, an analysis by The State has found.

However, overall spending on legislative salaries rose by less than 4 percent.

Pay for the 192 House and Senate staff — committee lawyers, receptionists, security guards and others — increased 3.7 percent from March 2004 to March 2005 to $15.68 million. All state employees received a 3 percent pay raise for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

“We want to pay competitive salaries so we can keep good people,” House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, said.

While most workers in the Blatt and Gressette legislative office buildings received that across-the-board 3 percent pay hike, a number of employees saw much larger increases:

• Robin Moseley, research director for the Senate Education Committee, saw her pay increase at least 40 percent, to $63,355. Exact figures for Moseley’s raise are not known, as she was previously making less than $50,000.

State law says salaries for state employees who make less than $50,000 do not have to be disclosed, except within a range. Moseley had been making between $40,000 and $44,999.

Moseley had been administrative assistant for the Senate Invitations Committee. But when Sen. John Courson, R-Richland, was promoted from chairman of invitations to chairman of the education committee, Moseley also was promoted. Her new position includes more responsibility.

• Christy Cox, communications director and chief of staff for the speaker of the House, received a 22 percent pay raise, to $79,000.

In 2003, Cox was promoted to chief of staff, but kept her communications duties. So over the past two years, Wilkins said he’s tried to increase Cox’s pay to reflect that she is essentially responsible for two jobs.

• Senate Clerk Jeff Gossett’s pay increased 11 percent, to $125,000. While Gossett’s job has not changed in the past year, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, said Gossett had not had a raise in four years.

Gossett also was making less than former clerk Frank Caggiano. Caggiano was earning $124,000 when he retired before the start of the 2001 session.

Gossett’s raise also puts him even with new House Clerk Charles Reid, who went from making $118,000 as chief counsel to Wilkins, to $125,000 as clerk.

S.C. Employees Association director Broadus Jamerson said he could not find fault with the raises given legislative employees.

Salaries in the House are set by Wilkins. The Operations and Management Committee, a nine-member panel headed by Sen. J. Verne Smith, R-Greenville, determines salaries in the Senate.

McConnell, who also sits on the committee, said raises are usually based on recommendations from an employee’s supervisor. The committee also considers what raises have been given to other employees in similar situations and how the employee’s duties have changed.

McConnell said some of the larger pay increases are needed to keep experienced people working for the Senate.

“We’re losing people left and right,” McConnell said. “We’re losing people off Judiciary (Committee staff) to other pieces of state government, because they can pay more. We’ve got a talent drain right now.”

Sen. John Land of Clarendon, the Senate’s top Democrat, could find no reason to criticize Senate salaries.

“I do trust the members of the Operations and Management Committee, and they will have made very conservative and fair decisions,” Land said.

Legislative employees are classified as “at-will,” meaning they do not enjoy the civil service protections most state employees have and can be fired at the will of their employers.

In the House, Rep. James Smith, D-Richland, the former Democratic leader, likewise was not concerned by the pay structure of House employees.

“We’re pretty modest in terms of staff and salaries,” Smith said.

Cox, who received a 22 percent raise, “does a good job,” Smith said.

Smith’s only criticism — and it was mild — was that Wilkins’ new chief counsel, Mikel Harper, only makes $65,000.

“Mikel Harper ought to be making more,” Smith said. Reid had been making $118,000 in the same job just a year ago.

Legislative salaries compare favorably to the rest of state government. In 2004, the 192 legislative employees made $7.70 million. This year, 192 legislative employees make $7.98 million.

Across state government, 62,828 employees made $2.24 billion in March 2004. A year later, there are 227 fewer employees, but payroll has increased 13 percent to $2.53 billion.

Reach Gould Sheinin at (803) 771-8658 or asheinin@thestate.com.