Endowment Fund board asks for pay increases for two investment staff; governor does not recommend raises

The Endowment Fund Investment Board asked lawmakers for a compensation increase intended to raise pay for two senior investment staff, but the governor's FY2026 recommendation did not approve the requested raises.

The request appeared in the board's budget submission reviewed by the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee. Janet Jessup, a budget and policy analyst with Legislative Services, told the committee the agency's FY2026 request "included $100,000 compensation to increase salaries for 2 of its staff members." She noted the governor's recommendation "does not include the compensation requested for staff, but in all the respects supports the request for general inflation and technical hardware."

Why it matters: The Endowment Fund Investment Board manages multiple long-term state funds, including land-grant endowments and money invested for the state insurance fund. Committee members pressed the board for detail because the proposed increases would be large relative to typical state pay adjustments and could affect recruitment and retention of senior investment staff.

Board and staff defended the request as corrective and rooted in recruitment history. Chris Anton, the board's manager of investments, told the committee, "The recommendations were made by our compensation committee and our board. What I meant by that comment was that representatives from our board had met with the governor's office and representatives from DHR, and they hadn't reached a final agreement. So, our board had always stood behind those recommendations." Anton also said he had a conflict of interest and deferred detailed discussion of the board's deliberations to the board chair.

Board Chair Thomas Wilford traced the request to prior hiring and a multiyear effort to align pay. "There's a long history on this enhancement. Enhancement goes back to the point when Chris Anton was hired. And he was hired from Boise State University is my understanding. And he was hired at a level that was below what was expected. And he was told that it would be made up over the years. And we've had this enhancement in here for several years," Wilford said.

Committee members asked whether the board was trying to match private-sector pay or respond to turnover risk. Wilford said the board believed replacement costs would be higher than current pay and that the largest share of the requested increase would go to Anton's deputy, identified in committee as Chris Halverson.

Numbers discussed in the hearing were unevenly presented. During the presentation Janet Jessup referenced a $100,000 compensation request for two staff. At the committee hearing Anton gave the committee more specific amounts, saying the board's request included $54,800 for Halverson and $28,400 for Anton. The governor's office representative, identified in the transcript as "Ms. Wolfe," said DHR's analysis found Halverson "was close to policy rate for his pay grade," and that the governor's recommendation reflects state pay policy, not private-market competitiveness.

No formal committee action or vote on the compensation request was recorded in the hearing transcript. Anton said the board had discussed the proposal with the governor's office but had not reached final agreement. Wilford said the board "accept[s] what the governor recommends," while continuing to support its own recommendation.

The committee hearing record shows the board emphasized the growing complexity of the funds the staff manage. Anton told the committee that the investment portfolio managed for the endowments and the state insurance fund grew from about $500 million in fixed income to roughly $5 billion today, and he argued that job scope had increased substantially during long tenures.

Looking ahead, the committee did not take a recorded vote on the raise request during the hearing. Committee members asked for additional information from the board and the governor's office but the hearing record ends with the matter left for continued budget deliberations.

Ending: The budget documents the committee reviewed list the Endowment Fund Investment Board's appropriations and prior-year enhancements; any final decision on compensation will be reflected in the committee's appropriation actions later in the legislative process.