Over the three years that Bleak has worked as House chief of staff his pay has gone from $88,438 to $109,000, or a 23 percent pay hike. Cantrell has received one big promotion — from an administrative assistant to deputy of the Senate, and over four years has seen his salary go from $45,000 a year to $99,028, a 110 percent increase. But he still gets a lower salary than Bleak.

• Personal politics, not just where one happens to work, may play a role in pay, one ex-staffer says.

Former House Clerk Carole Peterson, who worked for the House for more than 20 years, retired at the end of 2005 making $60,715 a year.

Sandra Tenney, a longtime employee of the Senate, was hired by House leaders to replace Peterson as clerk, the person who oversees floor sessions and a number of other operations. While Tenney started at about the same pay scale as Peterson, within eight months (and within the same fiscal year) Tenney was making $64,355 a year — $3,640 a year more than her predecessor.

In the past two years, House legislative leaders have raised Tenney's annual pay to $78,873, a 15.3 percent pay hike over that time.

"I asked (Curtis) for a $10,000 raise over two years so I could retire at $70,000 a year. It would have made a big difference in my pension," said Peterson, who describes herself as a lifelong Democrat, but who tried to keep her politics private as House clerk. "He said there wasn't enough money in the budget. Now Sandy is making $78,000, and I wanted to be at $70,000 a year and retire (in 2008). Very interesting. But I had to resign (in October 2005). (Curtis) told me he wanted to appoint the next clerk. I had taken enough crap from (Curtis)."

Peterson is running this year as a Democrat challenging Rep. Kevin Garn, R-Layton, although she said she was asked by some local Republicans to run against Garn as a Republican.

Tenney still makes less than Secretary of the Senate Annette Moore, who oversees legislative work on that side. Moore makes $81,806 a year, with nearly an 18 percent raise over the past two years

Curtis says he did not play favorites with Tenney, nor financially punish Peterson nor make her retire early. Tenney's pay raises have been appropriate in comparison with her job responsibilities, as have Bleak's pay raises, said Curtis. He doesn't recall specific pay discussions with Peterson. "She's been gone nearly three years, she's now an opposing (legislative) candidate, and now she's bringing this up?" He added: "This is part of the Democrats' election portfolio" of attacking Curtis, who is in a close re-election fight.

"I try to set a salary that will attract a quality person to do a professional job," said Curtis. Bleak has reorganized the House staff, said Curtis, consolidating several employee positions, and those savings are reflected in the low growth in the House's individual budget found in the newspaper's analysis. "We're saving taxpayer dollars," Curtis added. "And the Legislature is well-managed."