Vilsack asks for review of pay policies after drawing fire

Governor Tom Vilsack is asking business types to review his pay policies for top state government executives. Vilsack says he wants to find out if he’s on the right track. Vilsack says he believes he’s secured the services of “very qualified people” and he wants to know if he’s approached compensation in the way the private sector would. Vilsack has been under fire from Republican legislators for granting bonuses to some state agency directors. Vilsack says he “honestly believes” he was “doing the right thing in giving the bonuses because of the competition” state government faces in attracting talent to top jobs. Vilsack’s not ready to release the names of those on the state government compensation task force, but he says they’re all from the private sector. Vilsack says they’re people running businesses or running large corporations who are running into the same problems in recruiting “quality folks.”