AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas paid $122 million in overtime to public employees statewide last year, with everyone from members of Gov. Rick Perry’s security detail to furniture movers taking home extra pay
Of the 56,948 state employees who received overtime, about 40 earned more than their salaries. Another 1,988 received more than $10,000 in overtime.
In all, overtime accounted for 6 percent of the 2011 state payroll.
Texas’ top overtime earner was a Department of Public Safety sergeant and a member of Perry’s security team who racked up $65,136 in overtime.
The top agency for dolling out overtime was the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. It paid out $27.8 million—primarily because of a backlog of Medicaid and food stamp applications.
