Florida’s University Chancellor Ray Rodrigues was already the highest-paid state employee with his more than $441K salary, beating out the No. 2 employee (Education Commissioner Anastasios “Stasi” Kamoutsas ) by roughly $110K.

But on Friday, that financial lead grew when the Board of Governors of the State University System approved a three-year contract extension including a $600,000 base salary with a chance at a 20% performance bonus. This makes Rodrigues the highest-paid state employee by far, according to the database of state employee salaries. The effective date is Jan. 1

He nearly doubles Kamoutsas’ $330K salary. But Kamoutsas was one of the biggest supporters of Rodrigues’ pay increase.

“When we talk about what a national model this state is in higher education and the envy

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