By Renae Merle, Associated Press, July 6, 1999
AUSTIN, Texas -- George W. Bush said yesterday that he will forgo his governor's salary of $316.01 a day when he campaigns outside Texas for the Republican presidential nomination.
When Bush is out of state for an entire day, Lieutenant Governor Rick Perry is elevated under state law to acting governor and paid an additional $316.01 a day.
"Because the lieutenant governor is paid in my absence, I don't think it's appropriate for the taxpayers of Texas to pay my salary twice," said Bush, who receives $115,345 a year as governor.
Perry gets the additional salary only if Bush is out of state for an entire day, from midnight to midnight, according to the governor's office.
The change announced yesterday is retroactive. Bush, the front-runner for the GOP nomination, will reimburse the state $2,212, representing the salary he received during the seven days he campaigned outside Texas last month, according to the governor's office.
While Bush has pledged to go without his gubernatorial salary while campaigning out of state, he will continue to use bodyguards supplied by the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers.
Citing security concerns, Bush aides and state officials decline to say how many guards travel with the governor or how much it costs Texas taxpayers.
"The Department of Public Safety has always protected the state's governor," said Bush spokeswoman Linda Edwards.
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