City-Times Staff

Secretary of State candidate Jay Schroeder today announced his plan to return a portion of his salary to the taxpayers should he be elected.

The current Secretary of State has a salary of $68,556.

“As I have traveled the state I have asked hundreds of people what they think the Secretary of State does,” Schroeder said in a statement Tuesday morning. “Not a single person has been able to give me the correct answer. The reason is because the Secretary of State does so little that the position has become obsolete.”

“It is my strongly held belief that the position’s salary should reflect the duties that it is responsible for carrying out,” he added.

Schroeder said he was following the example of Governor Scott Walker, who returned part of his salary when he served as Milwaukee County Executive.

“For anyone to run who wants to take that salary with those limited duties; that’s just not right,” said Schroeder. “Starting with my first month’s paycheck, I will return $18,713, or 27 percent, of the annual salary back to the people of our state in my first year. This will put the salary at less than even a state legislator, and according the National Association of Secretary of States will make this office the lowest paid Secretary of State in the country.”

Schroeder says that he plans on continuing to decrease the salary every year of his term.

Jay Schroeder currently lives with his wife Rebekah and four children in Neenah. Born in Clintonville, Jay has lived in Wisconsin his entire life. He received his Bachelor’s degree from UW-Stout in Business Administration and currently works in mortgage administration. More information is available at http://www.jayschroederforsecretaryofstate.com