LINCOLN -- The state's highest-paid employee has offered to take a pay cut to help solve the state's budget crisis.
Dr. Vijay Dewan, the clinical director of the Lincoln Regional Center, informed state officials that he intends to cut his $217,000 yearly salary by $5,000 as of Jan. 1.
The offer came following a suggestion by Omaha State Sen. Heath Mello that state workers who make more than $100,000 take a pay cut to help solve the state's revenue shortfall, which is estimated to be $334 million over the next two years.
While the proposal didn't win approval as the Legislature's Appropriations Committee crafted its budget cuts, it did prompt an e-mail from Dewan to the senator and others, making the offer.
"I hope this contribution is of some assistance in this difficult/painful issue that our state is facing and going thru," the doctor wrote.
State Auditor Mike Foley, who also received an e-mail, said he thinks Dewan was genuinely surprised that he topped a list of "highest salaries in state government" that Foley's office updated over the weekend.
"I think he honestly wanted to make a contribution to the solution," Foley said.
The auditor also said a letter arrived in his office this morning from a man identifying himself as a state court interpreter, offering to take a 4 percent cut in his pay to help the state.
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