Bredesen calls lottery CEO’s salary a bargain

CHATTANOOGA (AP) — Gov. Phil Bredesen said hiring Rebecca Paul as the Tennessee Lottery’s first chief executive has proved to be a bargain for the state that he would do again.

Bredesen said the lottery’s first month of sales — which total roughly $128 million — should end any controversy over Paul’s pay package — which could total more than $750,000 and make her the nation’s highest-paid lottery director.

In the months before the lottery began, Paul’s pay drew criticism from several lawmakers and the public as exorbitant.

Paul’s base salary of $350,000 includes various incentives that could push that total to $752,500. She’s already qualified for a $192,500 bonus for beginning the scratchoff games before Feb. 10 (they started Jan. 20), and will receive another $52,500 for starting the online side by March 20.

The first online game — Cash 3, a pingpong ball-style televised drawing — is set to begin March 1.

Bredesen said Paul’s pay is a bargain in the business world for someone in charge of a billion-dollar industry.

“I’d (hire her) over again in a second and endure those slings one more time,” Bredesen told the Chattanooga Times Free Press newspaper. “Rebecca Paul is very good and knows it.”
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On the Net:
Tennessee Lottery, www.tnlottery.com

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