Let's have a look at state salaries ...

The Post and Courier decided to take a look this week at the pay packages for many state employees, including Gov. Mark Sanford, Clemson football coach Tommy Bowden, and many others. The point was to get an idea of how state payroll funds get distributed. Who’s at the top? And, more importantly, who’s at the bottom?

Even for Sanford (salary: $106,078, plus free housing), there’s nearly 2,000 people who make more than him, according to The Post and Courier. But it looks like the top of the pile is probably Bowden, who ends up with about $1.85 million total, after salary, television contracts, and so on are counted up. (USC coach Steve Spurrier isn’t far behind, though, at $1.75 million.)

From The Post and Courier:

If you want to find out more specific numbers, you can check out The Post and Courier’s state salary database, searchable by agency. The newspaper also has a list of some of the highlights at the end of their story.

So who handles all that money? Well, the state Budget and Control Board is who is behind the salaries of state employees, but, as The Post and Courier also points out, many of the higher-paid state employees (researchers, professors, CEOs, etc.) get much of their money from foundations or other sources that aren’t funded by taxpayers.