Outgoing N.C. House Rep. Justin Burr’s efforts to secure a higher salary for a state job has backfired.

Thursday the General Assembly officially approved SB469, but only after gutting a provision in the bill that would have given the Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council the authority to pay its executive director a higher salary than the state’s pay schedule.

N.C. House legislators previously approved the bill with the provision, but once the language got before the Senate, legislators balked. Once in conference, the provision was deleted and never resubmitted.

Records show Burr had been the preferred candidate for the OHAC’s newly created executive director tasked with promoting hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities on behalf of the N.C. Wildlife Commission.

While the provision to SB469 raised the pay scale for the director to as much as $118,913 annually, the Senate’s purge significantly reduces the position’s salary making it more consistent with the state’s compensation guidelines.

Consequently, if Burr proceeds with the job, his annual salary will likely be around $67,000, or more than $20,000 less than what the Stanly County Republican was “willing to work…until the position is correctly reclassified.”

The approved SB469 stops any immediate reclassification.