NY Legislators OK own pay hike — but with cap on outside earnings 

ALBANY — The state Senate and Assembly approved a bill Thursday to hike legislators’ salaries to $142,000 annually while placing limits on their outside income for the first time ever.

If signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul as expected, it will give New York the highest paid Legislature in the nation, surpassing California by about $20,000.

The cap on outside earning would be $35,000, or about 25% above salary.

It was modeled on a cap for members of the U.S. Congress, whose limit is 15%.

Currently, there is no limit on state legislators’ ability to earn outside income, which watchdogs said created conflicts of interest.

The Democrat-dominated houses approved the measure, largely along party lines — 33-23 in the Senate; 81-52 in the Assembly — although some Democrats joined Republicans in opposition.

In granting the raise, legislators finalized what a compensation commission had set in motion several years ago to address the politically thorny problem of lawmakers voting on their own salaries as called for in the state constitution.

Legislators’ pay had been fixed since 1998 at $79,500, although leadership and committee stipends have pushed the average salary above $100,000.

In 2018, the compensation commission recommended raising the governor’s salary from $179,000 to $250,000 and legislators’ pay to $130,000 in a series of step increases.

It also called for a cap on outside incomes.

Lawsuits challenged the commission’s authority.

The sum of the wrangling, which ended just a month ago: The commission could set pay but not outside income limits on legislators.

The court decisions had frozen the step increase after the first hike, at $110,000. Pay hikes for the executive branch had taken effect as scheduled.

On Thursday, the houses convened for a special one-day session to adopt outside-income limits while bumping pay by $32,000 to $142,000.

Lawmakers went above the recommended salary because of inflation since 2018, supporters of the pay hike said.

Republicans and upstate business groups criticized Democrats for hiking pay at a time of high inflation and a struggling economy.

“Calling a special session to vote on a pay increase makes it appear that many in this chamber are out of touch and more concerned with self-enrichment than providing much needed relief to our constituents,” Sen. Pamela Helming (R-Canandaigua) said during Senate debate.

“New Yorkers are still struggling, and I think it sends a very bad message about our priorities,” Assemb. Edward Ra (R-Franklin Square) said minutes later in the Assembly.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) acknowledged the criticism and vowed to work on consumer issues in the new legislative session.

But she said it was time to act because court cases about the pay issue finally were resolved.

“We’re in a difficult situation because we’re the ones that have to raise our own salaries,” Stewart-Cousins told reporters. “But to wait 20 or 30 years to get a raise isn’t reasonable either to lawmakers.”

The calendar also was an issue.

The constitution prohibits lawmakers from raising their own salaries while in their current two-year terms.

By voting in December, the new salary could take effect after Jan. 1, the start of a new term and, technically, a new state Legislature.

During debate Thursday, Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan) said Republicans were free to refuse a pay hike, although she suggested that might be unlikely.

Responding to criticism that the $142,000 in pay is twice the median household salary in the nation, she said a higher salary is required to attract better candidates for office.

“It’s not an average salary and it’s not an average job either,” Krueger said.

“It requires someone who is extraordinarily committed to the public good” and who is “willing to fight the hard fight on behalf of our constituents,” she said.

By Yancey Roy

yancey.roy@newsday.com@yanceyroy