Report: Many state workers outearn Cuomo

More than 1,000 state employees earned more last year than the $179,000 base salary of New York's governor, according to 2010 state employee salary data released Thursday by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.

Public university administrators, professors and coaches dominate the top-paid slots in state government. SUNY and CUNY employees -- many of whom work at university hospitals -- account for the 126 highest-paid state employees and 216 of the top 218 salaries on the list.

Topping the individual list is Kevin Broadus, the former men's basketball coach at Binghamton University, whom the SUNY school paid $1,026,793 in a settlement to resign his post after an academic scandal involving his players.

The Empire Center, an arm of the conservative Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a nonprofit that advocates for less government spending and lower taxes, did not analyze the data, but director Tim Hoefer said the information is on its website, seethroughny.com. The data report total pay to state employees but do not delineate how much came in salary and other payouts such as retirement benefits. They also do not include noncash benefits.

"We think it's important that this data is out there, that the taxpayers and the users of the services have the ability to see how the money is being spent," Hoefer said.

Release of the Empire Center data comes as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo campaigns for significant reductions in state spending as he moves to close a $10-billion budget deficit. He has called for a salary freeze for state workers, and has been on the offensive against school superintendents who make more money than he does. Cuomo in January announced he would return 5 percent of his pay -- $8,950 -- to the state. Cuomo spokesman Josh Vlasto said executive chamber staff and several Cuomo appointees also took less salary than their predecessors.

There are 1,011 state employees who outearned Gov. David A. Paterson last year, and 1,249 who made more than Cuomo's self-imposed $170,050 salary, according to the data. State senators and Assembly members make $79,500, though committee chairmen and caucus leaders can earn more.

The highest average salary among state employees -- excluding SUNY and CUNY officials -- was for State Police officers, who were paid an average of $100,552, according to the Empire Center data.

The top Long Island earners worked at Stony Brook University, where 16 employees were paid more than $300,000 last year, placing them in the top 100 highest-paid state workers. Three of Stony Brook's four highest paid employees were administrators at its hospital, which competes for talent and customers with for-profit institutions such as the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System.

Stony Brook University spokeswoman Lauren Sheprow said top administrators' salaries at the school and the hospital are on par with similar institutions.Steven Strongwater, the university hospital's chief executive, was paid $721,043 last year. Strongwater, Sheprow said, "oversees a nearly $1-billion enterprise, which results in a $1.9-billion impact, not to mention that it is one of most important institutions for our community -- one that saves lives and takes care of the sickest patients in Suffolk County."