Raise lawmakers' pay, but curb outside income

State lawmakers have been discussing a return to Albany for a special end-of-year session where they may raise legislative pay, effective for the 2023-2024 session.

Under plans issued by a State Compensation Commission more than four years ago, the base salary for the legislature’s 213 members was to have risen by now to $130,000 a year from the current $110,000.

But legal challenges to the commission’s constitutional role blew up that schedule.

“It’s a year-round job,” newly elected Gov. Kathy Hochul said in the Bronx last week, signaling that she’d sign legislation approving such a raise. “I’ve been with them many times in their districts and they work very hard and they deserve it.”

That sounds reasonable enough. But Hochul should not overindulge the legislators with whom she must negotiate budgets and laws. She must make sure any raise is contingent on key conditions — givebacks, in the parlance of labor talks.

Specifically, the raise must come with a cap on outside income for all members of the Senate and Assembly. The commission called for pegging that limit at 15% of the elected official’s overall income. Such a provision would echo the deal for those in the U.S. House — where last year an outside earned income of up to $29,505 was authorized on top of the $174,000 salary.

Bringing salaries at the Capitol in Albany to $130,000 — as first slated for last year — would set New York legislators’ pay above that of California, which is the nation’s highest at $119,000, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

For legislators to justify full-time pay, there has to be a limit on part-time lawyering or other lucrative business.

The outside-income cap was tied to the state commission’s raise recommendation. Some legislators now are talking about phasing that in over several years — but it really should be imposed immediately with the raise.

Another of the panel’s earlier-stated conditions should also be imposed: A drastic cut in the number of stipends doled out to committee chairs and others in secondary leadership positions, which can significantly inflate a favored member’s salary.

Outside income has formed the basis of big scandals. The late convicted former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s actions relating to law firms involved millions of dollars in self-dealing. The issue was also raised by ex-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s controversial $5 million book deal while in office. But unlike legislators, the governor, attorney general and comptroller have long been presumed full-time; Cuomo’s deal hinged on an ethics panel’s special OK.

It’s easy enough to see why officials were shy about legislating a raise for themselves, and looked instead to have a commission do the lifting. Now, it’s time for them to take responsibility and do this the right way.

Meaningful concessions on outside income and stipends will help make the raises more palatable to a rightly skeptical public.