$32,000 pay raise for members of New York State Legislature expected to be approved
NEW YORK -- New York's Legislature is poised to become the highest paid state legislative body in the country.
That's if a bill giving them tens of thousands of dollars more in their paychecks is approved.
But it comes with another limit.
If passed, members of the Assembly and Senate would make $142,000 annually beginning Jan. 1, a $32,000 increase.
The last raise was approved by a pay commission in 2018. The previous raise was approved in 1999, when members were paid $79,500.
Lawmakers in New York City and surrounding areas have long cited the higher cost of living as the reason for a raise.
The proposed bill would also limit outside income, capping it at $35,000. It does include exemptions for pensions and investment income.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she believes they deserve a raise and commented last week on the cap.
"That would be something that I would think, in the interest of transparency and accountability, that people would expect," Hochul said.
Some former legislative leaders have been jailed over misuse of outside income.
"Voters with higher incomes will say it's a great deal. They get a raise and we get to know that they're not going to be corrupt, but people who are working every day for a living, who are struggling to make it, will say wait a second -- what did these guys do to deserve that kind of raise, especially if I'm paying for it?" political expert Hank Sheinkopf said.
Some Republicans have spoken out against the measure. Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt tweeted it is "patently offensive to the people we represent."
"New Yorkers are feeling the pinch, but at the same time we want to make sure people to feel like it's a job worth compensating," said Rachel Fauss, of the watchdog group Reinvent Albany.
Fauss said her group wants a stricter outside income limit.
"New Yorkers want to know that their legislators are working for them and just them," she said. "In the U.S. Congress, it's a 15% cap. There shouldn't be income allowed from the types of jobs where the legislator would have a client that they have a fiduciary duty to."
State law says if lawmakers don't enact an increase before the end of the year, they wouldn't get a raise until 2025.
Sources told The Associated Press the Democratic-led Legislature is expected to return to Albany on Thursday for a special session to approve the raise.