New York Legislature Awards Itself Major Pay Hike

The median income of workers in New York State is slightly higher than $43,000 per year. That means that there are still plenty of people struggling to make ends meet under the current levels of inflation and increasing prices. But the members of the state legislature will likely have little to worry about after the first of the year. Democrats in the state assembly and senate hastily convened a special session this week to vote themselves a staggering 29% pay raise as an early Christmas present. If the measure makes it onto the books, they will now have an annual salary of $142,000, making them the highest-paid state lawmakers in the country. The vote passed along party lines, with nearly all Republicans voting against the tone-deaf decision. The only question now is whether or not Governor Kathy Hochul will sign the increase into law. (NY Post)

Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly voted overwhelmingly Thursday to give themselves a record raise and hike their taxpayer-funded pay to $142,000 a year.

The early Christmas gift … to themselves, makes Albany the highest-paid state legislature in the nation — despite ongoing inaction on critical issues including New York’s controversial bail reform law and the Big Apple’s migrant crisis.

The 29% boost to their current $110,000 pay will also result in wages more than three times higher than the median $43,208 earned by average New Yorkers.

The Democrats presumably waited until after the election to pull this off, perhaps assuming that the voters will forget about it before the 2024 elections. Requests for comment from Governor Hochul as to whether or not she will sign the bill did not render a response. If she decides to veto the bill, she likely will not be overridden since that would require a 2/3 vote in each chamber. The bill did not reach that level of support.

One Republican in the state senate, George Borrello, asked the obvious questions. “Are we fixing criminal justice reforms? We’re not doing that. Are we fixing the unemployment insurance fund? It’s bankrupt. We’re not coming back to do that. We’ve come back a couple of days before Christmas to raise our salaries.”

The crime rates in the state – particularly in New York City – are still staggering. If there was a reason to call a special session right before Christmas it should have been to repeal the state’s bail reform law or spend that “extra” money on increased funding for law enforcement. And as Borrello pointed out, the state’s unemployment insurance fund is essentially empty. They also could have considered a tax break for working-class families to help them cope with all of their increased costs.

But the legislature didn’t choose to do any of those things. They simply passed an epic pay raise for themselves and went home for the holidays. The party line vote should have been a clear indication to New York’s voters as to where each party stands and where their priorities lie. And yet even though Republicans did make some gains across the state in November, a majority of New Yorkers still kept voting for the Democrats. With that in mind, it’s hard to have much sympathy for them. If you keep voting for self-centered clowns, you’ll keep watching a circus in the state capital.

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