When it comes to Albany, every labored step out of the ethical muck is something to celebrate.
For this reason, it was a relief on Thursday that a committee set up to determine lawmakers’ pay enacted reforms limiting outside income and eliminating most committee stipends, known as “lulus,” alongside a salary increase.
The pay committee, born out of a wily measure tucked into the state budget by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers earlier this year, was designed to grant the legislators a hefty raise with no questions asked.
Instead, the committee, made up of four well-regarded current and former public servants — the New York City comptroller, Scott Stringer; the former city comptroller, William Thompson Jr.; the state comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli; and the former state comptroller, H. Carl McCall — acted responsibly.
Per the panel’s unanimous decision on Thursday, state lawmakers, by 2021, will see their pay increase to $130,000, from $79,500 now. But since this essentially acknowledges that legislators are doing a full-time job, their income from other sources will be limited to 15 percent of that salary — $19,500. Stipends will be eliminated for all but the highest-level positions, preventing legislative leaders from handing them out or pulling them back as rewards and punishments. The final details of the committee’s decision are expected to be released in a report on Monday.
Mr. Stringer, one of the committee’s members, said the new rules are based on those of Congress, which sets similar limits on outside income. In an ideal world, which is to say, not New York State politics, these changes would go further. The New York City Council set a better example in 2016 when its members took an open vote to raise their own pay and eliminate nearly all forms of outside income and committee stipends.
Under the pay committee’s new rules, legislators would also still be allowed to be paid separately by people and companies doing business with the state, which is simply wrong.
Still, this is real progress in a state where the former Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, and the former leader of the Senate, Dean Skelos, recently went to jail on corruption charges. Mr. Silver’s crimes involved outside income.
Albany lawmakers wanted a fat pay increase with no strings attached. Some have said the committee has no legal right to attach strings. The members of the pay committee chose to set a higher standard for public service. If the legislators don’t like it, they can reject the reforms, and the raise.
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Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | A Good Call by Albany’s Pay Committee
Opinion | A Good Call by Albany’s Pay Committee
When it comes to Albany, every labored step out of the ethical muck is something to celebrate.
For this reason, it was a relief on Thursday that a committee set up to determine lawmakers’ pay enacted reforms limiting outside income and eliminating most committee stipends, known as “lulus,” alongside a salary increase.
The pay committee, born out of a wily measure tucked into the state budget by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and lawmakers earlier this year, was designed to grant the legislators a hefty raise with no questions asked.
Instead, the committee, made up of four well-regarded current and former public servants — the New York City comptroller, Scott Stringer; the former city comptroller, William Thompson Jr.; the state comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli; and the former state comptroller, H. Carl McCall — acted responsibly.
Per the panel’s unanimous decision on Thursday, state lawmakers, by 2021, will see their pay increase to $130,000, from $79,500 now. But since this essentially acknowledges that legislators are doing a full-time job, their income from other sources will be limited to 15 percent of that salary — $19,500. Stipends will be eliminated for all but the highest-level positions, preventing legislative leaders from handing them out or pulling them back as rewards and punishments. The final details of the committee’s decision are expected to be released in a report on Monday.
Mr. Stringer, one of the committee’s members, said the new rules are based on those of Congress, which sets similar limits on outside income. In an ideal world, which is to say, not New York State politics, these changes would go further. The New York City Council set a better example in 2016 when its members took an open vote to raise their own pay and eliminate nearly all forms of outside income and committee stipends.
Under the pay committee’s new rules, legislators would also still be allowed to be paid separately by people and companies doing business with the state, which is simply wrong.
Still, this is real progress in a state where the former Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, and the former leader of the Senate, Dean Skelos, recently went to jail on corruption charges. Mr. Silver’s crimes involved outside income.
Albany lawmakers wanted a fat pay increase with no strings attached. Some have said the committee has no legal right to attach strings. The members of the pay committee chose to set a higher standard for public service. If the legislators don’t like it, they can reject the reforms, and the raise.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
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