NEW YORK NEWS
New York State Legislators voted to give themselves a 29% pay raise, making them the highest paid state lawmakers in the country. Members of the Assembly and State Senate will now be making a base salary of $142,000, a sizable increase over the $110,000 they were making. That would send them racing ahead of state lawmakers in California, who are now the nation’s best-paid legislators with a yearly base pay of about $119,000, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. New York State Senator George Borello said in a statement that “[The Democratic majorities’] attempt to buy political cover by instituting a ban on outside income won’t make Albany better, it will make it worse. With this ban, we will be discouraging enterprising, accomplished individuals with real-world experience from entering public service and moving closer to eradicating the ‘citizen legislator’ – that individual who serves, not for a hefty salary, but because they want to contribute to their state. The end result will be more ‘professional politicians’ and more out-of-touch policies that hurt New Yorkers.”