Suffolk lawmakers urged to reject bill capping exec pay at contracted nonprofits

Leaders of some of Long Island’s largest nonprofit agencies and their supporters filled the Suffolk County Legislature building in Hauppauge on Wednesday, urging lawmakers to reject a bill capping executive pay at charitable organizations contracted with the county.

The bill, sponsored by Legis. Rob Trotta (R-Fort Salonga) and Legis. Trish Bergin (R-East Islip), would bar the county from funding agencies that pay any employee more than the New York governor’s budgeted annual salary, which currently stands at $250,000. It would also require all nonprofits to list all gifts and donations they receive along with the donors. The restriction would not apply to nonprofit hospital systems or federally qualified health centers like the Sun River Health system.

More than two dozen people spoke during a public hearing on the bill Wednesday, all opposed, calling the proposal government overreach and warning that it could have a chilling effect on nonprofits willing to work with the county.

Tracey Edwards, a member of the national board of directors at the NAACP who is also chairwoman of the Long Island Power Authority, said the bill discriminates against workers in a field with a high percentage of women executives. 

"If you pass this, it will be in my opinion, intentional discrimination," she said. "And as a representative for the NAACP, I don’t want my county to be one that I then have to go and try to sue, but trust and believe, that is what I will do."

Bergin called the accusation that the bill discriminates against women, a point raised by several speakers, "ridiculous" and said the intent was to ensure county funds are used efficiently.

"This legislation is intended to really just try to get rid of some of the bad actors that we have out there in the not-for-profit world and create more oversight," she said.

An analysis from the legislature’s Budget Review Office found the law, if adopted, would have an "indeterminate" effect on county finances. Trotta and Bergin acknowledged that while it was not likely to save the county money, it would provide accountability in contracts that don’t typically require legislative approval.

More than 20 nonprofits that contract with the county to offer services ranging from help for drug addiction to feeding the food insecure could be affected because they have employees earning more than $250,000, according to annual disclosure reports filed with the county comptroller’s office.

Debbie Pflieger, board president at AHRC Suffolk, which provides services to adults and children with intellectual and other developmental disabilities, said the organization may opt to discontinue a preschool program that receives $1.5 million from the county. Pflieger noted the agency's board would be unlikely to cut the pay of its CEO, John McGuigan, who earns a nearly $300,000 salary while managing $66 million in annual revenue.

"That means 30 children who are being raised in Suffolk County with intellectual and other development disabilities might not have the early intervention program they so sorely need," she said.

Last Friday, the bill’s sponsors amended the legislation to create a three-person waiver committee — which would include a representative from the county executive’s office, from the legislature and from the department that offers the contract — allowing some organizations with executives above the threshold to continue receiving funding.

Bergen said the still-evolving proposal would likely be split into two bills, one limiting executive pay and another requiring contract agencies to disclose their donors.

The legislature voted to recess the public hearing Wednesday and the measure will likely again go before the legislature’s budget and finance committee Sept. 24.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.