Panel declines to up elected state officials' pay, boosts agency heads' salaries

ALBANY — The state pay commission decided it won’t increase the salaries of legislators and statewide elected officials, but agreed to raise the pay of 40 agency commissioners by as much as 20% with another 2% increase in two years.

Members of the Commission on Legislative, Judicial & Executive Compensation said the decision reflects underpayment of agency heads for years. Supporters said the salaries of top administrators have been surpassed by the union wages of many of their employees and are lower than the salaries of many comparable jobs in New York City government.

Commission members Helene Blank and R. Nadine Fontaine said the raises are needed so the state can attract and retain the best talent.

The action means salaries will rise from $220,000 to $245,000 for commissioners in the biggest agencies, including the health, environmental conservation, transportation and corrections departments.

Commissioners in a lesser tier of agencies, including the Department of Motor Vehicles, the gaming commission and liquor authority, will be paid $225,000, up from $220,000 now.

Heads of the next lower tier agencies, including the worker’s compensation agency and athletic commission, would be paid $200,000, up from $170,000. And the lowest tier of state workers, including members of the parole board and the public service commission, will be paid $190,000, up from $159,200.

The raises will be effective Jan. 1. The salaries of the jobs would increase again by 2% in 2027 under a similar cost-of-living increase that the pay commission provided state judges with last year along with their immediate raises.

Part of the debate leading to the decisions by commission was over a cap on the amount of outside income elected officials could collect.

A court case by Republican legislators is challenging a 2022 law that created a cap of $35,000 on outside income as a condition of receiving raises for senators, Assembly members and statewide elected officials.

In the pay commission’s October public hearing, good-government advocates Reinvent Albany and the New York Public Interest Research Group said the limit on elected officials’ outside income is important as a protection against conflicts of interest between their public jobs and their employers, clients or the field in which they work.

The groups urged the commission to deny any raises until a cap on outside income is established.

This week, the pay commission said previous court rulings tie its hands.

"We simply don’t have the authority to put any policy conditions on our action outside the issue of pay raises," said Chairman Eugene M. Fahey, a retired Court of Appeals judge.

The commission meets after a general election every four years, so it's decision not to raise salaries for state lawmakers is good at least for four years.

Justin Wilcox of the business-backed Upstate United group applauded the commission’s decision. He said another pay raise "would have been a slap in the face to all New Yorkers struggling to make ends meet." 

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.