HYDE PARK – A state compensation
committee proposal to hike the salaries of state legislators by 64 percent
over a three-year period is being opposed by Senator Susan Serino (R,
Hyde Park).
“Now is absolutely not the right time to give raises to politicians,”
she said, noting that she has refused to accept taxpayer-funded travel
reimbursements for years.
Serino said with residents across the state “still struggling
to make ends meet,” a substantial pay raise for lawmakers could
result in “drastically increased taxes.”
The senator said the process “completely circumvents the voices
of New Yorkers by bypassing the legislature and the very people elected
to represent them (and) will absolutely encourage lawmakers to become
career politicians.”
Serino said for her, the job has “always been about the people,
not about the paycheck.”
Under the proposal, state legislator salaries would increase from the
current $79,000 a year to $130,000 in 2021.
The governor’s salary, current at $179,000, would rise to $200,000
in 2019 and to $250,000 in 2021.
