(The Center Square) — New York State lawmakers are the highest paid in the nation, but a new Democratic proposal in Albany could bump their pay even higher.
The proposal, filed by state Sen. James Sanders, Jr., would increase the base salary for members of the state Assembly and Senate to $180,000 a year beginning on Jan. 1, 2028, and index future legislative pay raises to inflation. The move, if approved, would hike lawmakers’ pay by more than $40,000 a year.
Sanders said the work of New York lawmakers has become “functionally full-time” and that the demands of the job “materially limit the ability of senators to maintain meaningful outside employment without conflict or dilution of public service.” He said increased compensation “reflects the professional expectations, accountability, and workload inherent in the office.”
“It also helps ensure that legislative service is accessible to qualified individuals regardless of independent wealth, thereby strengthening institutional capacity, diversity of representation, and public trust,” Sanders wrote in a support of the bill.
He ticked off a list of legislative responsibilities that warrant additional pay, including oversight of one of the largest state budgets in the country, “continuous legislative sessions, special sessions, and extended budget and policy negotiations, year-round constituent services “in often high-need districts” and other requirements.
The proposal to index future pay raises to inflation “ensures that compensation reviews are grounded in objective economic realities and that legislative compensation evolves alongside inflation and broader economic change,” Sanders wrote.
New York lawmakers are already the highest paid in the nation. In addition to their $142,000 a year base pay, which was last increased in 2022, more than a dozen lawmakers receive stipends for their leadership post and work on committees. The previous pay raise bumped their annual compensation by about $32,000 a year.
The state Assembly Speaker and Senate Majority Leader rope in another $41,500 a year in stipends, making their nearly $184,000 a year take home pay higher than most members of Congress.
To be sure Sanders’ proposal, which currently doesn’t have co-sponsors, faces long odds in Albany with concerns being raised by legislative leaders about revenue shortfalls amid federal funding cuts and Gov. Kathy Hochul running for reelection on a campaign of improving “affordability” in the state.
The Democratic-controlled New York City Council is considering a similar pay raise proposal that would boost compensation for councilors to $174,000 a year, while also increasing pay for the mayor, and other top elected positions.
